Copper Cellar | 9 features micro-brewed beer, pizza, subs and sandwiches in a setting Fricks likened to a “traditional sports bar.” Three more have since opened in Knoxville, Maryville and Pigeon Forge. “(Chase) is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word and he can see potential in things that others can’t see, whether it’s picking out a restaurant site or figuring what he wants on the menus,” Fricks says. “It’s been about 20 years since we started doing the beer. Everybody seems to be doing it now, but he was thinking about it 20 years ago. He had a vision and he wanted to produce his own beer.” Chase recruited Marty Velas to become his brewmaster and quickly took advantage of the Californian’s unique approach as not only a connoisseur of the beverage, but as an expert on the chemistry that’s necessary to consistently brew high quantities of quality-tasting stock. That over-the-top attention to detail is vital at each step in a brewing process that, unlike a restaurant kitchen, can result in significant time delays and loss of materials if it’s not done correctly. “If we’re cooking a steak and we burn it, we can throw on another, apologize to you at the table and have your dinner to you in 15 more minutes,” Fricks says. “The quickest batch of beer takes two weeks to brew, and if you make a mistake with it you’ve got to start all over. The seasonal beers take six to eight weeks and if you mess one of those up, you’re out of that one for the season. “It’s one thing for a couple buddies to brew beer in a basement. This requires someone who knows how things are sup-
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