'Sexy vampire' speakeasy opens without liquor license

When a bar touts itself as a "speakeasy," most often it's part of a marketing campaign, capitalizing on a bygone era of secret knocks and cops with billy clubs.

But a Des Moines nightspot appears to be aiming for authenticity.

Despite the lack of a liquor license, the Black Sheep, a members-only tequila club with occult themes and double red crosses above the black front door, opened Friday night in the East Village.

The venture is a collaborative effort of former Gas Lamp owner Frankie Farrell and artist Van Holmgren.

"Black Sheep hopes to bring an underground private club type of feel by focusing on exclusivity and merging elements of speakeasies, key clubs and different eras in art and culture to create a contradictory theme that will gel to an unmatched individual identity," Farrell's LinkedIn page reads.

While a speakeasy feel might be OK, an actual speakeasy has local officials raising red flags.

A state-issued liquor permit is required for any public space where alcohol is sold. Those permits range from $500 to $2,000 depending on whether the operation qualifies as a private club or open to the public.

No such permit is on record for Black Sheep or the basement space where it opened beneath Ceviche Bar, 223 E. Walnut St.

Farrell on Monday said Black Sheep is not a business, but rather an experimental concept.

“I consider it an art installation or a gallery showing,” he said.

Approved members pay a $100 fee and get a pin with the club’s emblem — the same double crosses that appear above the door when the club is open.

Black Sheep had a soft opening for friends and family two weekends ago. On Friday it was open to members and anyone who wanted to pay a $20 cover fee.

The space is decorated with candles, cryptic phrases in red neon — one reads “We are your shepherd,” matching the club's Facebook page —  and abundant Catholic imagery.

The menu includes about 25 tequilas ranging in price from $6 to $18, with a $50 Gran Patron Platinum shot.

Chicken wire cabinets and shelves hold bottles of Black Velvet whiskey, flavored UV vodkas and Carlo Rossi wine — $10 per glass.

“It’s a cool, dark, hip place,” Black Sheep member Bryan Dreiling, 36, said. “I don’t think it’s comparable to anything else in town.”

Des Moines artist Tia Rodemeyer, who attended the soft opening, described a “sexy vampire” appeal to the space.

Farrell compared the gatherings the past two weekends to kegger parties — where friends toss some money into a hat to help the party host pay for beer.

As for the $100 membership fees? “We sold some pins,” he said.

In Iowa, operating an establishment without a liquor license is bootlegging, a serious misdemeanor. Violators can incur up to a year in prison and/or a $1,875 fine.

Farrell said Monday that he was putting Black Sheep on pause after hearing concerns from the state about the liquor license.

But, he said, the club will continue in some form, somewhere — but likely not in the basement of Ceviche Bar.

“The exclusivity and the allusiveness  of this Illuminati-type situation is what we want,” he said.