Cozy new Co-Op beer bar ‘Workers Tap’ open in Portland
Former teacher, union activist, and craft beer aficionado Connor Smith moved to Portland from Chicago 6 years ago to open a new co-op beer bar called Workers Tap. The auburn 3 floor house at 101 SE 12th Ave was a psychiatrist office and then an architects before Smith found it after a 2 year search and permitting. Located just a block from F. H. Steinbart homebrew supply and just a few more from Ecliptic Moon Room, Revolution Hall, and taproom BEER. the Worker’s Tap is an eclectic ode to the unions that built America as well as European pub culture.
Workers Tap should not be confused with Astoria’s famous dive bar Workers Tavern, though both bars share a cozy lived-in feel and devotion to the working class. Workers Tap has much in common with the old Portland charms of cafes like the Pied Cow, and Rimsky-Korsakoffee, and taproom’s like ForeLand’s The Study and the Little Beast Beer Garden. It feels like the sort of place that union organizers would gather to plan a protest in the 60’s and that’s probably part of the plan.
Workers Tap is Portland’s only co-op bar, there are just 4 total worker/owners that are each equal members of the board that runs the establishment and responsible for work and management. Each owner works their own shifts behind the bar like any employee but are empowered to run it as they see fit during their scheduled hours. Every member has an equal say, and makes the same hourly wage and gets a profit split at the end of the month. If the business ever sold they would add up total hours worked, and each member would get a percent of profit based on that number. There is not an elected chairman of the board, each has an equal say and big decisions would come to a vote.
Workers Tap co-op beer bar in southeast Portland is a cozy hangout
Connor Smith has taken on the position of lead curator for both the beer and the environment at Workers Tap. His introduction into craft beer started with breweries like Half Acre and 3 Floyd’s Brewing, but it was on a trip to Portland where he visited numerous breweries that made him decide to relocate to Oregon.
“It seemed like half the bars in Chicago were Irish pubs, but out here there are only a handful. So, I wanted to help add a cozy place with lots of nooks to drink beer and have conversation (hence our lack of TVs) to Portland’s bar scene. So with this type of theme in mind I wanted to match it with the types of beer as well,” says Smith.
Because Portland (and really all of the U.S.) is so IPA centric, Smith thought this would be a good opportunity to lean into his time in Europe to provide a drinking experience with a different focus. “IPAs are great but they are not for everyone and every beer bar doesnt need to have 6+ on tap.”
From a draft selection of 17 handles, Smith is trying to showcase something for everyone, even the under-served minority craving something out of the mainstream Americana. With that in mind, the taplist at Workers Tap has plenty of beers that you may not see very often, like an Irish Red from Ancestry Brewing, Petrus Framboise from Belgium, a Czech Dark Lager from California, and always always multiple Belgian-style beers from Bend, Oregon’s Monkless Belgian Ales. That said, all-time local favorites by the likes of Breakside, pFriem and Chuckanut often grace the draft list as well as 2 (and only 2 EVER) locally brewed IPA’s for the hopheads.
“I am trying to put forward a more traditional European style list except of course using Oregon breweries that do those styles better than any European brewery you could get a keg from in the US. Like Monkless of course.”
Ideally, Smith would like to have only unionized and co-op breweries on tap. Unfortunately those are few and far between, and so far there are none in Oregon and out-of-state options are hard to come by. “I’d love to have Fair State Brewing Cooperative on tap, but they are out in Minneapolis and don’t distribute out this far,” says Smith. “If anyone knows of others I am all ears. I think one barrier to the amount of co op breweries is the very high start up costs of a brewery. It is hard to get that much capital investment as a co-op, most banks or investors don’t believe in that sort of model so they don’t want to invest.” The struggle for breweries to unionize is real, and ongoing.
The Workers Tap building dates back to 1904, but the added antique elements make it feel even older. The entry foyer practically begs for a coat rack and a corner where you might have tossed off your shoes next to a door mat is instead a grand piano below a vintage Chandelier from England into two downstairs seating areas. The front room is a living room attached to a kitchen that has been cordoned off for the bar. Around the corner is a dining room area with north facing windows overlooking the intersection where Sandy blvd. intersects with E. Burnside.
Up a flight of spiral stairs to the second floor are three more rooms each providing their own charms for a quiet beer with a book, or a private group game of D & D. The larger room for groups can be reserved for free for unions and local organizations. The upstairs front bedroom is a lounge-like study with leather armchairs and sofas, antique reading lamps, and a light up globe. The central feature is a small walk-in closet that has been converted into a free library, featuring what else: books on the labor movement and other blue collar stories. The decorations are also mostly black and white photos of Oregon labor and activism over the past 150 years, and the plan is to add a glossary where people can look up the stories behind each of them to read about the events as they happened.
Some of the best elements were built into the house; there are two “solar tunnels” that send natural light streaming into the eastside face of the taproom’s upstairs library and landing area, that are capped with a stained glass rose. The trim and windows are original, so are the doug fir hardwood floors. Much of the old furniture in Worker’s Tap actually came from England where Connor grew up, some of the items donated by his parents such as the bench seating and water station credenza.
In addition to the beer list, Workers Tap keeps two ciders on tap, usually from Son of Man Cider in the gorge and Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider from Portland. The pour a house red and white wine by the glass, plus CBD beverages, kombucha, canned ice tea, coffee, soda, and even a house seltzer served with bitters and lime as an NA alternative.
As of now they do not have a food menu, but they allow minors until 9pm and welcome outside food (Michael’s Sandwich Shop, Hungry Tiger and Danwei Canting are just around the corner and nearby food truck Thai Champa is a popular choice by the regulars.) One of the bonus features is a hidden back patio accessed by going halfway down the front ramp and then walking around to the back of the house. The lower basement level is visible from the outside, it’s not open to the public in general but can be reserved as well for free for meetings by local unions and community organizations.
As the Workers Tap becomes more established they plan to embark on future community improvements like adding the maximum amount of bicycle parking, improving the outdoor space to be welcoming year-round, hosting events like movie nights, service industry, and union member discount nights. In the day, they would like to function as a neighborhood coffee shop, anything to spread the word and support like minded workers and advocates.
Smith is hopeful the recent wave of vocal unionization movements happening will catch on here, and perhaps Workers Tap can provide inspiration for other taprooms and breweries to consider changing business models.
“Some breweries have tried to unionize before and they will hopefully again soon especially with the latest union wave with Amazon and Starbucks, in that event we will definitely add them to the tap list right away! Ideally the whole tap list would be union or worker owned breweries.”
101 SE 12th Ave, Portland OR 97214
Phone: 503-764-9584
Email: workerstap@gmail.com
Instagram: @workerstap