Barrio Brewing Company, 800 E. 16th St., Tucson, AZ, 85719.   phone: 520-791-2739   website: BarrioBrewing.co  
Hours: Mon – Wed: (11am to 10pm) | Thurs – Sat: (11am to 12am) | Sunday: (11 am to 9 pm)

Experience before you go............

Since our friends Cyndi and Mark were only here another day or two we had to take in one more brewery.....and you know why we had to, because we could!!! So we first had a quick stop at the Lost Barrio, which is a very eclectic stretch of custom furniture stores off of Park Street, close to downtown. These stores are fabulous and filled with a lot of Mexican influences of antiques, heavy doors, artwork, custom metal works and just stuff you usually don't see up in the midwest furniture stores. Mark, who is a custom home builder, remodeler, interior designer, realtor and oh yeah, did I mention just a really nice guy, was wondering how much shipping would cost to Chicago.....hmmmm! Well of course we fell in love with a piece of metal artwork of an ocotillo (very cool caucus). This piece was being delivered by a local artist right then, right there as we were in the store and I knew we were in trouble when my wife Kat asked, "how much"? Did somebody say beer?

Well we did the Lost Barrio and boosted the economy a little bit so to stay with the barrio theme we had to tour the Barrio Brewing Company. All this shopping and spending money worked up a thirst so we were fired up to go on an another brewery adventure. A quick little google maps reference and Kat's British accent Siri had us on our way and I thought we were heading for a spot of tea and a biscuit with the queen instead of an IPA hoppin brew! But I finally wrapped my head around it and a couple, "I think it's this way" and a "I think that's it" and we arrived at Barrio Brewing Company.

As the website says Barrio Brewing started in 1991 close to the AU campus and they moved into their current location in 2006 which is a WWII metal quonset - hut - turned - warehouse like building. And from the looks of how busy and popular the brewery was the move was totally an expansion because there's a lot of space here. The whole warehouse was production with a brewpub carved out of the right front of the building. There was also an outdoor eating/drinking/dog friendly patio that ran the whole front length of the building.....the Barrio's got its groove on!

We enter and one of the first things I see up in the rafters is the "Free Beer Tomorrow" neon sign so my first thought is well we'll come back tomorrow. Well I wasn't born yesterday and I quickly grasped the joke-haha and my second thought was, I need to get me one of those signs. This place is hoppin! It's Tuesday at 4:30 in the afternoon and I know there's a lot of retired folks in Tucson because I'm one of them, but these are working folks. But we sniff out 4 stools at the bar and boom, Hoppin Brewery Tour strikes again! I'm right next to a couple guys to my left and with card ready I introduce myself and get the "Is this guy selling insurance?" look. And I immediately go into a term life insurance presentation that would spin heads of any large insurance company mid level manager.......just kidding!!! No, I tell them about the tour and they thought it was pretty cool, but they started packing up to leave so I'm thinking they either had to get home for dinner or they both had enough term life insurance.

Well the four of us, Kat, Cyndi, Mark and I settle in and we're greeted by the bartender with a warm smile and a "what would you like to drink". Kat orders the Barrio Blonde (4.7%, 14 IBU) light and crisp with a hint of malt with just enough Czechoslovakian Saaz hops to balance out the sweetness. Mark, Cyndi and I all go with sampler flights with a great mix of what they have to offer. The Barrio Blanco (6.6%, 60 IBU) a white IPA with a crisp, bold note of citrus, fermented with a fractional ale yeast and riding on a transparent medium body......Blanco is a desert classic. The Copperhead Pale Ale (6.2%, 30.5 IBU) an American Pale Ale with a slightly sweet malt character balanced by hops, medium to full bodied, copper color, finishes dry and clean....great for the hop heads. The Barrio Rojo (5.5%, 22 IBU) GABF Bronze Medal Winner, minimal hops highlight sweet malt notes, the sugars of this Scottish Ale are caramelized with brown sugar and cinnamon. The Citrazona, one of Arizona's favorite IPA's. The Mocha Java Stout (5.5%, 28 IBU) brewed with locally-roasted expresso and cold-steeped with non-sweet Cocoa, flaked oats and milk sugars for sweetness......creamy and easy to drink. We might have tasted another one or two but the conversation was sweet and easy, kinda like spending a summer day in a hammock.

I noticed some license plates on the wall that I just had to get a picture of and then something caught my eye. A folded American Flag in a shadow box display case hanging on the wall. Engraved was, "This flag was proudly flown in combat over Iraq for Barrio Brewing Company, EC-130H Compass Call, Aircraft # 73-1592, Operation Hailstone II, Mission Duration: 12.1 hours, Operation Inherent Resolve, January 8, 2016." The display had several signatures of all the soldiers....it was very, very cool!! Felt like I needed to salute, but not being a soldiers myself I just stood there soaking it all in and feeling proud to be an American.

On a side note.....I have a nephew, who is a Major in the army and he will be reporting for his 4th tour, this time Afghanistan!! Please keep him, his four kiddos and his beautiful wife in your thoughts and prayers!!

As Brad and I and our tour guests peek in and experience these breweries across this beautiful country of ours, we often rub shoulders either directly or indirectly with the military. Time and time again we're seeing things, talking to vets and hearing stories of the few, the proud and a lot of times unnoticed and unappreciated armed forces. Well Barrio Brewing is showing their support and it's fabulous to see....thank you!!

Go get'cha one!!