I know it has taken quite a while to finally catch up on all the Arizona breweries. Unfortunately paid gigs take a front seat to these blog posts. Of course, life always gets ahead of me too.

I wanted to visit the Thunder Canyon location in downtown Tucson, but the night I decided to visit was Dia de los Muertos and downtown was packed. With not a parking space to be had, even in the big garages, I decided it head out to the foothills.

I really don’t have a problem with a brewery in a shopping center, but I find that they don’t have much atmosphere or ambiance. I tried sitting outside to give it a better feel but staring at a major road and parking lot don’t make it much better.

The beers here were generally good, nothing spectacular but nothing too awful either– kind of like the atmosphere. Everything here did tend to land on the sweet side, which is not to my liking necessarily, especially in styles where this is not so appropriate.

The Sandstone Cream Ale had a nice creamy nose with a hint of sweetness and a very malty finish.  For a cream ale, this was actually quite good.

Windstorm Wheat didn’t have much nose or wheat taste on the finish. It was a very nondescript beer.

Orange U Glad had a nose that promised a good orange taste and the appearance of Blue Moon. However, I found that taste was too much orange– like mixing orange juice with beer. And no one wants to do that. It reminded me of one of those beer cocktails that are now becoming popular at some trendy restaurants.  I would actually rename this beer — BeerOrangina.

Bees N Berry was almost like a mead more than a beer. There was a very honey nose with raspberry on the tongue and it was VERY sweet.

Deep Canyon Amber didn’t have much nose but you did get a good toasty taste with a hint of sweetness. This was a solid amber ale.

Rye Heart did not taste like a rye. It had an unusual taste that I couldn’t really describe– it was something like sweet and tangy at the same time.

Oktoberfest was a bit too toasty for this style of beer, I thought. It didn’t have much nose but had a very toasty taste.

Olde Shaftbury IPA was another odd one.  It had slight hop on the nose and was a bit more amber like a pale ale in color. However, there was a definite banana taste to this beer like an odd Hefe/IPA combo.

Thunder Canyon IPA didn’t have much of a nose but had good hop flavor. A solid beer!

Good Vibrations IPA was very light amber in color with not much nose and very bitter on the finish. The hop flavor here wasn’t great.

Morningstar Imperial Red didn’t really appear to be a red on first glance but had a much browner color and was similar in appearance to the Thunder Canyon IPA. There was hint of hops and toast in the nose of this beer. This was probably the best beer here with a good toasty flavor from the malt and a nice amount of hops.

Dark Lightning Milk Stout had chocolate on the nose and nice silky mouthfeel. It was a solid stout but very sweet.

If I ever make it back, I definitely want to check out the downtown location for the ambiance, not that this would change the beers.

OK I must preface by saying that I never made it to Dragoon Brewery because they weren’t open on Sundays (really stupid if you ask me) but my experiences at Barrio Brewing in Tucson were the best in town. The beers were overall very good and so was the food at atmosphere.

I started my experience with Barrio while at El Charro Cafe which serves an amber ale brewed by Barrio exclusively for them. El Charro is a great Mexican restaurant and the food was superb. The beer didn’t disappoint either.  The Barrio 1922 Amber Ale was a good amber with sweet malt flavor. It didn’t have much nose, though. However, it paired very well with Mexican food. My husband got the Blonde here, which was also on the menu.  I was not as impressed with this one. It didn’t have any of those traditional herbal undertones and tasted much more like a plain wheat.

We had the Blonde again aft the brewery so I wanted to give it a taste without the Mexican food interfering.  It still didn’t have much nose and was still more malty than anything else. I was able to get a bit more sweetness on the finish without the food though.

Barrio Rojo was a decent beer with not much nose and a bit of toast on the finish. Since I am not a huge red fan, I would say this was average.

The Hefeweizen had a good nose of banana and clove but it was a bit too lemony in taste. The banana was still good and overall this was a solid hefe.

TJs Raspberry was very raspberry with a raspberry nose and taste like raspberry iced tea. The wheat flavor still comes through so it remains a good beer. However, it was a bit sweet for me.

Copperhead Pale Ale has a nice nose and a good balance of hops and malts. A very well balanced and easy drinking pale ale!

Barrio IPA was also a good solid beer with a great nose.

Barrio Blanco was a white IPA.  I got a little flaw of butter in the nose of this one and was a bit disappointed by the lack of hop.

Nolan’s Porter is a good solid porter with tastes of coffee and a  hint of sweetness.

Mocha Java Stout had a great coffee nose.  The taste was a bit of ground coffee and cigarettes but it was still quite good just not as sweet as the name would suggest.

NCAAle Bourbon Aged Oak didn’t have much bourbon on the nose but did finish with great bourbon flavors. This was very, very similar to Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale.

The Pumpkin Porter also seemed to be similar to another beer, Warlock. The nose was definitely very similar to Warlock and it was also heavier on spice than on pumpkin.  The slight pumpkin flavor was masked by the nutmeg.

Again, I have to give Barrio kudos for location and atmosphere. Located in another warehouse district in Tucson, it was a bit difficult to find. Inside, it was minimalistic with concentration on the beer not the furnishings. This brewery did have a menu but the food was simple (mostly sandwiches and the like). The food was good and satisfying but you definitely felt like you were still in a brewery.

Borderlands Brewing Company in Tucson was my kind of place. Set in an old warehouse near downtown, this brewery had ambiance and style.  This was the first brewery I found that wasn’t a brew pub– but was just a nice place where locals could come and have a decent brew.  I really just wish that the beers  here had lived up to the atmosphere. I have to give this place an A+ for creativity though, as they really gave it a try with one of their brews and definitely were true to a brewery style feel.

The Honey Kolsch was not not very good, unfortunately. It didn’t have much nose and had an odd aftertaste the reminded me of burnt metal. This was definitely not their best.

The next was the most creative beer I think I have ever seen–Prickly Pear Wheat.  This beer was pink just like a pickly pear.  Although the color might be a bit off-putting, the taste was not. It was sweet and tasted a lot like prickly pear, but with a tangy finish. Was this a great beer? No but it was something unique and creative. I love it when a brewery tries to stay true to their location and make something that you won’t see anywhere else.

The Ol Loco IPA did have much nose but just subtle hops. This was a very smooth beer for an IPA and seemed much more of a pale ale to me. Over all a very decent beer.

Las Almas Belgian had a toasty nose with a weird aftertaste that reminded me a bit of dirt. Not a horrible beer, but definitely not the best.

The Noche Dulce Vanilla Porter was their best overall beer. It had a great vanilla nose like a vanilla latte. The vanilla was very strong so you would have to like vanilla for this one but overall a good beer.

So, should you visit Borderlands while in Tucson? I would say definitely if you want an authentic brewery experience with minimal furnishings, wooden seats and tables, and low lighting.  The night I was there also featured a good rock band.  This was definitely my kind of place and I just hope the beers catch up to the ambiance.