Tuscon Blonde (Barrio Blonde)
Barrio Brewing Company in Tucson, Arizona, United States 🇺🇸
Golden / Blonde Ale Regular|
Score
6.35
|
|
A good starter beer for those that have only drank the mass produced suds. The blonde is a light, crisp beer with a slight malt flavor and just enough Saaz hops to balance the malt sweetness.
Tucson Blonde is the oldest Arizona beer recipe to be consistently brewed on a commercial scale. The very first batch was made all the way back on May 1, 1991. This brew is a true ode to the Arizona craft beer drinker. When our founder Dennis Arnold was first brainstorming the recipe, his goal was to make something people couldn’t resist drinking. What he noticed was that they opted for a beer that was light, crisp, and refreshing. To satisfy the early wave of craft beer fans in Tucson, Dennis perfected a beer that had all these attributes in spades. Three decades after its creation, Tucson Blonde is one of the smoothest brews in all of Arizona. The beer’s unbelievable drinkability has won it a sizable, loyal fanbase.
Tucson Blonde is the oldest Arizona beer recipe to be consistently brewed on a commercial scale. The very first batch was made all the way back on May 1, 1991. This brew is a true ode to the Arizona craft beer drinker. When our founder Dennis Arnold was first brainstorming the recipe, his goal was to make something people couldn’t resist drinking. What he noticed was that they opted for a beer that was light, crisp, and refreshing. To satisfy the early wave of craft beer fans in Tucson, Dennis perfected a beer that had all these attributes in spades. Three decades after its creation, Tucson Blonde is one of the smoothest brews in all of Arizona. The beer’s unbelievable drinkability has won it a sizable, loyal fanbase.
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6.3/10
—
Appearance 9
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 7
Overall 6
Clear, very bright yellow color with a small white head; aroma of cereal, jam, musk; balanced flavor with a long, light bitter finish
Tried
from Draft
at
Barrio Brewing
on 20 Jul 2026
at 20:04
6.9/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 7
Texture 7
Overall 7
Draft in Tucson. Golden pour fairly clear and some sudsy white head. Nose is bready and little orange peel. Tatses of sweet candied orange peel, white bread, hint of coriander. Sweet finish. Light bodied.
Tried
on 12 Dec 2025
at 01:51
8/10
Funky little blond. I like it.
Tried
on 13 Dec 2024
at 18:38
5.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
On tap at John Henry’s. Pours gold. Grain, sulfur, plum, earthy. Medium body. Not good.
Tried
from Draft
on 15 Feb 2023
at 05:43
5.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5
From the Safeway in Flagstaff. Blond with a creamy, white head. Faintly floral aroma mixed with crackers. Taste is mildly bitter over a dough-like sweetness. Light-bodied, watery texture. Not much to it.
Tried
on 03 Jan 2023
at 02:13
7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
On tap at Mooney’s Irish Pub in Sedona, AZ. Honey gold pour. Small white head. Lemon, citrus nose. Bready malt flavor. Citrus hops. Light bodied. Sweet honeyish finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Jul 2022
at 05:05
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
On tap at Shorebird. Clear pale gold, white head. Light malt, mild hops, bit of floral.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Dec 2021
at 00:20
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
12 oz. can from Total Wine, Scottsdale, AZ. Pours a crystal clear gold color with a white head and very good retention. Good lacing. Very faint aroma. Soft and sweet bready malts flavor with a smooth, clean finish and no bitterness. Light body. A very simple and refreshing profile. Very lager-like.
Tried
from Can
on 15 Sep 2021
at 00:23
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
16 oz. draft at (The Hudson), Sedona, AZ. Crystal clear golden appearance, lasting thin head. Slow carbonation level. Aroma and flavor are a mirror. Mild, weak hop, vanilla, grain. Light body and a clean easy finish. For a standard issue blonde, decent.
Tried
from Draft
on 05 Jun 2018
at 00:04
5.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Undated can from a gas station, but it was refrigerated, drunk 12/31/15.
Clear, golden body is well-carbonated and topped by an initially large white head that quickly fades to cover/ring.
Not a whole lot in the nose: some corn, various cereal notes, vanilla and a very sparse floral hop character. No flaws or alcohol.
Moderately sweet, with a strange corn and vanilla character. Rather "stale" tasting and perhaps it has sat in the fridge for a long time, not sure. Nothing particularly offensive going on and it’s at least well-attenuated, but there’s very little hop character and the texture is quite filtered and unspectacular.
Clear, golden body is well-carbonated and topped by an initially large white head that quickly fades to cover/ring.
Not a whole lot in the nose: some corn, various cereal notes, vanilla and a very sparse floral hop character. No flaws or alcohol.
Moderately sweet, with a strange corn and vanilla character. Rather "stale" tasting and perhaps it has sat in the fridge for a long time, not sure. Nothing particularly offensive going on and it’s at least well-attenuated, but there’s very little hop character and the texture is quite filtered and unspectacular.
Tried
from Can
on 03 Jan 2016
at 17:34