“I walked in and said, ‘Wow, you can actually make your own beer!’ I had no idea,” he laughs. “I looked at the operation and immediately figured a business plan: If you brew your own beer, you drink for free for life. I knew this was for me.” 

Arnold convinced Tauna to pack up and move to San Diego, an untapped market, so to speak, where there were no breweries—for good reason.

“The city council said they’d never allow a brewery in the city because they thought it would stink,” he says. “We spent two years trying to educate them on the process, but no cigar.”

The couple moved back to Tucson in 1987 and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Arizona had just legalized brewing and with the research, development and experience they had gained during their time in California, the couple was in prime position to be one of the first brewers in the state.
 
In 1991, Arnold opened Gentle Ben’s Brewing Company near the University of Arizona and right on the street where he grew up. They installed fermentation tanks and began brewing their three signature ales: the Tucson Blonde, Red Cat Amber, and Copperhead Pale Ale.

“Right now, we’re one of the largest independent breweries in the state and all of our business is currently in Tucson,” Arnold says. “We have a fantastic local following, which we’ve built up over a quarter of a century. But now we’re on to Phoenix, trying to get recognized there. That’s the next thing for us.”

In addition to Barrio Brewing, Arnold runs a handful of other businesses. To consolidate his banking needs, he moved all the companies to National Bank of Arizona.

“My dad suggested I speak with someone at the bank about a loan. Since they knew my dad and our family, they worked with us. That relationship has been there ever since,” says Arnold, adding that the secret to their success has been patience, incremental growth and, most importantly, family.

“We could’ve moved along fast, but the most important thing to us was family. We never missed school events, birthdays, vacations or anything like that with our kids,” he says. “Quality of life is really our compensation.”