Bravissimo
Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Brown color with a medium-sized, off‑white head. Caramel malt, chocolate, toffee, dried fruits, and a touch of bourbon shape a rich, layered aroma. The flavor is malty, full, and moderately sweet, carrying those same dessert‑like notes into the palate. A warming finish rounds it out.

Cellared 3 years. Dark brown mostly opaque body, two fingers of light brown foam. Smells of toffee, bourbon, caramel malts, rustic oak, cocoa, dry earth, old leather, rye, and raisin. Taste starts in a great place: earthy and leathery caramel malts, dried plum, raisin, and a whisper of vanillins, but then the back half is more bitter with more earth and rye powerfully crashing in, ending kind of devolves a little into rye and brown yeast with booze tones taking over, not bad but I want the complexity of the beginning to carry through. Feel is smooth though, dry, warm with booze, earthy and sneaky robust despite the high drinkability

 

 

 

 

 

Darker brown, but still can see through it mostly. Tan head. Some particulate in bottle. Nose is sweet, somewhat like dark candy and some bourbon, but not overwhelming. Taste is sweet and aftertaste is light coconut. Somewhat surprised the warmth from ABV is not very present.

L - Rich brown with a khaki head that dissipates somewhat quickly, leaving behind a thin cap and some lacing
S - Rich bourbon and oak with slight nuttiness, caramel, brown sugar
T - Rich bourbon and oak up front and throughout intermixed well with caramel, brown sugar, nuts along with dark fruit notes. Some chocolate and maple notes as well.
F - full bodied with moderate carbonation
O - Great BBA brown ale - reminds me more of a barelywine than brown ale though

Canned in a stubbie dark brown glass bottle and purchased from craft beer stalwarts Beermoth on Tibb street in Manchester City centre
Poured like it is bottled conditioned to reveal a Brown body with tan head
Flavour is t

 

 

Of course, this is not a typical "brown ale" as it sits well outside the ABV and is barrel-aged. That said, I will rate more towards a barrel-aged imperial beer.

It's a bit on the darker side of brown, but not out of line for an American version of the style, and definitely not going into the near-black color I see from some brown ales. Head is decent, especially for a BA beer. The nose of this beer is definitely more obvious as a barrel aged brew than a brown ale. Dark sugar and some bourbon barrel spice, but there is a shadow of a medium brown bread underneath.

Taste follows suit, though it seems more heavily reliant on the barrel and the fact that it's a brown ale is almost completely lost. The barrel spice is the most evident flavor, and is reminiscent of a BA imperial stout, but with no roasted malt bitterness to counter it.

I quite like this beer, but I also like bourbon and bourbon cocktails - and this is leaning heavily towards a basic cocktail beer more than anything done specifically with the base style. In short - a pretty crappy brown ale, but a quite good barrel-aged ale - as expected from FW.

12 ounce bottle into a tulip snifter. A 2023 release. Had 2/19/24.

Pours a lighter copper color, fairly clear, with a one inch foamy head and a decent amount of foamy lacing. Aromas of cocoa, caramel, malt, some vanilla and rye, some maple and oak, some bourbon as it warms. Flavors of bourbon, caramel, malt, cocoa, rye, some vanilla and oak, light maple, a little herbal hop bitterness. Smooth, a very good medium body, appropriately carbonated.

Really enjoyable overall, with plentiful aromas and flavors. The flavor is a little tamed, could be a bit bolder like Bravo was.

2023 Vintage
12oz bottle poured into a snifter

A- pours a clear deep ruby color with a one-finger foamy off-white head that reduces to a ring around the edge

S- rich and boozy aroma up front with a wave of chocolate, toffee & caramel. A wave of barrel pops up, adding sharp oak, barrel juice and an enhancing caramel note. Undertones of fruit cake, leather, pipe tobacco, rum soaked figs & raisins and a hint of black licorice

T- sweet and boozy up front with bold brown malts that gives flavors of brown bread, fruitcake, caramel, toffee, figs & raisins. Mid-palate brings out a sharp oaky bourbon barrel. The finish gives more brown malts, with more caramel and chocolate, boozy oaky linger

M- heavy syrupy body with moderate carbonation leads to a foamy mouthfeel that turns creamy into a warming finish

 

 

 

Giving their Bravo brown ale a major facelift, Firestone Walker elevates the beer to barleywine status with barrel aged treatment and blending to create the best version that Bravo can be.

Pouring medium to dark brown, Bravissimo carries an ominous and rusty haze while topping off with a cream ivory tan froth. As it scent rolls from the rim, the nose is caught by a robust and savory perfume swirling with chocolate, toast, maple, whisky and wood. Expectedly sweet once on the tongue, an early malt impact reinforces those maple, molasses, chocolate, vanilla and caramel flavors.

Smooth, creamy and plush with malt, the middle palate is a direct carryover of those initial flavors. Adding the complexities of dark coffee, heavy toast, light char and roasted walnut, the more sultry and almost smokey add an earthen balance that's much needed against the sweetness. Lightly bittered, gritty and husken in its finish, the spice of rye blends with bourbon quite well.

Full bodied, sweet, velvety and warm, Bravissimo finishes off-cloying and with a malty-sweet taste that extends into a bittersweet and spicy aftertaste.