proprietor’s Vintage | Brewerianimelogs (Anime and Beer Lore)

Rating: 6/6

2017 Proprietor’s Vintage No. 001 Bravo by Firestone Walker is a 13.2% ABV Imperial Brown Ale aged in American Oak Bourbon Barrels.

Label:
(Please See Picture Below)

==Introduction==

Since the release of Parabola and the consecutive Anniversary beers from Firestone Walker, I have always wanted to try this one. Bravo is essentially one of the major components of their anniversary beers including Parabola, Sucaba, Double Double Barrel Ale, Helldorado, Stickee Monkee, Velvet Merkin, PNC and others. Up until now, it has only been a tap room exclusive. With the retirement of Sucaba unfortunately, this has paved the way for people start enjoying Bravo. While the smaller bottle personally is something I don’t like since it is less beer, the good thing is the price does drop with it. Unlike some breweries, (like The Lost Abbey, although a favorite of mine) drops the bottle sizes and keeps the same damn price. It is ridiculous really but the reason I still have sources that have 22ounce bottles of some beers like Santa’s Little Helper Bourbon Oak Barrel Aged. Anyways, you came here for a Bravo review and that is what I am going to deliver. Let’s have a whirl at this, cheers!

Aromas:
Cadbury caramel and chocolate cream eggs, dark fruit raisins, currants, blackberries, figs, dates, cherries, dark chocolate, vaniolla, oak, caramel, toffee, mocha, tiramisu, coffee cake, molasses, port wine notes, fruit cake, Toasted coconut, peanut butter notes, Danish cream cookies, Irish cream notes, English cream caramel, Butterscotch and pecan pie.

Flavors:
Dulce de leche caramel, vanilla, oak, bourbon, toffee, pecan pie, marzipan, Rye bread, Butterscotch, Toasted coconut, peanut butter notes, Danish cream cookies, Irish cream notes, English cream caramel, dark fruit raisins, currants, blackberries, figs, dates, cherries, milk chocolate, German Chocolate, Cadbury caramel and chocolate cream eggs, sweetened condensed milk notes, almond joy, cashew butter, milk chocolate, Chocolate truffles, mocha, stone fruit peach notes, honey, tiramasu ice cream, nougat, coffee cake, molasses, port wine notes, bananas foster, maple syrup, capirotada raisin bread pudding and fruit cake.

Aftertaste:
Finishing with rich toffee notes. Slight alcohol in the taste but not detracting from the amazing flavors. Murky amber brown full body, smooth, creamy, velvety and semi chewy mouthfeel with a sipping drinkability.

Overall:
Such a different beer! It’s amazing what Firestone Walker has done with all their beers. This is why they have a world class barrel aging program. Many of their beers are very unique in terms of their flavor profiles with the use of different oak barrels. There is something that makes their barrel aged beer and become coveted. For Bravo, the component that seems to stand out more is the English style sweet flavors. Almost like an English Barleywine but with some coffee notes as well. Overall, I think this is definitely on that world class list and stands great on its own even if it is part composition of the anniversary beers.

Anime Corner:
Tron Bonne from Capcom’s Megaman Legends series was used in this pairing as I wanted to pair it with the aspect of a well made beer. Bravo is expressed for a job well done but also a well made beer. Well made beers are synonymous with well-engineered pieces of work. Engineering applies to anything made including robotics. Since there was a trending theme that I have applied to FW’s special beers and their Anniversary beers, it was only natural to find a character that would follow the trend too. Essentially, the trend is similar to the job class system in RPGs like Final Fantasy. The reason why this is came from the first time I tried their Anniversary beers that usually comes with an in depth analysis of the beers composition using blends of other beers. An analysis like a strategy guide to RPGs. So a combination of the beers is like characters in these RPG games. My personal breakdown is as follows: Parabola=Knight, Velvet Merkin=Black Mage, Stickee Monkee=Monkey Monk, Helldorado=Demon Class, Wookie Jack=Mercenaries (Like Star Wars Solo and Chewbacca), Double Double Barrel=Double Cross Thief class, Sucaba=Maid/Dancer and now Bravo=Engineer/Mechanic. Tron is the Robotics Engineer in this instance.

Sources:
https://secure.static.tumblr.com/8528ef37e773bd5ced7c523c97f5316f/9izxgqz/3X2o3szjj/tumblr_static_tumblr_static_1tiflnb9inpcs8ksk0gokocsw_640.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/2efp0ty.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm289/_ORIONSTAR/324429.jpg~original
http://i.imgur.com/E4RWQc7.jpg
http://www.fightersgeneration.com/nx6/char/tron-bonne-oni-soul.png

Rating: 6/6

Proprietor’s Vintage No.001 HellDorado by Firestone Walker is a 13.2% ABV Imperial Blonde Barleywine/Wheat Wine Ale

Label:
Since founding our brewery in 1996, we have specialized in the rare art of fermenting beer in oak barrels. In the fall of 2006, we embarked on a program to barrel age a series of vintage strong ales that would later be used as components of a blended beer. That blend would become our first Anniversary Ale, “10”.

After the release of “10”, we released limited amounts of the component beers on draft only. Many of these beers gained a cult following that craft beer fans raved about and begged for us to put in bottle. Helldorado was one of these beers.

We present the 2015 vintage of Helldorado, an Imperial Blonde Ale or Blonde Barley Wine. Helldorado has the lightest color of any of the beers in our barrel program but carries a great deal of interesting barrel character: vanilla, light char and amazing lavender-honey notes.

Rich boozy honey liqueur character and loads of smooth sweet toasted malt to finish. The El Dorado hops dance in the background without playing a dominant role in the flavor profile. This Blonde Barley Wine is a one-of-a-kind sipping beer built to last and will reward careful aging for years to come.

==Introduction==

One of the many components that have been used in many of the Firestone Walker Anniversary ales, they finally released this one out to the public. While it is limited, you should definitely try to get one as who knows now a days when they will release this one again. It goes without saying that such brews stay around for much longer unless they have a cult following. Even so, who really knows because now that Firestone is under the wing of Duvel, we will probably see even more and more beers come to fruition and more readily available than before. Quantity does not really seem to affect the quality of the beers especially when well handled. Take Ommegang for example, world class in Belgians for example, owned by Duvel. So yeah, this maybe a positive thing. Beers like PNC however, are harder to get as they were brewery exclusive. Anyways, let’s take a look at this one, shall we? Cheers!

Aromas:
Caramel, Vanilla, Banana, wheat, Banana sundae, white chocolate notes, stone fruit apricot hints, peaches, white raisins , lemon peel, coriander spice, cinnamon, Danish cream, flan, sweetened condensed milk, honey comb, dark fruit cherries, plums, raisins, bubble gum hints, coconut, bourbon, butter pecan ice cream, marshmallow, graham crackers, waffle cone, passion fruit, dragon fruit, piney and floral hop hints, honey dew melon, citrus, raw orange like the sun, rocky road ice cream, citrus flower honey, almond joy, pralines, apples, raw oranges, rocky road ice cream and pecan pie.

Flavors:
Rich Rich Banana sundae, caramel, rich vanilla, white chocolate, dark fruit cherries, plums, raisins, bubble gum hints, coconut, bourbon, butter pecan ice cream, marshmallow, graham crackers, waffle cone, passion fruit, dragon fruit, piney and floral hop hints, honey dew melon, citrus, raw orange like the sun, rocky road ice cream, pecan pie, stone fruit apricot hints, peaches, white raisins , lemon peel, coriander spice, cinnamon, Danish cream, flan, sweetened condensed milk, honey comb, tangerine candy, citrus flower honey, almond joy, pralines, apples and cookie dough.

Aftertaste:
Rich coconut, Flan, Leche Nestle/Sweetened Condensed milk notes, oak, white chocolate, milk chocolate, almonds, bananas, flowers, citrus and oak. Slight alcohol in the taste but not detracting from the flavor. Gold Crimson light to medium body, silky, smooth, creamy, velvety and syrupy mouth feel and a sipping drinkability.

Overall:
One of the best Wheat Wines/ Blonde Barley wines ever! Along White Chocolate of course. Damn over the top as always with these Firestone Reserve beers. Why does every bottle of a reserve or proprietor’s series taste so exceptional? You really have to pick any of them out to really understand it. For this, yes!! Damn right it is worth the pick up. So much luscious flavors and the scary thing is that the color of it is so misleading with it’s light body. It boggles my mind how this bottle can be the way it is. The devil really is in the details, or in this case, the liquid.

Anime Corner:
Awoken Hera from Puzzle & Dragons was used in this paring as I wanted to pick a character with a class like I chose for the other reserve and proprietor’s series. The pairing was easy, just find a golden shiny devil character as HellDorado pretty much translate to Golden Hell. Easier said than done as many of the characters I looked for did not fit the bill until I found the “Awoken” version of Hera. With her Golden shine and Red Devilish looks, how could I go wrong with this pairing. She looks like a major bad ass which represents the alcohol and complexity of the beer but the sweet flavors and golden body are clearly on how “Hot” she appears in this pairing.

Sources:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLZgtnBUsAAH-Fo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5FIHXDU.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Wv87exg.jpg