Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2012	Aug. 23, 2012 Common stock, Class A, voting	Aug. 23, 2012 Common stock, Class B, nonvoting
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	BROWN FORMAN CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000014693
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jul. 31, 2012
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--04-30
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		84,445,591	128,855,502