Today's homebrew is an Imperial Flavored Stout with date. This is my second tasting/review of this as I promised to come back to this beer later to prove development if any. My first tasting was at the age of 7.5 weeks in early November. Now the beer turns 15 weeks. The beer pours massively turbid, deep dark brown. The gentle carbonation creates a silky foam on the surface. It grows half a finger tall and fades rushedly away. The striking character now is that the beer is entirely smoothie-like as masses of date particles float in the beer. I didn't obviously notice it in the first time as it's visible only when seen against light. It must have, nevertheless, been there all the time since the solid stuff doesn't simply appear there out of the blue. The scent has changed: date is now more easily detectable. I also pick a bit of raisin and faint licorice but not really any dark malt. Now the most important part -- taste. Last time I was overwhelmed by the boozy explosion, and not necessarily in a positive way. Well, alcohol can be felt as warmth on the gums but not tasted anymore. Awesome! Date is unmistakable. Some licorice and a bit of raisin can also be identified, accompanied by a little pinch of brown sugar and molasses. Substantial improvement in the taste, not really any more complex or layered than before but the hugely unbalancing booziness has drastically leveled off. The body is medium-full. It seems that the body has also developed. The finish is more alcoholic than the taste upfront but not disturbingly so. Date is fermented. Licorice and dark malt smile in the background. The aftertaste takes the tastebuds for a date and they all have a good time for a long while. The mouthfeel is medium-full, really murky and chewy. It's warming but only slightly alcoholic. It's also rather thick and faintly lip-glueing. Development is apparent here. The sharp booziness is gone. Much easier now, yet the ABV is still on the higher margin. Maybe I should try this sometimes with vanilla ice cream to explore such a pairing.

And now a homebrewed Imperial Flavored Stout. We brewed this on 18 August and flavored with dates after which it has now been in bottle for 7.5 weeks. The beer pours turbid, pitch black. The tame but really fizzy carbonation lays a timid, beige head that barely spreads on the surface and dissolves rushedly to nil. The beer is quickly flat still. The nose experiences remote nuances of licorice, roasted malt and date. The date is astonishingly oppressed in the scent provided the amount of dates in the second fermentation was fairly abundant. The taste... my goodness... is boozy. Really boozy, like long rum barrel aged. As if 14-15 %. Licorice, fermented date and roasted malt are reasonably intense on the taste receptors. Faint raisin and a pinch of raw cacao nibs escort the heavy punch. The body is medium. Too weak, no doubt. The beer finishes with strongly fermented date and licorice whereas raisin and raw chocolate are mere shadows in the background. The illusion of rum barrel is extraordinarily realistic albeit there's no rum in the beer, neither has it touched a barrel at all. The aftertaste throws the tastebuds against the wall for a while. The mouthfeel is strong, intense and quite alcoholic as if barrel aged although it's not. Despite the booziness and unacceptable body, it's fortunately not chemical. Furthermore, the mouthfeel was initially also a bit spritzy, yes spritzy, and is rather throat-warming. First I was like this is way too alcoholic but the more I drink, the more I start to pervertedly enjoy it. Strange. 🤔