The ninth one in this ambitious series, strangely not intended for wider commercialisation and only sold (to my knowledge at least) by Kevin Devos' Beer Shop in Kontich, as the brewer judged it unfitting for the series - making me wonder if he will replace it by an improved version or not. Bottled in September last year. Off-white, tiny, loose bubbles form around the edge of the glass during pouring, but they just fizz away immediately into absolutely nothing (perhaps this was the problem that prompted Jef not to sell it any further); misty apricot blonde robe with pale orangey hue, still with a central 'whirl' of fizz coming from below in spite of the lack of head formation; shifts to a homemade pear juice-like, 'dirty' peach blonde murkiness in the end. Sweet and gently smoked aroma of ripe melon, papaja even, candied pineapple, vanilla custard, sweetbread, freshly cut grass, smoked bacon in between, dry cinnamon cookies, something interestingly meaty (fried ham), stewed pear, yellow kiwi, dry apple cake, vague touch of phenolic rubber. Sweetish onset - though less sweet than expected based on aroma, with a sourish edge, very fruity but in a well-ordered manner, hinting at mango, ripe pear, peach and some banana, low carbonation but still with some prickly, small bubbles; there is a clear smoked bacon effect pointing at Rauchmalz, adding a meaty umami accent to this fruity sweetness. Supple, lean mouthfeel, sweetbready maltiness with a sharper grainy edge, fruitiness continuing well into the finish where the smoky factor becomes more prominent; ends dry and a bit powdery, with a deeply situated but clear leafy hop bitterishness to it. The smoky aspect goes on beyond that, and so does the fruitiness, but a rather astringent, weirdly rubbery aspect makes its appearance as well - demonstrating that something indeed must have gone wrong with fermentation. Many of these Homo Beerectus beers were a bit unusual, but this one is surely among the most bizarre so far: it combines a luscious, almost tropical sweet fruitiness with an emphatic smoky aspect, as if smoked fruit of some kind has been used, like Alvinne sometimes does in their sours - though the label does not mention this. Granted, this beer looks awful and flawed and there are some very subtle off-flavours, and I can only assume this is the reason the brewer wanted to halt further distribution of it, but in terms of pure flavour, this is a very fascinating brew, almost a liquid equivalent of ham-wrapped melon. I must admit that I like the general flavour profile quite a lot, too bad this won't get more exposure as it certainly is among the more challenging, but also more 'artistic' members of the Homo Beerectus family tree. Weird and admittedly a true eyesore in the end, but fix the latter issue and you have a very remarkable beer here, Jef! As for rating this: far from evident, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and pretend I didn't notice the total lack of head retention and soupy appearance.

Bottle from thebeershop.be. Hazy amber/orange colour, no foam. Medium carbonation. Nose of smoke, sweet malts, some floral notes. Taste is sweet, notes of peach, sweet malts, a hint of smoke. A bit unbalanced but not very bad.

Imported from my RateBeer account as d'Oude Maalderij Homo Beerectus 09: Society Shepherd (by d'Oude Maalderij):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.4/5

9/III/19 - 33cl bottle @ JefVerstraete's baby visit, BB: n/a, bottled: 20/IX/18 - (2019-350) Thanks to JefVerstraete for sharing the bottle!
Little cloudy light orange beer, small creamy off-white head, little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: smoky, bit fruity, rural impression, bit chemical, yeast, some overripe fruits, more smoke. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very smoky start, sourish touch, fruity, bit sweet, little metallic. Aftertaste: fruity, some citrus, bit sourish, some banana peel, soft bitterness.