The brewmaster would beg to differ, he says the recipe is slightly different and that he considers it a different beer. The fine people at RateBeer think otherwise. I'm siding with the brewmaster.

well, "slightly" is pretty broad.. and most brewmasters would say that even if they just tweeked a recipe, its a new beer. even the unibroue site has it aliased, so... but i'm working on getting the stats to see whats up..

This was brought up during the release parties around Montreal and Ottawa last fall and the company insisted it was a different recipe. The result was the beer getting two different SKUs in both Ontario and Quebec (beer in Ontario has to be lab tested before it can be sold in the province) The differences as released by Unibroue were - Slight change in ingredients - Aged longer in different barrels in a different location - 2011 version is slightly darker than the 2007 version

Either of those should be enough on their own. Hell, how many Anchor OSA entries do we have on this site?

quote: Originally posted by PaulCardom This was brought up during the release parties around Montreal and Ottawa last fall and the company insisted it was a different recipe. The result was the beer getting two different SKUs in both Ontario and Quebec (beer in Ontario has to be lab tested before it can be sold in the province) The differences as released by Unibroue were - Slight change in ingredients- Aged longer in different barrels in a different location - 2011 version is slightly darker than the 2007 version

quote: Originally posted by Suds McDuff well, "slightly" is pretty broad..

This. I get the fact some people want to rate all kinds of stuff, either to inflate their rating numbers or maybe to compare items (hopefully the later). But a little common sense goes a long way. Just because a beer has a slight change (as Suds says, slight is pretty broad) doesn't mean it's an entirely new beer to rate. I think we've been down this road a time or two. I'm all for seperate entries if it's warranted, but to have multiple variations of the same beer with what's considered "slight" changed...to me...just doesn't deserve a new entry.

Here's the original email response from the company in November 2011 Merci pour votre question. Non, Unibroue 17 et Unibroue 17 Grand Réserve sont deux produits différents. Je ne vais pas entrer dans les différences pour des raisons de concurrence, mais il ya beaucoup d'autres. Translated Thank you for your question. No, Unibroue 17 and Unibroue 17 Grand Reserve are two different products. I will not enter the differences for reasons of competition, but it is many others.

Do you feel the same way about all the different Great Divide Yeti's? or the Goose Island BCS brand? those are just slight changes to the recipes.. but the finished product is a completely different beer. The point of rating is to rate the beer that you are drinking. The Grand Reserve 17 is not even close to the 17. It is a completely different beer. just my .03 cents

quote: Originally posted by Stoutlover72 quote: quote: Originally posted by Suds McDuff well, "slightly" is pretty broad.. This. I get the fact some people want to rate all kinds of stuff, either to inflate their rating numbers or maybe to compare items (hopefully the later). But a little common sense goes a long way. Just because a beer has a slight change (as Suds says, slight is pretty broad) doesn't mean it's an entirely new beer to rate. I think we've been down this road a time or two. I'm all for seperate entries if it's warranted, but to have multiple variations of the same beer with what's considered "slight" changed...to me...just doesn't deserve a new entry.

quote: Originally posted by Chef Chad Do you feel the same way about all the different Great Divide Yeti's? or the Goose Island BCS brand? those are just slight changes to the recipes.. but the finished product is a completely different beer. The point of rating is to rate the beer that you are drinking. The Grand Reserve 17 is not even close to the 17. It is a completely different beer. just my .03 cents quote: quote: Originally posted by Stoutlover72 quote: quote: quote: Originally posted by Suds McDuff well, "slightly" is pretty broad.. This. I get the fact some people want to rate all kinds of stuff, either to inflate their rating numbers or maybe to compare items (hopefully the later). But a little common sense goes a long way. Just because a beer has a slight change (as Suds says, slight is pretty broad) doesn't mean it's an entirely new beer to rate. I think we've been down this road a time or two. I'm all for seperate entries if it's warranted, but to have multiple variations of the same beer with what's considered "slight" changed...to me...just doesn't deserve a new entry.

No and Yes. Yes and No. It depends. Sorry. Just don't really want to beat a dead horse again.

well.. some of us care about how accurate beerpal should be.. and some care about how many ratings they can get.. to each his own... dead horse indeed.