Maybe I am just seeing this but why dont they have different years for the same beer?

Because its still the same beer. Just write your review on both, and state which vintage your reviewing.

 

Sometimes it is listed like that on BA, such as Old Guardian, AND IT ANNOYS THE HELL OUT OF ME.

Mention what vintage you are reviewing, and how old it is at time of opening, and all is well with the world. You can even do multiple vintage in one review by using the magical "Enter key" to create space between your reviews, or just leave comments on how each vintage differs in the same review.

The ONLY time beers need to be separated by vintage is when the recipe is drastically different.

 

I think a distinction between a beer being different due to production variables, rather than recipe deviation is important.

For example, Abyss is vintage dated, and I agree with many, is different year to year, but Deschutes doesn't state that each release is different, and they use the same description year to year so far as I know. Alternatively, Deschutes Hop Henge is brewed differently annually, as well as per batch, as noted by the brewer(s). When something like this is dictated by the brewery, I think a different listing is merited. However, if the beer released is supposed to be the same as the previous year for all commercial purposes, and is different, I think the reviews can reflect accordingly.

Although, I can see the distinction being useful with beers produced by the Lost Abbey and Port crews, every batch is a gamble, it'd be nice to know the truth forthright.

cheers
harry

 

They should split the difference -- add Vintage as a dropdown on the review. So you still only have one entry for the beer, but people interested in a particular vintage can sort the reviews of the beer to only get reviews for that vintage.

Doubt they'll do it though.