What is the difference between BBA Dark Star and KDS?

I wondered the same thing. My initial thoughts were that they probably switched their barrels to local ones or simply not from Kentucky. My other thought was that KDS was too close to "KBS" and they simply were trying to avert a legal situation.
Perhaps someone who actually asked could confirm.
Cheers

 

I believe they had to quit using Kentucky in the name. Same beer.

 

Same beer, they're just not legally allowed to use Kentucky in the name anymore.

 

To add to the discussion, I think the first iteration (2012, named Kentucky Dark Star) was a bit thinner in body and really a pretty different beer from later vintages of Bourbon Barrel Aged Dark Star (I have one more bottle of KDS in the beer fridge, so eventually I'll verify this), so having a different profile seems justified regardless of the name change. I noticed just the other day that the two beers had not been merged in the BA database, but were instead given different profiles, so I had a review recorded for KDS but not for BBADS (since rectified). Same thing happened with Sour Weisse and Sour Kettle.

 

Sour Weisse and Sour Kettle are the same beer. It was originally Sour Kettle when written on the UBG board and some kegs, but then settled on Sour Weisse once they started bottling it. Plus I think people just like to add new things here and Untappd and get carried away.

 

With both KDS/BBADS, and Sour Kettle/Sour Weisse, I submitted reports to BA requesting that they be merged. Apparently both requests were denied/ignored, which is fine, whatever, but it was a little annoying to see that a couple beers I thought I had posted reviews for didn't have one.

 

The nice thing about Untappd is that breweries have control and can edit their own products.

 

Do many even bother?

 

Yeah, you'd be surprised at how many breweries actively purge their beer lists and add artwork, extra info, etc. Anyone can add a beer, but the brewery itself can delete things, merge listings, etc.

My favorites are when people check-in a beer and the person in charge of the brewery's Untappd acount calls them out on not actually drinking that beer because it's not ready yet (ie. barrel aged vs. non-barrel aged, etc.).

 

Haha. That happens?

 

Holy Mountain has done it a couple times. It's funny.

 

That Imperial Rye Milk Stout (Celestial Lineage) was amazing on nitro the other night.

 

I think it's interesting that the Kentucky Dark Star entry has an average rating of 4.32 and the BBADS entry is 4.3, since by the time the name changed Fremont had the recipe dialed in with a more robust base, and the last couple of years of "BBADS" have both been incredible, much better than 4.3 (obviously in my opinion if not the average opinion of others...)

 

I attribute that to people rating under the wrong listing. Check some of the most recent ratings for KDS (posted this week). Also, the first ratings for BBADS didn't start until October 2014, missing an entire year of ratings and giving those instead to KDS. I'm sure there was some overlap between 2012 KDS and 2013 BBADS in 2013-14, but I'd bet that most people rating the beer now are drinking BBADS.

Unfortunately, this misinformation is only hurting BBADS, a far superior beer. They should probably close the KDS listing as retired @ this point.

 

Lots of beers have evolved and improved over time. No one disputes that they changed the name for legal reasons, not because they felt they it was a different beer, right? Why should they be forgiven for lesser years any more than any other brewery, just because some regulatory agency made them change the name?

 

I originally just tried to get the two profiles merged under the current name. BA chose to do otherwise. After posting the comment that you replied to above, I submitted another report to BA requesting that the two profiles be merged under the current BBADS listing. I'd rather see the aggregate scores rolled into a single listing than have a bunch of ratings inadvertently applied under the "wrong" listings.

In essence though, as a practical matter I agree with you—if for no other reason than because there's no better solution now. And yes, if they hadn't been forced to change the name I doubt they would have (it still says KDS on the label after all). However, for what it's worth if everyone had rated the actual beer they were drinking (all KDS '12 ratings going to KDS, all BBADS '13-'14 ratings going to BBADS), I believe the disparity would have been pretty stark. As it stands, we just have a mishmash of ratings for true BBADS going to KDS, and true KDS ratings going to BBADS, and two separate listings that don't really make any meaningful sense. We'll see what BA decides to do.

 

At some point it went from 9.5% to 11% too. I believe it was from '13 to '14, not sure on that though.