I don't think there is any "rule" regarding posting a recipe. I have found many recipes in the DB that are actually just "ideas" and haven't even been brewed yet, even by the creator of the recipe.
I really just think it's a matter of not knowing/understanding the policy...there's really no way to "police" it without coming off mean...some have suggested a voting system...some have suggested that 2 or 3 brewers have had to have brewed it before it goes into the database. But there is really no way to do it easily...
There's difference between posting a recipe in the Recipe/ingredients section, for discussion and the like...and putting it in the DATABASE....you can post any recipe, even ones you haven't brewed here for critique or advice, inthe recipe section...that's not an issue...
One of the problems and it is something that we hash back and forth a lot is that people post untried recipes into the recipe database (which also shows up in our pulldown menu) rather than in the Recipes/ingredients section...
We kinda hope that people on here would just police themselves, and not add to the database unbrewed recipes..Not to at least post the recipe til they are drinking the beer...not the day before they brew it...and put that in the other section...but most new people don't know the distinction...
One thing to do is to be selective in the recipes you brew on here...if you are around long enough, and read people's posts you get an idea of who has experience in creating recipes and who doesn't...Which recipes get brewed alot, etc....and trust the recipes by them...
When I'm looking for a recipe I start with those by people I know on here, like the Mods or some of the other brewers who help beginners because I know their brewing philosophy or level of experience, or have seen the response to their recipes..After those people I will look at the other recipes and see if the poster has updated or posted comments about their recipe, or if other people have as well..to see if anyone else has brewed it...then the next "tier" is those that look like the recipe was written AFTER it was brewed and bottled.
(once clue look to see if they put a final gravity in the recipe..if there is a question mark, or a blank, than more than likely it was put in there before being tested.)
It seems like it's getting better, the mods are police it more, as are other members, and the mods want people to report any of the recipe that look untried, and they will either notify the OP to update the recipe with tasting notes, gravites, etc, or move them back to the recipe ingredients section...so there's hope that the database can actually be the "canon" of everyone's best recipes...
I know some newer brewers have gotten upset because they have tried a couple of them, thinking they were "good" recipes and realized that they were not the best representation of HBT recipes.
If you look at my pull down..you see only one recipe in there (and in the database) yet I have posted a lot of my recipes in the Recipe/ingredients forum..at least a half dozen, maybe more...
But I feel that my brown ale (even though I constantly tweak it and post the notes of variations in the thread) is the only one I "stand behind" right now enough to attach my name to it...
