I've heard all the same things mentioned in this thread--about the alpha vs. bets isomer. I am no chemist, so I won't be of much assistance when it comes to that subject, but I can say the following without any doubt whatsoever. There have been many SD products sold over the years--and many of these have been lab tested---yet they are NOT all the same drug.
Like several others have said, the original SD (and many other versions) caused absolutely zero sub-q water retention. They were very dry and had an incredible effect on muscle fullness, strength, and vascularity. They were the absolute BEST steroids that I have ever used...by a LONG shot. They provided more mass gains, more quickly, than ANY other steroid...while simultaneously making me as hard, dry, and vascular as the best cutting steroids.
Nothing ever changed my body faster or made me stronger. When I was at my absolute strongest, I was using nothing but 40 mg of SD per day. I have tried every combo of steroid since, from small to massive dosages, and nothing ever got me as strong as I was on that one drug--at only 280 mg/week.
On the other hand, I have used some versions of SD that were absolute shit! I held a ton of water, felt horrible (severe lethargy and depression), and experienced even worse appetite suppression--to the point I just couldn't eat. Oh, and to cap things off, these versions did NOT provide the same gains in muscle or strength.
Keep in mind that I have probably used over 30 different brands of SD at this point in my life, with at least 20+ of them having been lab tested. Lab testing came to mean very little to me--because I realized very quickly that there must be different ways of making the drug that accounted for such a drastic difference in effects.
The difference in effects was so extreme that it was not even like the same drug. One version made me dry, rock hard, and fuller than Anadrol, while the other one literally made me look like I was using 50 mg of d-bol without an AI...and neither did it provide the same increase in fullness...not to mention all the other differences mentioned above.
I would be one thing if I had only used the drug only a few times, but after having used 30+ different brands (including the original and Methyl-Masterdrol, which was a killer version by the old Legal Gear about 9 years ago) and having confirmed lab-testing on at least 2 dozen occasions, I believe I can say with absolute certainty that not all SD products are being synthesized in the same fashion. I am FAR from the only one who has experienced this, which you can see by a few of the posts in here.
I actually feel bad for you guys who never got to try the original version (or others which were made the same way), as it was such a great drug. I saw one guy in here said he tried the old CEL version. I can't say that all of CEL's batches were bad, but I used it twice and it was nothing like the original. It caused water retention and all the other shitty sides previously mentioned. I actually had to discontinue it after about 10 days of use because I felt (and looked) so bad. However, I have heard from many others that CE was very inconsistent with their SD, with some batches being good and others being bad. I only used maybe a handful of different products that were good all of the time, but they are long gone.
It would be interesting to know which, if any, sponsors carry the correct version. Whether that means the alpha isomer or something else, I couldn't say, but I can say for sure that if a UGL carried some that worked like the original, they would be getting a LOT of referrals.