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This seems to be turning into AK week. Nothing wrong with that. I never get bored of the topic.

Back in 1901, AK was Boddington's joint weakest beer along with X Mild Ale. Their other Pale Ale, IPA, was considerably stronger at 1056º. This is the beer which eventually became Boddington's Bitter, after many transformations.

Not much changed between 1901 and the start of WW I. Just a couple of points knocked off the gravity. The first war years saw the gravity drop another couple of points. And then it all comes to a grinding halt in the spring of 1917. That's no coincidence.

April 1917 saw new government-imposed restrictions on brewing. Ones which prompted breweries to take a close look at their beer ranges. Most dropped beers, usually the less popular or super-strong ones. Some, like Truman's Burton brewery, went further, discontuining everything and introducing a totally different range.

Boddinton went for a drastic pruning. Of the seven beers they produced at the start of 1917 (XX, BB and XXX Mild Ales; CC Strong Ale; IPA, AK and Stout) only XX, IPA and Stout survived. Boddington would never brew such a large variety of beers again. And their AK would never return.

Note how the hopping rate was halved between 1903 and 1913. That's a big, big change, I can't imagine that it happened overnight, more likely a gradual, less noticeable process.

Boddington AK 1901 - 1917
Date Year OG FG ABV App. Atten-uation lbs hops/ qtr hops lb/brl
12th Dec 1901 1046 1013 4.37 71.74% 8.00 1.48
9th July 1902 1046 1010 4.76 78.26% 8.00 1.48
7th May 1903 1046 1010 4.76 78.26% 8.00 1.48
29th Jan 1913 1042 1011 4.10 73.81% 3.21 0.73
9th Jul 1914 1044 1013 4.10 70.45% 2.92 0.57
5th May 1915 1039 1010 3.84 74.36% 4.07 0.90
16th May 1916 1040 1010 3.97 75.00% 3.79 0.90
1st Feb 1917 1039 1017 2.91 56.41% 3.33 0.81
Sources:
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/126.
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/126.
Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/127.



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