AK during WW II

The excitement just never ends when it comes to AK. Or perhaps it just never started. For you. For me, I can't never get me enough.

Someone mentioned recently that they thought AK died out between the wars. That's not really true. AK was given a good old kick in the bollocks by WW I. Many found their demise in the war's brutal gravity cuts. Others, though fatally weakened, soldiered on. Another war was the last thing they needed.

Kicking off the war at a little over 1030º, there wasn't far they could go once a new round of gravity cuts began to bite. 

Greene King seem to have dropped theirs early doors. Its AK had the bad luck to have another beer, PA, that was just a tiny bit stronger. When gravities fell, it dropped into AK's slot and that was it.

At Fullers, their three pre-war Pale Ales, in ascending order of strength, AK, XK and PA, were pared back to just a single beer in 1942, PA No. 2.

Shepherd Neame's version had the good fortune that the next Pale Ale up the hierarchy of strength, BB, was a good bit stronger at the outbreak of war. 1039.3º to AK's 1031.3º. A gap large enough that, even after the drop in strength, there was still a gap of 4º at war's end. The reprieve was only temporary. AK was discontinued in 1951.

AK during WW II
Date	Year	Brewer	Beer	OG	FG	ABV	App. Atten-uation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
23rd Jan	1940	Greene King	AK	1031.6	1007.2	3.22	77.19%	6.00	0.75
8th May	1940	Fullers	AK	1029.1	1008.6	2.71	70.48%	9.02	1.05
20th May	1940	Shepherd Neame	AK	1030.5	1005.5	3.30	81.82%	6.89	0.80
25th May	1941	Fullers	AK	1028.4	1006.4	2.91	77.56%	7.40	0.81
4th Feb	1943	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1005.0	2.93	81.63%	4.62	0.54
18th Dec	1943	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1005.9	2.81	78.16%	4.59	0.52
21st Feb	1944	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1005.8	2.82	78.47%	4.45	0.51
27th Nov	1944	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1006.4	2.75	76.53%	4.87	0.53
22nd Feb	1945	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1005.5	2.86	79.59%	4.87	0.55
7th May	1945	Shepherd Neame	AK	1027.1	1006.0	2.80	78.06%	4.75	0.55
Sources:
Fullers brewing records held at the brewery.
Greene King brewing record held at the brewery, document number AC93/1/14 .
Shepherd Neame brewing record held at the brewery.

Grists next time.