I just realised something yesterday. That I've, almost accidentally, started writing bits of the book I plan after I finally fish "Blitzkrieg!". Makes me fell like I'm not wasting my time here.
A word before we look at the make-up of an AK. You need to understand what the brewers' intentions were. They wanted a light, pale beer that was easy to drink. Knowing their will making it easier to interpret their recipe choices.
No surprise, given the aim was a pale beer, that's there's no malt, other than the base, in any of them. Crystal malt in Pale Ales didn't become a practice until well into the 20th century. Only after WW II did it become widespread.
I expected more than five out of nine (excluding the 1878 Andams, which id pre-Free Mash Tun Act) to have included an adjunct of some sort. The quantities weren't huge, either. just 4% to 8%.
While there were sack-loads of sugar , averaging out at almost 20% of the grist. Boddington AK was the only example with a sugar content below 10%. Throwing in lots of sugar is exactly what you'd do, if you wanted to keep the body light.
| AK grists 1878 - 1911 | ||||||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | pale malt | flaked maize | flaked rice | total adjunct | invert | Sacc. | other sugar | total sugar |
| 1878 | Adnams | AK | 67.74% | 32.26% | 32.26% | |||||
| 1885 | Kirkstall | AK | 78.46% | 21.54% | 21.54% | |||||
| 1887 | Fullers | AK | 79.81% | 20.19% | 20.19% | |||||
| 1890 | Adnams | AK | 84.00% | 16.00% | 16.00% | |||||
| 1896 | Eldridge Pope | AK | 78.72% | 4.26% | 4.26% | 17.02% | 17.02% | |||
| 1896 | Eldridge Pope | BAK | 75.56% | 4.44% | 4.44% | 20.00% | 20.00% | |||
| 1896 | Rose | AK | 81.08% | 8.11% | 8.11% | 8.11% | 2.70% | 10.81% | ||
| 1901 | Boddington | AK | 90.70% | 9.30% | 9.30% | |||||
| 1911 | Russell | AK | 75.65% | 6.58% | 6.58% | 17.54% | 0.23% | 17.78% | ||
| 1911 | Eldridge Pope | BAK | 79.25% | 3.77% | 3.77% | 11.32% | 5.66% | 16.98% | ||
| Average | 79.10% | 5.43% | 18.19% | |||||||
| Sources: | ||||||||||
| Adnams brewing record held at the brewery. | ||||||||||
| Fullers brewing record held at the brewery. | ||||||||||
| Boddington brewing record held at Manchester Central Library, document number M693/405/125. | ||||||||||
| Russell brewing record held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number B/THB/RUS/8 | ||||||||||
| Eldridge Pope brewing record. | ||||||||||
| Rose brewing record. | ||||||||||
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