Let's Brew - 1911 Russell AK

The version of AK brewed by Russell was a bit weaker than its rivals, being only just over 1040º. An extremely light gravity for a Pale Ale of any description before WW I. It would be interesting to know if it sold for less than the standard AK price of 36 shillings for a 36-gallon barrel.

There’s nothing unusual about the recipe, which is simply pale malt, flaked maize and invert sugar. Rather a lot of the last, making up not far short of 20% of the grist. The pale malt was split 50-50 between English and foreign barley. 

A tiny amount of a second type of sugar was employed, something described as “Kendall”. The quantity is so small – a mere 12 lbs – that it could only be some sort of caramel.

Two types of hops were flung into the copper, both from the same grower, the only difference being their age. A third were from the 1908 harvest, the other two-thirds from 1910.

1911 Russell AK
pale malt	6.50 lb	76.47%
flaked maize	0.50 lb	5.88%
No. 1 invert sugar	1.50 lb	17.65%
Fuggles 105 mins	1.25 oz
Fuggles 30 mins	1.00 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.50 oz
OG	1041.5
FG	1010
ABV	4.17
Apparent attenuation	75.90%
IBU	28
SRM	6
Mash at	150º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	105 minutes
pitching temp	59º F
Yeast	Wyeast 1469 West Yorkshire Ale Timothy Taylor