Boddington AK 1901 - 1917

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.