Let's Brew Wedneday - 1939 Fullers AK

Weakest of Fullers Pale Ales was my old favourite obsession, AK. Yes, a Pale Ale, not an effing Light Mild. The trouble McMullen have caused me by their inexplicable decision to dub their AK a Mild. There’s a large body of US home brewers who now take that as gospel.

Obviously, AK was part of a parti-gyle which included XK and PA, its two stronger siblings. This particular parti-gyle consisted of just 3.25 barrels of AK, along with 136 barrels of XK and 166 barrels of PA. Clearly AK wasn’t a major brand for fullers.

Back before WW I it had been, with Fullers turning out 300-odd barrels at a time. But the war wasn’t kind, reducing AK’s OG to the low 1030ºs. Which may account for its poor sales. Bitters that weak weren’t very common in London. The batches are so small, there could only have been a handful of pubs taking the beer.

The recipe, inevitably, is identical to XK and PA. Despite its low gravity, AK still comes out to a very reasonable 35 (calculated) IBUs.

1939 Fullers AK
pale malt	6.25 lb	81.86%
flaked maize	1.00 lb	13.10%
No. 2 invert sugar	0.25 lb	3.27%
glucose	0.125 lb	1.64%
caramel 1000 SRM	0.01 lb	0.13%
Fuggles 90 min	1.25 oz
Goldings 30 min	1.25 oz
Goldings dry hops	0.25 oz
OG	1033.5
FG	1006.5
ABV	3.57
Apparent attenuation	80.60%
IBU	35
SRM	5
Mash at	145º F
After underlet	147º F
Sparge at	168º F
Boil time	90 minutes
pitching temp	61º F
Yeast	WLP002 English Ale