Riesling Rules Book

German Oechsle - Brix Conversion Table

Grape Maturity Measurement at Harvest

Density Oechsle ° Brix Potential Alcohol
1.0698 69.8 17 9.7
1.0741 74.1 18 10.3
1.0785 78.5 19 10.8
1.0830 83.0 20 11.4
1.0874 87.4 21 12.0
1.0919 91.9 22 12.5
1.0965 96.5 23 13.1
1.1010 101.0 24 13.7
1.1056 105.6 25 14.3
1.1103 110.3 26 14.8
1.1149 114.9 27 15.4
1.1196 119.6 28 16.0
1.1244 124.4 29 16.5
1.1291 129.1 30 17.1
1.1339 133.9 31 17.7
1.1388 138.8 32 18.2
1.1436 143.6 33 18.8
1.1486 148.6 34 19.4
1.1535 153.5 35 20.0
1.1585 158.5 36 20.5
1.1635 163.5 37 21.1
1.1686 168.6 38 21.7
1.1736 173.6 39 22.2
1.1787 178.7 40 22.8

10 Responses to “German Oechsle - Brix Conversion Table”

  1. Hector Says:

    Why bother mentioning anything higher than 16%? When the alcohol gets to that level it will kill off the yeast…meaning no more alcohol will be produced. Mentioning “potential” above that level is meaningless.

  2. Book Says:

    Dear Hector,

    Thank you for your comment. It is trues that yeasts used in winemaking usually do not ferment beyond 16% alcohol (some would though, in Sake it is common to ferment to 20% alcohol with yeast). Potential alcohol is actually a unit commonly used, especially in Europe, at picking (which is why we use it in this contest). It is a winemaker term really with little meaning beyond harvest. Winemakers would often say “we ferment 10% and left 8% as sugar and they would refer to the potential alcohol as a measure of sugar (remember 16 grams of sugar = 1% potental alcohol). A geeky term granted.

  3. Dwayne Perreault Says:

    It is a very useful chart and thank you for providing it. I needed to compare the must weights for Canadian icewines to those of German eisweins. Sure enough, Canadian rules require 5 to 9 degrees Brix more than the Germans to allow harvesting.

    I see Hector’s point about “potential alcohol,” but it is still funny to think that Canadian icewine must has a potential of 20 degrees alcohol!

  4. Book Says:

    Whao, did not realize there was such a difference between Germany and Canada. What is the legal limit for icewine in Canada? 35 Brix (from your 20% potential alcohol).

    Thank you for the comment.

    Nicolas

  5. Dwayne Perreault Says:

    35 Brix is correct for Canada. In Germany, the limit varies between 110-128 Oechsle, depending on the region of production. This corresponds to roughly 26-30 Brix, a significantly lighter must weight. However, according to this press release, one German vintner recently measured a must weight of over 200 Oechsle, which is completely off the chart!: http://www.flyingwinewriter.com/2009Eisweingermany.php

  6. Book Says:

    Good to know about the 35 Brix. I can believe the 45 Brix number from the German Winery. the yield must have been low. When we press our ice Wine (the real one, not the Vin De Glaciere), we start at 55 Brix of the press and go down from there. We get only a few gallons per ton of the uber sticky stuff.

  7. Heindrich Says:

    “(remember 16 grams of sugar = 1% potental alcohol).”

    Is this per liter?

  8. Book Says:

    Yes, per liter.

  9. Christian G.E. Schiller Says:

    I have published today the following posting on my Schiller Wine Blog and have a question.

    http://schiller-wine.blogspot.com/2010/01/german-wine-basics-sugar-in-grape.html

    I have a little table about the link between sugar in the grape at harvest and the potential level of alcohol in the wine. The numbers come from http://www.wikipedia.de . What I noticed was that you also have a nice table about Oechsle, Brix and alcohol content, but your numbers for the potential alcohol content are lower than those found on http://www.wikipedia.de . Do you know why?

  10. Book Says:

    Dear Christian,

    I could not find the link on wikipedia.de you are referring to. My guess is that the difference comes from the convertion factor (sugar to ethanol) that I have used on the table. I have used 17.5g/L for one percent of alcohol but when I think about it, it sounds a bit high. I think I would use 16.5g/L sugar to make 1% of ethanol for the next edition. Would that reconcile some of the discrepency.

    Nicolas

Leave a Reply

Contribute factual content, a personal tale, data or – possibly (Heaven forfend) – a sincere correction.  You’ll likely find your contribution in Riesling Rules Second Edition due to be published in winter 2008.