Comments on: German Oechsle – Brix Conversion Table

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:37:57 +0000

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

By: Christian G.E. Schiller

Christian G.E. Schiller — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:51:25 +0000

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?

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:22:56 +0000

Yes, per liter.

By: Heindrich

Heindrich — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:44:08 +0000

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

Is this per liter?

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:11:08 +0000

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.

By: Dwayne Perreault

Dwayne Perreault — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:06:33 +0000

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

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:11:46 +0000

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

By: Dwayne Perreault

Dwayne Perreault — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 18:35:08 +0000

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!

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 16:44:07 +0000

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.

By: Hector

Hector — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 01:01:03 +0000

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.