Oechsle scale
Degrees Oechsle (abbreviated ° Oechsle or ° Oe) is a measure of the must weight of grape must. It is named after its inventor, mechanic Pforzheimer Ferdinand Oechsle, named.
Must weight is a measure of the fraction of the solutes (mainly sugar ) in grape must ( grape juice ) and thus an important quality criterion of wine. It is based on the density of the must ( unfermented juice of the words ).
It measures the must weight with a Mostwaage, a calibrated hydrometer. Alternatively, the refractometer can be visually the sugar concentration of the must measure. The Saccharimeter determined the sugar content independent of density and refractive index, so that regardless of the alcohol content.
Definition
The amount must weight in n ° Oechsle is obtained from the density of the must () and the density of water (), measured at 20 ° C, by the formula. The degrees Oechsle so specify how many grams a liter of must weigh more than a liter of water.
Value ranges and interpretation
In general, the must weight of a middle age group in Germany is between 70 and 80 ° Oechsle. A statement about the quality of the finished wine arises only partly from the Oechsle value: Particularly sweet grapes indeed result in a wine with a particularly high alcohol content, but the taste is still dependent on many other factors such as the acidity.
About the must weight the potential alcohol content of the wine can be determined ( if the wine is fermented, that is, when the yeast cells have transformed so much sugar in alcohol, as they can [max. Approximately 18% by volume, since the yeast cells at a higher concentration die ] ). A must with 80 ° Oechsle results fully fermented wine with 84 grams of pure ethanol per liter, which corresponds to an alcohol content of 10.6 % by volume. Trockenbeerenauslese can reach over 300 ° Oechsle - record in the summer of 2003 even 331 ° Oe were measured at a dry berry selection.
In Germany there for an official " table to determine the natural alcoholic strength by volume of the Oechsle degree ":
International use
For the must weight, that is the sugar content of the juice, different international units are used, the degree Oechsle in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg is used, while in the former sphere of influence of Austria, as the countries of the former Austria - Hungary, today nor the Klosterneuburger (KMW ) is in use. In France and Spain, however, degrees Baume is in use. In English-speaking countries also known in the fruit processing industry density measurement scale used in degrees Brix.