Balling

Unit of measurement in percent for the sugar content (malt sugar and other types of sugar) in, for example, the original wort of beer, which can be converted into alcohol. It is mainly used in beer brewing, but in English-speaking countries also for determining must weight (wine). The unit of measurement was named after the Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Napoleon Balling (1805-1868), born in Bohemia, who developed it in 1843. He was concerned with fermentation chemistry in connection with beer brewing and winemaking, as well as distilling spirits and yeast production, and wrote the four-volume work "Die allgemeine Gährungschemie und die Bereitung des Weines" (General Fermentation Chemistry and the Preparation of Wine), published in 1845, which was considered the standard work of its time. His unit of measurement was then improved in 1900 by the chemist Fritz Plato (1858-1938). However, a "Balling" and a "Plato" are almost equivalent. The unit of measurement Brix, also named after the inventor, is also roughly identical. August-Wilhelm Freiherr von Babo (1827-1894) developed his Klosterneuburger Mostwaage (KMW) in 1861 on the basis of Balling's saccharometer. See also under the units of measurement Baumé and Oechsle.

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Balling

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