Unit of measurement in per cent 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 it is also used to determine the must weight (wine). The unit of measurement was named after the Austrian chemist Carl Joseph Napoleon Balling (1805-1868), who was born in Bohemia and developed it in 1843.

He dealt 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. The unit of measurement named after him was then improved in 1900 by the chemist Fritz Plato (1858-1938).
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