Original wort

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The original wort or the original wort content is a decisive parameter for the beer tax . This describes the proportion of malt sugar that was dissolved from the malt in the water before fermentation .

The wort has the same significance for beer production as the must has for wine production. Put simply, must is turned into wine and wort into beer through alcoholic fermentation using yeast . The term original wort in beer production corresponds to the term must weight in wine production.

Main ingredients

meaning

The original wort content is the main influencing factor for the later alcohol content and the nutritional value of the finished beer. The original wort is fermented in alcohol and carbon dioxide; the last third of the original wort is non-fermentable residual extract.

Degree Plato

The degree Plato is the unit of the original wort content. A wort with one degree Plato has by definition the same mass density as an aqueous sucrose solution with one percent by weight of sucrose. The abbreviation for the unit is ° P. It was named after the German chemist Fritz Plato , who developed the measurement system named after the Bohemian chemist Karl Josef Napoleon Balling in 1843.

Conversion between degrees Plato and mass density

The relationship between degrees Plato and mass density is not linear, a precise calculation can be found in the specialist literature. For the range around p = 10 ° P and a temperature of T = 20 ° C relevant in the brewery, the following linear formula can be used as a very good approximation:

With

d = mass density (in kg / m 3 ),
a = 4.13 kg / (m 3  ° P) and
b = 997 kg / m 3 .

The values a = 4 kg / (m 3  ° P) and b = 1000 kg / m 3 are often used for a and b . This choice of parameters corresponds to the rule of thumb that the original wort content results from the last two digits of the density (in kg / m 3 ) divided by four. A density of 1050 kg / m 3 therefore corresponds to an original wort content of 12.5 ° P.

The classification of beers according to their original wort content, together with the size of the brewery, is the basis for the beer tax levied .

The original wort (extract content of the unfermented wort) is also decisive for the alcohol content. According to the Balling formula, 2.0665 g of extract produce 1 g of alcohol, 0.11 g of yeast and 0.9565 g of CO 2 during fermentation .

tax

Austria

The beer tax is according to Section 3 (1) of the Beer Tax Act € 2.00 per hectolitre per degree of Plato original wort. This tax rate is reduced to 60% to 90% for small independent breweries depending on the total annual production (exception: licensed beer).

Germany

For the taxation of beer, the following types of beer were distinguished in Germany:

  • Simple beers with an original wort of below 7 ° P
  • Draft beers with original gravity from 7 ° P to below 11 ° P
  • Whole beers with original wort from 11 ° P to below 16 ° P
  • Strong beers from an original wort of 16 ° P or more.

Switzerland

For the taxation of beer in Switzerland, the following types of beer are distinguished:

  • Alcohol-free beer with an alcohol content of no more than 0.5 percent by volume
  • Light beer with an original wort up to 10.0 ° P
  • Normal and special beer with an original wort of 10.1 ° P to 14.0 ° P
  • Strong beer from an original wort of 14.1 ° P

proof

The most precise analysis method to determine the original wort of beer afterwards is the distillation analysis. With the help of the Balling formula, the original wort can be calculated and thus the beer tax can be determined.

  • m alc = mass fraction of alcohol in percent
  • E w = extract really in percent by mass

In the brewing industry, one also speaks of extract content measurement , for which industrial measurement methods exist.

Types of beer

Original wort contents of different types of beer:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Sugar Technologists Manual; Z. Bubnik, P. Kadlek, D. Urban, M. Bruhns p. 164, Bartens 1995.
  2. ^ Hans G. Hirschberg: Handbook of process engineering and plant construction: Chemistry, technology and economic efficiency . Springer, 1999, ISBN 3-540-60623-8 ( limited preview in Google book search).