Digital Refractometer for % Brix, °Oe and °KMW Sugar Analysis in Wine, Juice and Must

This Hanna Instruments digital refractometer measures sugar in Brix and in the Oechsle and Klosterneuburg scales.

Why it is measured

German and Austrian winemaking specify Oechsle and KMW rather than Brix, and those scales appear in contracts, in appellation rules and on delivery notes. Converting between them by table is where transcription errors live.

Where it is used

• wineries working to European scales
• grape purchasing
• appellation compliance
• harvest logistics

How a refractometer works

Light bends by a different amount depending on how much is dissolved in a liquid. A refractometer measures that bend and converts it to a concentration scale. It needs one or two drops, gives an answer in seconds, and has no reagents and nothing to consume.

A digital instrument compensates for temperature automatically, which is the difference that matters: refractive index shifts with temperature enough that an uncompensated reading in a warm room is simply wrong.

Practical note

State which scale a figure is in whenever it leaves the cellar; the same must is about 20 °Brix and about 85 °Oechsle.

Supplied as one model.