Glossary · Chemistry
Oechsle
Also written °Oe, degrees Oechsle. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
A German must-weight scale: the number of grams by which a litre of juice exceeds the weight of a litre of water. A juice at 1.050 specific gravity reads 50 degrees Oechsle.
- Subject
- Chemistry
- Also written
- °Oe, degrees Oechsle
In more detail
The scale is deliberately arithmetic rather than chemical. Take the specific gravity, subtract one, multiply by a thousand: 1.050 becomes 50 °Oe. It measures density and nothing else, so anything dissolved in the juice contributes — sugar overwhelmingly, but also acids, minerals and the pectin the fruit brought with it.
Which is why it is not interchangeable with Brix. Brix is calibrated against sucrose solutions and read on a refractometer; Oechsle is a density reading. The two agree closely on clean juice and diverge on cloudy or pectinous must, and neither survives contact with a fermenting liquid, because ethanol is lighter than water and pulls a hydrometer reading down while bending light the other way.
CiderHQ stores specific gravity rather than converting to Oechsle, for the reason it does not convert any unit: the figure a source published is the figure the source can be checked against.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Chemistry
Specific gravity
The density of a liquid relative to water at the same temperature. In cider it is the routine measure of dissolved sugar before fermentation and of progress during it.
Chemistry
Brix
A scale expressing dissolved solids as grams of sucrose per hundred grams of solution. One degree Brix is approximately one per cent sugar by weight in juice.
Cider
Most
In German-speaking Europe, either fresh fruit juice or the fermented drink made from it. Which one it means is settled by the country you are standing in, and in Austria it is settled by statute.
Chemistry
Potential alcohol
The alcoholic strength a juice would reach if all its fermentable sugar were converted, estimated from the starting gravity.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Hochschule Geisenheim University — beverage technology
Hochschule Geisenheim · university · retrieved 2026-08-24
German beverage-technology research covering apple wine and fruit juice processing, including the enzymology of clarification.
The New Cider Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
Claude Jolicoeur, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781603584739 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against the Open Library union catalogue: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781603584739, one edition recorded. That establishes the citation points at a real book in a stated edition, which is what a citation needs and is all it establishes. No copy was opened and nothing is quoted from it. The book itself is in print and not digitised in any open collection; where CiderHQ needs a figure from this territory it uses an accessible research source instead and says so.