Free tools for winemakers
Brix, SG and Baumé converter
Sugar scales and potential alcohol
Equivalents
Sugar content only applies above 1.000 SG — at or below it, the reading is alcohol, not sugar.
How do we calculate this?
The exact formulas used in this tab:
What this calculator does
Converts a sugar reading between Brix, specific gravity (SG), Baumé, Oechsle and KMW, and shows the sugar content in g/L and the potential alcohol.
- Type the reading in whichever scale your refractometer or hydrometer shows.
- Below it there is a printable Brix to SG table from 0 to 30 °Bx.
- The sugar and alcohol figures are for must before fermentation. Once fermentation starts, alcohol skews the reading — a refractometer especially — so they no longer hold.
The formula
SG → Brix = (((182.4601·SG − 775.6821)·SG + 1262.7794)·SG − 669.5622)Brix → SG = 1 + Brix / (258.6 − (Brix / 258.2) × 227.1)Baumé = 145 − (145 / SG) (when SG ≥ 1)Baumé = Brix / 1.8 (when SG < 1)Oechsle = (SG − 1) × 1000KMW = Brix × 0.85Sugar (g/L) = Brix × 10 × SG (only when SG > 1)Potential alcohol (%) ≈ Brix × 0.59 (only when Brix > 0)
Worked example
The other scales
- Must reading: 22.5 °Brix
- Specific gravity 1 + 22.5 ÷ 238.81 = 1.0942
- Baumé 145 − 145 ÷ 1.09422 = 12.49
- Oechsle (1.0942 − 1) × 1,000 = 94.2
- KMW 22.5 × 0.85 = 19.13
SG 1.0942, 12.49 °Baumé, 94.2 °Oechsle and 19.13 °KMW
Sugar and potential alcohol
- Must reading: 22.5 °Brix
- SG 1.0942
- Sugar content 22.5 × 10 × 1.0942 = 246.2 g/L
- Potential alcohol 22.5 × 0.59 = 13.3 % vol
About 246.2 g/L of sugar and 13.3 % vol potential alcohol
Brix to SG table
Every whole Brix value from 0 to 30, with the matching specific gravity, Baumé, Oechsle, sugar content and potential alcohol, from the same formulas as the converter above.
| °Bx | SG | °Bé | °Oe | Sugar (g/L) | Potential alcohol (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1.0000 | 0.0 | 0 | — | — |
| 1 | 1.0039 | 0.6 | 4 | 10 | 0.6 |
| 2 | 1.0078 | 1.1 | 8 | 20 | 1.2 |
| 3 | 1.0117 | 1.7 | 12 | 30 | 1.8 |
| 4 | 1.0157 | 2.2 | 16 | 41 | 2.4 |
| 5 | 1.0197 | 2.8 | 20 | 51 | 2.9 |
| 6 | 1.0237 | 3.4 | 24 | 61 | 3.5 |
| 7 | 1.0277 | 3.9 | 28 | 72 | 4.1 |
| 8 | 1.0318 | 4.5 | 32 | 83 | 4.7 |
| 9 | 1.0359 | 5.0 | 36 | 93 | 5.3 |
| 10 | 1.0400 | 5.6 | 40 | 104 | 5.9 |
| 11 | 1.0442 | 6.1 | 44 | 115 | 6.5 |
| 12 | 1.0484 | 6.7 | 48 | 126 | 7.1 |
| 13 | 1.0526 | 7.2 | 53 | 137 | 7.7 |
| 14 | 1.0568 | 7.8 | 57 | 148 | 8.3 |
| 15 | 1.0611 | 8.4 | 61 | 159 | 8.9 |
| 16 | 1.0654 | 8.9 | 65 | 170 | 9.4 |
| 17 | 1.0698 | 9.5 | 70 | 182 | 10.0 |
| 18 | 1.0741 | 10.0 | 74 | 193 | 10.6 |
| 19 | 1.0785 | 10.6 | 79 | 205 | 11.2 |
| 20 | 1.0830 | 11.1 | 83 | 217 | 11.8 |
| 21 | 1.0875 | 11.7 | 87 | 228 | 12.4 |
| 22 | 1.0920 | 12.2 | 92 | 240 | 13.0 |
| 23 | 1.0965 | 12.8 | 96 | 252 | 13.6 |
| 24 | 1.1011 | 13.3 | 101 | 264 | 14.2 |
| 25 | 1.1057 | 13.9 | 106 | 276 | 14.8 |
| 26 | 1.1103 | 14.4 | 110 | 289 | 15.3 |
| 27 | 1.1150 | 15.0 | 115 | 301 | 15.9 |
| 28 | 1.1197 | 15.5 | 120 | 314 | 16.5 |
| 29 | 1.1244 | 16.0 | 124 | 326 | 17.1 |
| 30 | 1.1292 | 16.6 | 129 | 339 | 17.7 |
Questions
How is potential alcohol worked out?
As Brix × 0.59, the same rough rule the app uses. It estimates the alcohol if all the sugar ferments, so use it on must before fermentation starts. The real figure depends on the yeast and the fermentation.
Why are sugar content and potential alcohol blank for a reading at or below 1.000 SG?
Alcohol changes these readings from the moment fermentation starts, so the sugar and alcohol figures only mean something for must before fermentation. At or below 1.000 SG the converter shows no figure at all: the wine may be dry or may still hold some sugar, and the reading alone can’t tell. A residual-sugar test can.
Brix, Baumé or Oechsle — which should I use?
They measure the same thing on different scales, so it is mostly habit and region. Brix is common in much of the New World, Baumé in France and Oechsle in Germany and Switzerland. Use whichever your instrument shows; the converter gives the rest.