Balling

Balling. (bohl'-ling)

    1. A type of saccharometer devised by Carl Joseph Napoleon Balling in 1843. Balling noticed that the extract in wort increased the density of the wort in almost the same proportion as saccharose increased the density of water. He prepared solutions of saccharose and computed tables giving the extract content based on the density of the wort. The Balling saccharometer is graduated in grams per hundred (or percent) so as to give a direct reading of the percentage of extract by weight per 100 grams of solution and is calibrated for use at 63.5 °F (17.5 °C). (Example: 10 °B equals 10 grams of sugar per 100 grams of wort.) Pale ales commonly tend to be around 13.5 °B and porters around 12.5 °B. On the specific gravity scale, 1 °B equals 3.8 points. Because the reading gives the percentage extract by weight, it must be multiplied by the specific gravity to obtain the percentage weight per 100 milliliters. The tables computed by Balling were slightly erroneous but were corrected by Plato around 1900. Balling also devised the following formula to calculate the original extract of a beer from its alcohol content and terminal (or true) gravity:

E = [(2.665 × A + n ) × 100] / (100 + 1.0665 × A)
E = original extract
n = true extract of the beer
A = percent weight of alcohol

2. Balling (degree). A measure on the Balling saccharometer. Abbrev: °B. See also: Brix; Plato.