SG vs. Brix

[damdaman]

I've noticed a lot of wineries and breweries using brix, rather than SG, on their bottles and websites. Is there an advantage to one or the other? Or is it just a matter of personal preference? Is there an easy rule of thumb for converting between the two?

 

[brycelarson]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/

Just different scales (think F v C for temps)

 

[DoctorCAD]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/

Just different scales (think F v C for temps)

Almost...

Brix is a measure of sugar in a water solution, thats all it is.

Specific gravity is a ratio of how "thick" or "thin" any solution is compared to water (which is exactly 1.000 at the right conditions). Mercury has a specific gravity of 13.56 (and it has no sugar in it). Pure ethenol is .780 (again, no sugar).

What makes them similar for us is that we only care about the sugars that are dissolved in water, so brix is more accurate for that specific measurement. However, when all the sugars have been converted to alcohol, the brix measurement is no longer useful at all and SG is more useful.