A critical comparison of the Balling procedure for the measurement of obscuration of unsweetened spirits with an official French method

Abstract

The Balling procedure and an official French method for the determination of obscuration and true alcoholic strengths have been examined. It is demonstrated that whereas the Balling procedure provides accurate values for obscuration, the French method yields consistently erroneous results. It is therefore concluded that the equation employed in the French method is not applicable to determinations of alcoholic strength expressed in percentage by volume (20 °C/20 °C), having been derived for use with measurements of alcoholic strengths expressed according to the former French (15 °C/15 °C) percentage by volume scale.