Degrees Plato
Degrees Plato state the original gravity of beer before fermentation in percent by weight. It is the tax base for beer duty.
What matters in practice
Degrees Plato is a figure by weight, not by volume: the original gravity in grams per 100 grams of beer, derived by the large Balling formula from the alcohol and extract content present (section 2 (1) BierStG). It relates to the alcohol content of the finished beer only indirectly.
For duty purposes the figure is rounded down. Fractions of a degree are disregarded, so 11.8 degrees Plato count as 11 (section 2 (1) BierStG). That sounds minor, but across large volumes it shifts the tax base by a whole degree and it decides which tax class the product falls into in the duty declaration.
From 1 January 2031 all ingredients of the beer are taken into account, including those added after fermentation has ended (section 2 (1) BierStG). For sweetened beers and mixtures the tax base may rise as a result.
Legal basis
Section 2 (1) BierStG
Example
A pilsner typically sits at 11 to 12 degrees Plato. A stated 11.8 degrees counts as 11, so six hectolitres come to 51.94 euro of beer duty.
What goes wrong
The figure gets estimated. A pilsner typically sits at 11 to 12 degrees Plato, and that narrow range invites people to assume a value instead of asking for it. The binding figure is the one the brewery states for the product.
The second error is rounding the wrong way. There is no rounding up: declare 11.8 as 12 and you overpay, carry 12.0 as 11 and you underpay. Either way it has to be traceable in the stock ledger, because the duty declaration is broken down by tax class.
At TXWH
TXWH keeps the beer ledger in hectolitres and degrees Plato. The original gravity per product therefore belongs to the master data that has to be available before the first storage.