The Plato scale is used to measure the specific gravity (relative density) of the wort or must of alcoholic beverages at various stages in the fermentation. The density of a wort is largely dependent on the sugar content of the wort. A wort with one degree Plato has the same density as a solution of demineralised water with one weight percent sucrose. Thus, the Plato scale is essentially the same as the Brix scale (°Bx) used by the sugar industry. They both can be simply and reliably determined by all Schmidt + Haensch refractometers.