A method for testing the brakes of a wind energy system is provided, wherein the method comprising determining the brake torque by an indirect measurement. The method contains a comparison to defined threshold values for time and generator torque as well as time and actual power. Further, a computer-readable medium is provided that provides instructions which when executed by a computing platform cause the computing platform to perform operations wherein the operations include the method according to embodiments described herein. Further, a wind energy system is provided that has a rotor with a rotor brake and a calculation unit adapted for comparing two threshold values for time and torque to the actual values of time and torque, alternatively for comparing two threshold values for time and actual power to the actual values of time and actual power.