The popularity of alcohol-free beers and wines is driving European manufacturers to equip themselves with alcohol-removal technologies.
But what are these technologies?
In order to dealcoholise an alcohol (wine, beer or spirits), 3 techniques are available and effective.
We propose to you today to detail that of reverse osmosis:
This is a physical process to separate alcohol from other residues through the use of membranes. A mixture of water and alcohol (and a few other molecules such as potassium or organic acids) is extracted using a pressure greater than the osmotic pressure of the wine: this is the permeate. The alcohol is then removed from this permeate and reintegrated into the wine already treated, reducing losses. There are two ways of doing this: using a membrane contractor (removing the alcohol by osmosis using micro-filtration) or by distillation (removing the alcohol by evaporation). The first will enable an alcohol content of 10% to be extracted and the second around 85%.
It is the cheapest technology to reduce the alcohol content of a product by a few degrees and it is the least bulky. As a result, it is the most widely used method used by French winemakers to reduce the alcohol content of wines that are too concentrated in alcohol, especially in very hot and dry years. On the other hand, it is a water-intensive technology, not very suitable for total dealcoholisation and does not allow the initial aromas to be separated and then reincorporated.
If you are interested in dealcoholisation technologies, do not hesitate to find out more directly on our website, under the heading "alcohol-removal technologies" or to contact us.