Dealcoholization

Summary

Product identification

This document, FORM NO.: TA-018, revised 07/01/2021, describes technical applications for Wine & Beer Dealcoholization. The content is from Mann + Hummel.

Introduction to Dealcoholization

Winemakers and brewers may need to reduce alcohol content to avoid challenges such as a "hot" taste, additional taxes, or compliance issues if the alcohol by volume (ABV) differs from the label. There is also increasing demand for nonalcoholic beverages, often with a maximum ABV of 0.5%, due to healthier lifestyles, driving regulations, religious reasons, pregnancy, or abstinence.

Traditional methods like interrupting fermentation or steaming off ethanol can negatively affect beverage flavor. Membrane processes, including reverse osmosis (RO), nanofiltration (NF), and dialysis, offer targeted alcohol reduction while maintaining flavor.

Methods of Reducing Alcohol Content

Methods for reducing alcohol content in beer and wine broadly fall into:

• Restriction of Ethanol Formation (e.g., interrupted fermentation, special yeasts)
• Removal of Ethanol (e.g., heat treatments, extraction processes, membrane processes)

Membrane processes are highlighted for their ability to control alcohol content and maintain flavor.

Reverse Osmosis & Nanofiltration for Dealcoholization

RO and NF are used for targeted alcohol reduction without significantly changing flavors, tannins, and other elements in wine or beer.

In these systems:

• Wine or beer is fed into the system.
• Small, uncharged molecules like water and ethanol pass through the membrane as permeate.
• Most elements including color, tannins, and flavor do not pass through, remaining as retentate.

Dealcoholization systems using spiral-wound RO and NF membrane elements are typically operated in two main configurations:

1. Diafiltration:

   • Permeate (mainly water and ethanol) is withdrawn from the feed.
   • Deaerated water is added to the retentate at the same flow rate to maintain constant system volume, increasing alcohol extraction capacity.
   • A second loop may be used to remove additional ethanol.

2. Permeate Distillation:

   • The RO or NF permeate (a colorless and tasteless water and alcohol mixture) is distilled to separate alcohol from water.
   • The distilled alcohol may be used in other beverages.
   • The water can be recombined with the RO or NF retentate (containing color, flavor, and tannins) to produce a dealcoholized, flavorful beverage.

Dialysis for Dealcoholization

Dialysis is another membrane-based method for ethanol removal, utilizing capillary membrane modules, such as DIADYN CD 4 PS 513 modules.

In a dialysis system:

• Beer or wine flows counter-currently to a dialysate (e.g., water).
• Low molecular weight solutes, such as ethanol, pass through the membrane due to a concentration gradient, moving from the beer/wine to the dialysate to achieve equilibrium.
• The alcohol-rich dialysate is then sent to a stripper column where ethanol is removed by evaporation.
• The remaining alcohol-free dialysate is reused in the dialysis unit to minimize permeation of flavor compounds and remove additional ethanol.

Like RO and NF systems, dialysis has a minimal impact on the flavor of the beer or wine.

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Disclaimer: This summary is based on extracted text and may omit figures, footnotes, or later revisions. Contractual data must match the OEM PDF revision used on the project.

Official datasheet (PDF)

PDF datasheet