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Since I passed my license and officially became a driver, there have been situations in my life from time to time when at some holiday or business dinner I cannot afford to drink, because after the event I will need to drive.
To put it mildly, I didn’t really like the prospect of giving up my own car on such days and using taxi services, but I was not ready to completely forget the taste of alcohol.
Once at the birthday party of my colleague, when I once again refused alcohol, my new acquaintance told me that he had tried to make non-alcoholic wine. At first I was skeptical about this idea and thought to myself that this is some kind of nonsense.
However, I remembered non-alcoholic beer, which pretty well repeats the taste of regular beer, and decided to study the topic of non-alcoholic drinks in more detail.
Vladimir, a blog subscriber, shared his story.
Ways to remove a degree from ethyl alcohol
Non-alcoholic wine is made in exactly the same way as ordinary wine, but at the final stages it undergoes a special treatment that allows you to remove alcohol from the drink. At the same time, the taste of the wine is preserved, which made me very happy.
There are several ways to remove alcohol from wine:
- Pasteurization. The easiest way that does not require additional equipment. The wine is kept for 6 minutes at a temperature of 80 degrees, then cooled. Due to the high temperature, the drink loses some aromatic nuances, but in general, the taste of the wine does not disappear.
- vacuum distillation. When using this method, the wine is also subjected to heat treatment, but at a much lower temperature (27 degrees is enough). This procedure is performed under reduced pressure.
- Reverse osmosis. The most difficult, but at the same time the most gentle way for the drink. With the help of a finely porous membrane, it becomes possible to filter alcohol molecules from water molecules, since they differ greatly in size.
It is interesting! The patent for non-alcoholic wine belongs to the scientist Carl Jung, who received it back in 1908.
Is it possible to make non-alcoholic wine or champagne at home and what is needed for this
After learning all the necessary information, I decided to check if it is possible to make homemade non-alcoholic wine or champagne. As it turned out, non-alcoholic champagne, which completely repeats the taste of regular champagne, is impossible to cook at home.
However, there are many worthy alternative recipes, one of which we will consider below.
As for non-alcoholic wine, to make it, you first need to put regular grape wine. This is a longer process, but quite simple if you follow all the instructions clearly.
It is worth noting that after evaporating the alcohol from the finished wine, it must be consumed within three days. Otherwise, the wine will become undrinkable and your efforts will be in vain. Again, this only applies to non-alcoholic wines made at high temperatures.
Homemade non-alcoholic wine recipe
As mentioned earlier, you first need to prepare regular wine. I did not bother much and decided to make a classic wine from grapes. For this I needed:
- black grapes – 5 kg;
- sugar – 50 g per liter of juice.
Important! In no case should grapes be harvested during rain or washed, as this will wash wild yeast from the surface. Without them, the fermentation process will not occur and the wine will not turn out.
Technology of preparation:
- We shift the grapes into a suitable container and crush it with our hands to get as much juice as possible.
- We shift the grapes into an enamel bowl, cover with a lid and put in a dark, warm place for 3-5 days.
- Do not forget to stir the grape mass twice a day with a wooden (namely, wooden, this is important) spatula to break the “cap” formed from the skin of the grapes.
- On the 4th or 5th day, it is necessary to separate everything superfluous from the grape juice with the help of a sieve and gauze.
- Pour the juice into jars or large glass containers, but so that 1/3 of the container remains empty.
- We put on a rubber glove on the neck and pierce one finger with a needle so that excess gas comes out of the future wine. During the fermentation process, the glove inflates, and when this process ends, it returns to its original state. We send a container with grape juice to a dark place with a temperature of 21-27 degrees for 30 days.
- After 30 days, we take out the wine, remove the sediment with a tube and add sugar. We send it to stand for another month. If during this time the precipitate falls again, once again pour the future wine into clean jars using a tube.
- So, we have prepared wine, now our task is to make it non-alcoholic. To do this, it is necessary to remove alcohol from it using one of the methods described above. I did it by pasteurization. We heat the wine in a regular saucepan, bring it to a temperature of 80 degrees (I measured it with a culinary thermometer) and leave it for 6 minutes. Then remove from heat, cool the drink and non-alcoholic wine is ready!
Recipe for homemade non-alcoholic champagne
Of course, it is rather difficult to call this drink real champagne, since champagne is a sparkling wine made from pure grapes (most often) or with the addition of fruits.
However, the recipe I am considering is a worthy and very tasty alternative. The ingredients are as simple as possible:
- medium apple – 1 pc.;
- lemon juice – 75 ml;
- sugar – 2-3 st. l .;
- mint – 4-7 leaves (to taste);
- soda water – 100 ml;
- strawberries – for decoration.
Method of preparation:
- We put the pan on a small fire and add lemon juice and sugar to it, and then mix well until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Add chopped apples and mint to the pan. Leave to simmer covered for a few minutes.
- Strain the resulting mixture and pour it into a glass. Add soda water and garnish with strawberries.
- Delicious non-alcoholic champagne is ready!
Do you think soft drinks can completely replace regular wine and champagne?
Dear readers, remember that alcohol abuse harms your body. Take care of yourself!