Dealcoholisation methods Vacuum distillation
PlatformEqualizer
Two-stage vacuum distillation at room temperature. Same family as the cone; different hardware, and it does put aroma back.
- 1 Aromas Stage one: the volatiles leave.
- 2 Alcohol Stage two: ethanol and heavier fractions leave.
- 3 Put-back The aromas are recombined with the NA wine.
| Driving force | Vacuum at room temperature |
|---|---|
| What leaves | Aromas first, then ethanol, both as vapour |
| What happens to water | No published loss figure |
| Heat | About 24 °C, no hot surface |
| Type | Platform Part of Vacuum distillation |
|---|---|
| Developer | ABV Technology |
| Volume loss | No figure published by the maker |
| Final ABV | As low as ≤0.5% |
| Wines known to use it | No wine brand confirmed; mostly 0.0 beer so far |
| Best for | Producers who want a modular skid, continuous running and cool alcohol removal. |
What it is
Equalizer, from ABV Technology in St Paul, Minnesota, is a modular two-stage vacuum distillation skid. It started on craft beer (the company made its name running hundreds of non-alcoholic beers out of its Minneapolis–St Paul service centre) and was later adapted for wine, cider and other fermented drinks.
It is a modification of the thermal method, not of reverse osmosis. The scheme (volatiles first, ethanol second, aroma put back) recalls the spinning cone, but the hardware is not an SCC: vacuum evaporation at room temperature, with no hot surface and no spinning cones.
How it runs
CEO Ben Jordan describes two passes. Volatile aromatics come off first. Then ethanol, water and the higher-boiling components leave; after that the aromatics are recombined with the dealcoholised wine. The opposite of what is sometimes written: aroma put-back is built in. The company puts the process at about 24 °C (75 °F).
One input drink comes out as two products. A non-alcoholic one at 0.5% ABV or less, and a clear filtrate (a hard-seltzer base) at the original strength, stripped of colour and aroma. The skid carries an RO water unit for that second output; that does not make Equalizer a membrane method for the wine itself.
The numbers
Final strength reaches 0.5% ABV or less. The maker does not publish a volume-loss percentage, so none is invented here. The EQ1100 skid takes up roughly 1.2 by 2.4 metres of floor and processes up to 1.2 barrels an hour; it fits a tank footprint. Typical input: 3.5–15% ABV.
Wines that use it
ABV Technology’s public cases are breweries. The company confirms it is moving into wine and processes wine for clients, Sauvignon Blanc included, but no finished wine brand on Equalizer has been named publicly. This page will be updated once one is confirmed.
