The engineering of non-alcoholic spirits

Remove alcohol from a spirit and you change the way it smells, tastes and feels. Ethanol carries aroma, contributes warmth and texture and helps give a spirit persistence in the mouth. Recreating those qualities without it is a complex production challenge.  In a recent WSET webinar, Hendrik Giersiepen, R&D Director at Casa Lumbre, explored how producers are approaching that challenge, drawing on his work developing the non-alcoholic blue agave spirit Almave. From capturing aroma and rebuilding mouthfeel to keeping the finished liquid microbiologically stable, the absence of alcohol has implications at almost every stage of production.   Non-alcoholic spirits are still finding their feet   Available market data on non-alcoholic spirits is, in Giersiepen's words, “blurry” and heavily focused on Western markets. The category is also much younger than its beer and wine counterparts.  Alcohol-free beer has had decades to develop. Germany's first major non-alcoholic beer was launched in 1979, meaning the category has had almost half a century to build its products, production methods and consumer expectations.  Non-alcoholic wine has had a shorter journey but has still been around since the late 1990s to early 2000s. And non-alcoholic spirits are younger still.  The higher the starting alcohol level, the greater the sensory impact of removing it. That makes spirits particularly difficult: strip away most of the alcohol and you also strip away something fundamental to the way the liquid carries aroma, feels in the mouth and releases flavour.    How non-alcoholic drinks are made  There are broadly two generations of approaches to making non-alcoholic drinks.  The first is relatively straightforward in concept. Make a conventional fermented product, such as beer, wine or cider, and then remove the alcohol.  Vacuum distillation is one of the most established methods. By lowering the pressure inside the distillation equipment, alcohol can be removed at a lower temperature than it would under normal conditions, helping to limit the impact of heat on flavour and aroma.  Membrane technologies take a different approach, using extremely fine membranes to separate components of the liquid according to properties such as their molecular size. Other techniques include spinning cone systems, used particularly in wine, which separate volatile compounds such as alcohol and aroma at relatively low temperatures.  The challenge is that these processes inevitably affect the liquid around the alcohol. Aroma can collapse, mouthfeel can disappear and compounds that were previously masked by alcohol can suddenly become much more obvious.  There is also a simple principle that applies to any industrial process: “in is in, out is out”. If a low-quality bulk wine goes into a process, it is unlikely to emerge as an exceptional non-alcoholic wine.  The second approach starts earlier, designing the drink around the absence of alcohol from the outset. Giersiepen pointed to selected microorganisms, enzymes, biotechnology and new extraction methods as some of the tools producers are beginning to explore. Some are already scalable; others remain experimental.    Understanding where flavour comes from  One of the first challenges in developing a non-alcoholic spirit is identifying where the character of the original style comes from. Drawing on his work with Almave, Giersiepen broke the aromas of agave spirits down according to where they develop during production.  Primary aromas come from the raw material itself. In agave, these include characteristic botanical and fruity compounds.  Then there are aromas created by processing. The roasting of agave hearts, whether in brick ovens, autoclaves or earth pits, creates another layer of character. In the case of mezcal, the cooking process can also introduce smoky notes.  Fermentation adds another level of complexity. Microorganisms transform compounds and create new ones, producing esters, higher alcohols and other aromatic substances.  Finally, maturation introduces tertiary aromas. Wood can contribute sugars, polyphenols, tannins and aromatic compounds, while time changes the texture and integration of the spirit.  The same principle applies beyond agave. Creating a convincing non-alcoholic spirit means working out which characteristics come from the raw material, which are created during production and which ordinarily depend on fermentation, maturation or alcohol itself. Producers can then look for ways to retain or recreate those elements without simply trying to reproduce one familiar flavour.    The sensory role of alcohol  Alcohol is too often thought of only in terms of its intoxicating effect. But from a wider sensory and technical perspective, ethanol also acts as a carrier for aroma and contributes directly to the drinking experience.  Ethanol is particularly effective at dissolving and carrying aromatic compounds because of its molecular structure. When you drink a spirit, it helps transport flavour into the nose and contributes to the warmth and aromatic release experienced in the mouth.  Remove that carrier and the challenge goes far beyond lowering the ABV. A non-alcoholic spirit has to recreate some of the effects alcohol would ordinarily provide.   Building flavour without creating alcohol One approach Giersiepen discussed was the use of hydrosols, drawing on his experience developing Almave. Put simply, a hydrosol is aromatic water produced by distilling botanical material with water rather than alcohol.  If you heat something aromatic, such as lavender or orange peel, with water, some of its volatile compounds travel with the steam. When that steam is cooled back into liquid, the resulting hydrosol carries part of the aroma and flavour of the original ingredient, along with a small amount of essential oil.  This is useful in non-alcoholic drinks because water and alcohol extract different compounds. Ethanol is able to dissolve and carry a much wider range of aromatic substances, while water is more selective. A hydrosol therefore cannot recreate an alcoholic distillate exactly, but it can capture certain aromas without first producing alcohol.  In the agave example Giersiepen discussed, the raw material and several of the familiar early production stages are retained, but fermentation is skipped. Instead of allowing sugars in the cooked agave to ferment into alcohol, the agave is distilled with water to produce an aromatic hydrosol that can form part of the finished non-alcoholic drink.    Recreating the texture and warmth of a spirit Aroma is only one part of the challenge.  Alcohol also gives spirits viscosity, warmth and persistence. It creates a physical sensation in the mouth and helps release aromas through the retronasal olfactory system.  Without it, a drink can taste thin even when its individual flavours are convincing.  Giersiepen described the aim as recreating the “rock'n'roll” of a spirit in the mouth: the combination of sensations that gives it presence and persistence.  Minerals, tannins and acidity can all contribute to structure and sensation. Sugar can be used to provide texture. Other components help build the persistence and complexity that alcohol would ordinarily support.  This is also where the reality of non-alcoholic product development can clash with consumer expectations. A long ingredient list can look surprisingly “chemical” to someone expecting a simple spirit.    Vinegar and wood as unexpected tools  Giersiepen singled out vinegar and wood extraction as two areas with particular potential in non-alcoholic spirits.  Vinegar is volatile, which means it can carry aroma. Its potential as a tool for building aromatic lift in non-alcoholic drinks is significant, although developing suitable systems is not straightforward.  Wine and beer producers have access to hundreds of commercially available yeast strains with different aromatic capabilities. The equivalent toolbox for acetic acid bacteria is much less developed for this particular application. That makes vinegar an interesting area for future research rather than a finished solution.  Wood presents a different problem. You cannot simply put a non-alcoholic liquid into a barrel and leave it to age in the same way you would an alcoholic spirit. The absence of alcohol changes the stability of the liquid, and the result can deteriorate.  Instead, the wood can come to the liquid.  Water-based extracts of toasted wood can introduce compounds associated with maturation while also contributing roundness and texture. It is another example of having to rethink a familiar spirit-making process rather than simply removing alcohol from it.    Keeping an alcohol-free spirit stable  A tequila or whisky facility, for example, is designed to make alcohol. Producing a stable alcohol-free product in that environment requires a completely different level of microbiological control because once alcohol is removed, there is no longer the same level of protection against microbial growth.  In a warm Mexican production environment, freshly cooked agave is full of sugar. Yeasts are ready to consume it and produce alcohol. For a product that must remain below the relevant alcohol threshold, the window between cooking and processing can be extremely short.  That creates a need for high processing speeds, sophisticated laboratory controls and equipment capable of measuring very small quantities of alcohol.  The production environment itself must change too. Cleaning protocols need to be much more rigorous, dissolved oxygen needs to be controlled and bottling equipment may need to be upgraded.  Adapting an existing spirits facility for non-alcoholic production can therefore require substantial investment.    What happens after the bottle is opened?  There is another challenge that is easy to overlook: what happens once the bottle leaves the producer?  Alcoholic spirits are remarkably forgiving. A bottle can sit in a distributor's warehouse for years without the liquid deteriorating in the way a non-alcoholic product might.  Consumer habits developed around alcoholic spirits can create another problem. A bottle might be opened for one drink and then returned to a room-temperature minibar for several weeks.  Non-alcoholic spirits therefore have to contend with storage and handling expectations shaped by a very different kind of product.  In Almave's case, Giersiepen explained that glycolipids are used as part of the preservation system. These compounds, made up of sugar and lipid components, can help limit microbial growth. They sit alongside rigorous cleaning, testing, filling and microbiological control. The product is also maintained at a pH between 3 and 3.5, creating an environment in which many harmful microorganisms struggle to grow.  But there is no magic number for how long an opened bottle will remain stable. Once a bottle is in the hands of a consumer or bartender, the conditions are no longer controlled.    A new category needs new expectations  Giersiepen also questioned how the industry talks about the difference between 0.0% and products containing trace amounts of alcohol.  Giersiepen's view is that the distinction between 0% and below 0.5% alcohol needs to be better understood. Many beverages naturally contain trace amounts of alcohol, and ethanol is also used as a carrier for flavour in a range of products.  For him, pursuing a 0.0% claim can create significant technical constraints. Some raw materials and processes naturally introduce tiny amounts of alcohol, meaning products aiming for extremely low thresholds may need to be built as highly compounded flavour products instead.  There are also grey areas around what consumers mean when they talk about “low alcohol”, with products ranging from around 1% or 2% through to much higher levels.  The regulatory landscape is evolving alongside the products themselves, which makes transparent communication particularly important. Consumers need to know what is in their glass, clear labelling matters particularly for consumers who are deliberately avoiding alcohol.  The technology, processing, quality control and stability required can also make a non-alcoholic spirit considerably more complex to produce than its alcoholic counterpart.    Fermentation could shape the next generation  Giersiepen sees fermentation and yeast technology as one of the most promising areas for the category.  The first generation of products largely relied on established approaches such as removing alcohol from a fermented beverage. The next generation could increasingly control what happens before alcohol is ever created.  Microorganisms can be selected for particular behaviours. Enzymes can unlock aroma potential. Extraction technologies can capture specific compounds. New combinations of these technologies could make it possible to design drinks with much greater precision.    The bigger question is what we want from a drink  The technical questions eventually lead to a cultural one. If people choose to drink less alcohol, what do they still want from the occasion of having a drink?  For Giersiepen, the answer isn't only flavour. Drinks are tied to occasions, rituals and socialising, whether that's meeting friends in a bar or sharing something around a table. Non-alcoholic spirits are developing within those existing habits while creating some new ones of their own.  What those products will look like is still being worked out. Fermentation, extraction, preservation and flavour technology are all developing quickly, while producers are still learning what consumers expect from the category.  Giersiepen's view of what comes next was suitably open-ended: there are, he believes, some “really cool things” still to come.