How Do I Remove the Alcohol From Drinks?

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If you enjoy the flavor of alcoholic drinks but do not want to consume the alcohol, try removing most of the alcohol from your favorite beverages. You can complete this relatively simple process at home and within a few hours. You will need to heat the alcoholic drink to remove the alcohol, however, so if you intend to serve guests or want a cold glass of wine with dinner, start early in the day to give the drink time to cool off in the refrigerator. This procedure works best with wine and other drinks with low alcoholic content rather than whiskey or other liquors.. Also, if you try this method with carbonated drinks, it will remove the carbonation.

Pour your alcoholic drink, such as wine, beer or hard cider, into your pot or saucepan. This container should allow the beverage to be at least a few inches deep rather than simply a shallow layer across the bottom of the pot or saucepan.

Place the pot or pan on the stove and turn on the heat.

Bring the liquid to a simmer then adjust the heat as necessary to keep your beverage simmering gently. Do not boil the drink, as this will cause too much of the liquid to evaporate before the alcohol burns off and you will be left with an empty pot.

Simmer the alcohol for at least 2.5 hours to remove the vast majority of the alcohol.

Tip

If the amount of liquid in your pot begins to run low during this long simmering process, add water to maintain the consistency of the drink. If you are not averse to drinking a small amount of alcohol, try a spoonful of the beverage as you add water to make sure you are not watering it down too much.

Warning

While the process above will remove approximately 95% of the alcohol, a small percentage will still remain. The percentage of remaining alcohol increases to 10% if you boil the drink for only two hours and 25% if you boil the drink for only one hour.