The question: Does the alcohol content of wine go down after three days of being opened if I refrigerate it?
The answer: Interesting. By placing it in the fridge, do you hope to better preserve the wine or are you trying to avoid losing a precious drop of alcohol? Just curious!
I digress. Its true that wines alcoholic concentration can decrease when exposed to air. Its a simple matter of evaporation. Wine consists almost entirely of water and alcohol. Since alcohol is more volatile than water, it will, by definition, tend to evaporate faster. However, the relative evaporation rates depend on whats going on above the surface. In a moist climate, alcohol evaporates considerably more quickly than water. This is because the surrounding air, being sufficiently saturated with water, cant readily accept much more. By contrast, theres no alcohol in the air, so the alcohol in the wine sees a free and clear path to escape without overcrowding.
Consider the evaporation dichotomy between whisky in, say, Scotland and Kentucky. You may have heard of the “angels’ share.” That’s the romantic term for the gradual evaporation of a maturing spirit through the pores of a wood barrel. It’s a big inventory cost to most distillers, with common annual volume losses of 2 to 4 per cent. In Scotland, where the air tends to be cool and moist, much of that disappearance comes in the form of alcohol. That’s why a newly distilled whisky that enters a barrel at 62- or 63-per-cent alcohol from the still can drop to the low 40s after 40 or 50 years. In contrast, in Kentucky, the air is much drier, so the water component of bourbon tends to evaporate more quickly than the water component of Scotch, keeping the alcoholic strength on a more even keel as bourbon matures.
So much for whisky. You asked about wine, where the alcoholic concentration is much lower to begin with. And we’re talking three days, not years. That’s nowhere near enough time to produce a significant change regardless of whether you store opened wine in the fridge or not. Rest assured, your hangover will be just as potent three days later as if you’d just pulled the cork.
Unlike carbon dioxide, which will be lost with time, alcohol remains in the beverage and will not break down or float away. The only time you’ll see alcohol naturally disappearing is in an opened beer, where the entire beer will, over time, evaporate.
After you open a bottle of wine, does the alcohol in it start evaporating? If you leave an open bottle open for three hours, would the alcohol go from 14 percent to 12 or less?
But once you open a bottle of wine and expose it to air, things start to change, and you’re right that evaporation comes into play. Both the water and the alcohol in wine are subject to evaporation, and typically the alcohol will evaporate somewhat faster than the water does. But it really depends on a lot of different variables, including the temperature, the airflow and how much of the liquid’s surface area is exposed to air. Also, the water would evaporate faster in dry air than in humid air.
In most cases, while some evaporation would take place, its effect would be negligible. It would take days, weeks or even longer to get any measurable difference in the alcohol content. Because wine doesn’t have much alcohol in it by volume—typically from about 12 to 16 percent—it’s not going to evaporate nearly as quickly as would the same amount of rubbing alcohol. In fact, wine that’s just sitting there evaporating would probably turn into vinegar before it would become alcohol-free.
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If you want to speed up the evaporation of alcohol, you could increase the wine’s surface area, airflow and temperature. You could even put it in a pan and start to heat it up. And if you take three bottles of red wine and heat it, set it aflame and evaporate it by half, you’ll have a terrific red wine reduction sauce to braise short ribs in.
So much for whisky. You asked about wine, where the alcoholic concentration is much lower to begin with. And we’re talking three days, not years. That’s nowhere near enough time to produce a significant change regardless of whether you store opened wine in the fridge or not. Rest assured, your hangover will be just as potent three days later as if you’d just pulled the cork.
Consider the evaporation dichotomy between whisky in, say, Scotland and Kentucky. You may have heard of the “angels’ share.” That’s the romantic term for the gradual evaporation of a maturing spirit through the pores of a wood barrel. It’s a big inventory cost to most distillers, with common annual volume losses of 2 to 4 per cent. In Scotland, where the air tends to be cool and moist, much of that disappearance comes in the form of alcohol. That’s why a newly distilled whisky that enters a barrel at 62- or 63-per-cent alcohol from the still can drop to the low 40s after 40 or 50 years. In contrast, in Kentucky, the air is much drier, so the water component of bourbon tends to evaporate more quickly than the water component of Scotch, keeping the alcoholic strength on a more even keel as bourbon matures.
The answer: Interesting. By placing it in the fridge, do you hope to better preserve the wine or are you trying to avoid losing a precious drop of alcohol? Just curious!
The question: Does the alcohol content of wine go down after three days of being opened if I refrigerate it?
I digress. Its true that wines alcoholic concentration can decrease when exposed to air. Its a simple matter of evaporation. Wine consists almost entirely of water and alcohol. Since alcohol is more volatile than water, it will, by definition, tend to evaporate faster. However, the relative evaporation rates depend on whats going on above the surface. In a moist climate, alcohol evaporates considerably more quickly than water. This is because the surrounding air, being sufficiently saturated with water, cant readily accept much more. By contrast, theres no alcohol in the air, so the alcohol in the wine sees a free and clear path to escape without overcrowding.
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FAQ
Does alcohol lose potency if left open?
Does alcohol go bad if left uncovered?
Does uncovered alcohol evaporate?
What happens if you leave alcohol exposed to air?
Does alcohol lose its alcohol content if left open?
Yes, alcohol does lose its alcohol content if left open. The rate of evaporation depends on the temperature, humidity and air circulation in the environment. At warmer temperatures, the alcohol will evaporate faster, resulting in a faster decrease of the alcohol content.
How does the body remove alcohol?
The body metabolizes alcohol in the liver, where enzymes convert it into acetaldehyde and then acetate. Acetate is broken down into carbon dioxide and water, and eliminated through urine and respiration. The liver’s efficiency in processing alcohol varies, impacting the rate of alcohol removal from the body.
Does alcohol lose its potency if left open?
Yes, alcohol does lose its potency if left open. The primary factor affecting the potency of alcohol is oxygen. Oxygen reacts with the molecules in the alcohol, causing them to break down and eventually evaporate over time. This is known as oxidation and it’s the same reaction responsible for spoiling wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages.
What happens if alcoholic drinks are left open?
When alcoholic drinks are left open, alcohol and water will evaporate into the air to cause the volume, flavor, and strength of the drink to change. Factors such as temperature, humidity, and surface area exposed to the air will affect the evaporation rate. Some types of alcohol, such as wine, will oxidize and turn sour when exposed to air.