NOVELTY - Preparing ethanol in a fermentation broth in a fermentor, comprises: providing a liquid fermentation broth that is comprised of a carbohydrate substrate, nutrients and water in which an alcohol is produced by the growth of Lactobacillus or a recombinant Lactobacillus; contacting at least one ionic liquid with the fermentation broth or its portion, to form from the resulting mixture an ionic liquid phase and an aqueous phase; and separating the ethanol-rich ionic liquid phase from the aqueous phase and optionally, recovering the ethanol from the ionic liquid phase.    USE - The process is useful for preparing ethanol in a fermentation broth in a fermentor (claimed).    ADVANTAGE - The process utilizes the ionic liquid, which serves as a solvent to separate an alcohol product from a fermentation broth, which has no measurable vapor pressure and due to high solubility for the alcohol product, immiscible with the aqueous fermentation broth, and has little to no toxicity to the microorganism.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - Preparing ethanol in a fermentation broth in a fermentor, comprises: providing a liquid fermentation broth that is comprised of a carbohydrate substrate, nutrients and water in which an alcohol is produced by the growth of Lactobacillus or a recombinant Lactobacillus; contacting at least one ionic liquid with the fermentation broth or its portion, to form from the resulting mixture an ionic liquid phase and an aqueous phase, where the ethanol or its portion, is more soluble in the ionic liquid phase than the aqueous phase; and separating the ethanol-rich ionic liquid phase from the aqueous phase and optionally, recovering the ethanol from the ionic liquid phase, where the ionic liquid is comprised of a cation comprising pyridinium, imidazolium or phosphonium and an anion comprising tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, 1,1,2,3,3,3-hexafluoropropanesulfonate, tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, 1,1,2-trifluoro-2-(perfluoroethoxy)ethanesulfonate, 1,1,2-trifluoro-2-(perfluoromethoxy)ethanesulfonate, 2-(1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethoxy)-1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethanesulfonate, bis(pentafluoroethylsulfonyl)imide or bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide.