Abstract The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of treating vinasse using anaerobic digestion (AD) followed by ozonation. The AD process was performed using a laboratory-scale upflow anaerobic filter reactor (UAFR) under continuous operation at 29 ± 1 °C. Stable conditions were reached at 10 kgCOD m-3 d-1 and a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 5 days. Under these conditions, the efficiency of reduction of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) and the methane yield were 75.1% and 0.315 m3CH4 kgCODr-1, respectively. The anaerobically digested effluent was further treated using ozone in a bubbling column. An experimental 23 array [C(03)g= 70; 100 mgO3 L-1; pH= 7.5; 10; tc = 1 and 3 h] was used. The best conditions for effluent ozonation were 100 mgO3 L-1, pH 7.5 and 3 hours of contact with ozone. The average efficiencies for COD, color and turbidity reduction were 82.4, 93.8 and 99.3%, respectively.