Comparison
Traditional method vs tank method
What is the difference between traditional method and tank method sparkling cider?
In short
The traditional method conducts the second fermentation in the individual bottle, ages the cider on its lees there, then removes the sediment by riddling and disgorging and closes the bottle again, usually with a dosage to set the final sweetness.
The tank method conducts the same second fermentation in a sealed pressure tank. The cider is then filtered under counter-pressure and filled into bottles that never contain yeast.
The choice is between lees contact in the individual bottle and process control at scale. Extended lees ageing in bottle contributes autolytic character that a short tank conditioning does not; the tank method delivers uniform carbonation across a whole batch and dispenses with the labour of riddling and disgorging.
The two things being compared
Each side described in its own terms first, so the table below has something to hang on.
Traditional method
Second fermentation and lees ageing in the bottle of sale, followed by riddling, disgorging and dosage.
Tank method
Second fermentation in a sealed pressure tank, followed by filtration and counter-pressure filling into clean bottles.
Where they differ
Dimension by dimension. Where a row needs a qualification, it carries one rather than being simplified until it fits.
| Dimension | Traditional method | Tank method |
|---|---|---|
| Where the second fermentation happens | In each bottle. | In one tank for the whole batch. |
| Lees contact | In bottle, and can be extended for years. | In tank, and usually short. |
| Autolytic character | Develops with time on lees. | Limited by the shorter contact. |
| Carbonation uniformity | Varies slightly bottle to bottle. | Uniform across the batch. |
| Sediment removal | Riddling and disgorging, which are labour- and equipment-intensive. | Filtration in bulk. |
| Final sweetness | Set by the dosage added at disgorging. | Set in the tank before filling. |
| Scale economics | Cost per bottle stays high however many are made. | Costs fall sharply with batch size. |
| Relationship to bottle conditioning | Bottle conditioning is the same second fermentation without disgorging: the sediment stays. | No sediment reaches the bottle at all. |
When Traditional method is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- The cider was fermented and aged on its lees in the bottle it is sold in.
- Autolytic character from long lees contact is part of the intended result.
When Tank method is the relevant one
The circumstances in which this is the thing being described, rather than a reason to prefer it.
- A large batch needs uniform carbonation and no sediment.
- The cider is meant to show fresh fruit rather than lees character.
A misconception worth clearing up
This comparison exists partly because of the claim below, which is repeated often enough that most readers arrive holding it.
Traditional method and bottle conditioning are the same thing.
What is actually the case: They share the second fermentation in bottle. The traditional method then removes the yeast by riddling and disgorging and adds a dosage; bottle conditioning leaves the sediment in place. A bottle-conditioned cider is cloudy at the bottom by design.
Related comparisons
Distinctions that turn on the same thing, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Bottle-conditioned vs force-carbonated
Bottle conditioning makes the carbon dioxide inside the sealed bottle by fermenting a small amount of sugar there; force carbonation dissolves gas into the finished cider under pressure before packaging.
Pétillant vs fully sparkling
The difference is the amount of dissolved gas: pétillant carries a light spritz at low pressure, fully sparkling carries several volumes and requires a pressure-rated package.
Filtered vs unfiltered
Filtration removes suspended solids and, at fine enough grades, the organisms too; leaving it out keeps whatever is in suspension, including material that carries aroma and texture.
What people ask next
Questions readers ask about the things this page mentions. Each one goes to the section that answers it rather than to a page written to receive the question.
- Is unfiltered cider better than filtered — Neither is better as such. Filtration removes yeast, haze and some flavour compounds and makes a cider stable; leaving it unfiltered keeps more texture and aroma and leaves the cider alive in the bottle.
- What is the difference between bottle-conditioned and force-carbonated cider — A bottle-conditioned cider gets its gas from a fermentation finishing inside the sealed bottle, and leaves a yeast deposit; a force-carbonated one has carbon dioxide dissolved into it under pressure before filling. The first keeps changing in the bottle and the second does not.
- What does pétillant mean, and how is it different from sparkling
Where to go next
- All comparisons — The rest of the pairs, grouped by what kind of difference is at stake.
- Glossary — Either term on its own, defined without a second thing to hold it against.
- Learn about cider — The background these pages assume, written from the beginning.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
The New Cider Maker’s Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
Claude Jolicoeur, Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013. ISBN 9781603584739 · reference work · bibliographic record verified, not opened 2026-08-25
Bibliographic record verified on 2026-08-25 against the Open Library union catalogue: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013, ISBN 9781603584739, one edition recorded. That establishes the citation points at a real book in a stated edition, which is what a citation needs and is all it establishes. No copy was opened and nothing is quoted from it. The book itself is in print and not digitised in any open collection; where CiderHQ needs a figure from this territory it uses an accessible research source instead and says so.
Cider and perry production technical training material
Peter Mitchell / Cider and Perry Academy · reference work · registered as competent for this subject
Searched again on 2026-08-25 and it remains the one printed source here that a bibliographic check cannot fix, because it is not a published work with an edition. It is course material issued to participants of a training programme, so there is no catalogue record to verify, no ISBN, and no lawful public copy. Its state stays `registered` for that reason rather than through inattention.
Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité (INAO)
INAO · regulator · passage verified 2026-08-24
The Cidre Pays d’Auge cahier des charges was read in full on 2026-08-24, in the version homologated by arrêté of 17 January 2026 and published in the Journal officiel on 21 January. That qualification is not decoration. A revision adopted by the Comité national on 10 September 2025 is currently under the procédure nationale d’opposition, is clearly marked as not prejudging the final text, and specifies carbonation differently from the text in force — as grams of CO2 per litre rather than as a minimum pressure in bar. A summary citing the draft would have put a figure on the page that no producer is held to. CiderHQ records the operative text and says which one it is.