Glossary · Fermentation
Maturation
Also written ageing, conditioning. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
The period after fermentation in which a cider settles, clarifies and changes chemically — esters forming and hydrolysing, phenolics polymerising, harsh notes integrating — before it is packaged or drunk.
- Subject
- Fermentation
- Also written
- ageing, conditioning
In more detail
What maturation does depends on the vessel. A sealed stainless tank holds a cider more or less as it is; a wooden cask admits a slow trickle of oxygen that softens tannin and pushes the drink oxidative; a bottle continues its own slower reactions. Tannic bittersweet ciders reward maturation; light, aromatic ciders often lose more than they gain.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Production
Tank maturation
Resting cider in stainless steel or a lined vessel, where the point of the container is that it contributes nothing and admits almost no oxygen.
Production
Barrel ageing
Holding cider in wood — which may mean an old neutral vat used simply as a vessel, or fresh or spirit-seasoned oak used as a source of flavour, and the two are not the same operation.
Production
Bottle maturation
What happens to a cider after it is sealed in glass — which for most ciders is slow decline rather than improvement, and saying so is more useful than implying otherwise.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Fermentation
Barrel ageing
Maturing cider in wood, either in neutral casks used purely as vessels or in barrels chosen to contribute oak, spirit or wine character.
Fermentation
Sur lie
Maturing cider in contact with its fine lees rather than racking clear, so that yeast autolysis contributes body, texture and savoury character. Literally "on the lees".
Sensory
Oxidative
Showing the character that oxygen exposure brings — bruised apple, nuts, dried fruit, sherry and toffee — with fresh fruit aromas diminished. It may be a fault or a deliberate style.
Fermentation
Topping up
Refilling a maturing vessel with similar cider to eliminate the headspace, so that no air surface remains for oxidative and acetic spoilage.
Fermentation
Racking
Transferring cider off its sediment into a clean vessel, leaving the lees behind. It is the basic maintenance operation of the cellar and the traditional method of slowing a fermentation.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
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 Science of Cidermaking and associated technical writing
Andrew Lea · reference work · passage verified 2026-08-24
Written by a food chemist who worked at Long Ashton on apple phenolics. Unusual among specialist cider writing in that it is primary-research-adjacent: the author is describing work he did, and cites the literature. This is why it is registered at tier 1 for chemistry while a general cider book is not.
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.