Glossary · Microbiology
Microbial succession
Definition
The orderly replacement of one microbial population by another during fermentation, as rising alcohol, falling sugar, falling nutrient and falling oxygen change which organism can compete.
- Subject
- Microbiology
In more detail
In a wild cider the sequence runs from apiculate and other non-Saccharomyces yeasts, through Saccharomyces dominance during the bulk of the ferment, to lactic acid bacteria in the maturing cider, with Brettanomyces and acetic acid bacteria appearing where sugar, oxygen or time allow. Understanding the sequence is what makes an intervention purposeful rather than superstitious.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Fermentation
Wild fermentation
Fermentation by the yeasts already present on the fruit and in the press house, without a cultured inoculation.
Microbiology
Apiculate yeast
Lemon-shaped, weakly fermenting yeasts — *Hanseniaspora* and its anamorph *Kloeckera* — that dominate the first days of a wild cider fermentation before alcohol suppresses them.
Microbiology
Lactic acid bacteria
The bacteria that convert malic acid to lactic acid and, in other conditions, produce the disorders of ropiness, mousiness and acrolein bitterness. *Oenococcus*, *Lactiplantibacillus* and *Lactobacillus* species dominate in cider.
Microbiology
Brettanomyces
A genus of slow-growing yeasts, *Dekkera* in its sexual form, that survive in wood and in finished cider and produce volatile phenols smelling of farmyard, leather, spice and sticking plaster.
Microbiology
Acetic acid bacteria
Aerobic bacteria — *Acetobacter*, *Gluconobacter* and *Komagataeibacter* — that oxidise ethanol to acetic acid. They require oxygen, which is why they colonise surfaces, ullage and slack fittings.
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.
Peer-reviewed literature on cider fermentation microbiology
Various journals · peer-reviewed literature · registered as competent for this subject
Covers the microbial succession of spontaneous cider fermentation, the role of non-Saccharomyces yeasts in the early stages, malolactic conversion by Oenococcus and Lactobacillus species, and the organisms behind the principal spoilage faults.
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.