Glossary · Fermentation
Racking
Also written drawing off, soutirage. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
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.
- Subject
- Fermentation
- Also written
- drawing off, soutirage
In more detail
Racking does three things at once: it removes dead yeast and solids that would otherwise autolyse, it removes a portion of the living yeast and nutrient so the ferment slows, and it exposes the cider to some oxygen, which can be useful early and harmful late.
Repeated racking — the traditional French route to a sweet cider before keeving was understood in modern terms — starves the yeast progressively until fermentation stops with sugar left. The risk of every racking is ullage in the receiving vessel, so a rack is followed by topping up.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Production
Racking
Moving cider off the sediment it has thrown, which both cleans the liquid and — by taking yeast and nitrogen away with the deposit — slows what is left of the ferment.
Production
Topping up
Refilling a maturing vessel as evaporation and racking losses lower the level, so that no significant surface of cider is ever left in contact with air.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Fermentation
Lees
The deposit that settles under a fermenting or maturing cider: dead and living yeast, fruit solids, pectin, tartrate and protein. Gross lees are the coarse first deposit; fine lees are the finer yeast layer that forms afterwards.
Fermentation
Ullage
The empty space between the surface of the cider and the top of its container, and by extension the volume lost that creates it. Ullage in a maturing cask is where oxidation and acetification start.
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
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".
Fermentation
Arrested fermentation
Deliberately stopping a fermentation before the sugar is exhausted, in order to retain natural sweetness. Achieved by repeated racking, chilling, filtration, sulphite, or a combination.
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 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.
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.