Meanings
- uncountablebeveragesAlcoholic fermentation during which the yeast cells are carried to the top of the fermenting liquid.
Top fermentation is usually carried out at between 64 and 77 ° F/ 18– 25 ° C and takes two to seven days, during which the yeasty foam is skimmed off several times.
2004, Harold McGee, chapter 13, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN1 more example
Carlton was mainly equipped to produce top-fermentation bulk beer, the old fashioned English ale. But the public taste had changed. On 27 April the brewers reported to the board that the public taste now was largely for bottom-fermentation beer or lager.
1987, Keith Dunstan, The Amber Nectar, Ringwood: Vicking O'Neil, page 90Antonyms: bottom fermentation
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAlcoholic fermentation during which the yeast cells are carried to the top of the fermenting liquid.
Cite this entry
top fermentation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20fermentation
“top fermentation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20fermentation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “top fermentation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/top%20fermentation.
Source: top fermentation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.