How to bottle NEIPA (without kegging)

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secretlevel

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There's a fair amount of skepticism on various online platforms surrounding NEIPA and being able to bottle it without having a kegging setup.

With a little caution and a good process, I've been able to successfully bottle my NEIPA's. I have been able to drink these 2 months after bottling with great success and even won medals at competitions. They never turned dark brown and flavors like cardboard were nowhere to be found - just great hoppy flavors and aroma.

Here's the process:
  1. Use a bucket with a spigot. Ferment in this bucket. Take samples using spigot.

  2. Dry hop in muslin baggies by cracking the lid and sealing back up once you're done. I suspend with floss to avoid hops clogging the spigot later on.

  3. Add priming sugar, carbonation drops or a priming solution to your bottles when ready

  4. Install tubing and bottling wand onto your spigot

  5. Bottle away! Take out the airlock when ready, but don't take off the lid.
I highlighted the process in more detail here: How to bottle NEIPA. It's a process I've been following for 1.5 years before I started kegging. Even now since I started kegging, I have had good luck performing non-closed transfers and never had an oxidation issue.

I hope this helps other newbies that have had bad luck brewing this elusive style :)

how-to-bottle-NEIPA.jpg
 
Thanks for sharing! I am building up my gear starting with fermentation and brewing equipment. That unfortunately puts kegging a little ways down on my priority list.

I just got a spike cf5 conical but I want to add temp control and the gas manifold before I get into kegging and I was worried my hoppy beers would suffer in the meantime. But this gives me a little reassurance!
 
In before LoDo'ers crap on this idea.

I have had pretty good results in bottling NEIPAs using the standard bottling routine, and just being very vigilant about splashing or aeration via a siphon. Yeah, I'm sure some hop aroma is lost versus closed transfer kegging, etc... But, for me, that's not an option. I tend to do smaller batches (3 gal) so I'm done with a batch of bottles in a month. Sometimes, I see those photos of dirty brown oxidized beers, and I can't even imagine how much splashing it took to get that way.

I'm thinking of trying your method next time, but, I'll need to install a spigot a little higher up than my anticipated trub line. My only pre-drilled bucket is intended for bottling
 
In before LoDo'ers crap on this idea.
Troll much?

The "idea" of bottling straight from the fermenter is fine.

However the post is missing several key points:
  • Oxidation needs to be avoided/minimized during the dry hopping phase.
  • Time in the fermenter should be minimized.
  • Headspace in the bottles should be minimized (filled 1/2-1/4" from the top).
  • Oxygen-absorbing bottle caps should be used, and activated at the time of bottling.
  • Spunding or even fermenter priming would be better than bottle priming.
 
Troll much?

The "idea" of bottling straight from the fermenter is fine.

However the post is missing several key points:
  • Oxidation needs to be avoided/minimized during the dry hopping phase.
  • Time in the fermenter should be minimized.
  • Headspace in the bottles should be minimized (filled 1/2-1/4" from the top).
  • Oxygen-absorbing bottle caps should be used, and activated at the time of bottling.
  • Spunding or even fermenter priming would be better than bottle priming.

Thanks, I actually did post some of these details in the full article I linked in the original post! I didn't know caps had to be activated, but that's good info. Wouldn't sanitizer usually activate them since they got wet in bottling?

Why should time in the fermenter be minimized? Haven't heard that one before...
 
I didn't know caps had to be activated, but that's good info. Wouldn't sanitizer usually activate them since they got wet in bottling?
Yes, if you sanitize the caps you should do so immediately before capping.
Otherwise you can invert the bottles to get the caps wet after capping (which is what I do).
Why should time in the fermenter be minimized?
1. Because oxygen diffuses in over time.
Less time = less oxygen.
2. Because yeast viability declines over time.
Active yeast = better at oxygen scavenging.

Cheers
 
Spunding or even fermenter priming would be better than bottle priming.

Perhaps.

For those who brew smaller batches and bottle condition, here are some additional articles where people talk about how they bottle condition hop-forward beers.
 
I hope this helps other newbies that have had bad luck brewing this elusive style

A +74 for posting this over at /r/homebrewing in early March! 70 comments (so far), a number of them confirming your approach.

Definitely worth a read for anyone "sitting on the fence" with regard to brewing & bottling NEIPAs.
 
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