Time to Upgrade?

[Brew_Dave]

Hi Brewers,

Just canvassing people's opinions on whether or not I should/need to upgrade my brewing equipment.

Currently I ferment my beer in a plastic bucket, and then transfer my beer into a bottling bucket, before bottling. This method has worked really well so far, I have mainly brewed Belgian beers, traditional English ales - nothing with tons of hops.

I'm wanting to start brewing hoppier beers - experimenting with dry hopping and having a go at brewing NEIPA style beers.

I've read that when brewing a NEIPA I need to watch out for oxidization and one way of avoiding this is to perform a closed transfer. So, I guess my question is - can I brew something like a NEIPA, or other hoppier beers using my current set up, or should I look to upgrade?

P.S - not sure if this matters but the recipe I am currently putting together I only plan to dry hop once.

Thanks in advance.

 

[The Baron]

Hoppier beers are not a problem with what you have got as you seem to have mastered brewing using what you have.
Neipa is possible as many have been brewed on standard equipment before people got hung up on the newest must have item of pressure brewing so it is not essential however IMO I would not be transferring to a bottling bucket as this will give oxidation a good foothold so just be extra careful.
I am now going to contradict myself here but if you want a better chance of success with NEIPA pressure fermenting is the way to go if you are not of the diligent type but for everything else including Hoppy IPA's it is not essential at all and I still do my IPA's with a standard fermentation method

 

[BackToBasics]

I might have been lucky but the NEIPA I brewed was fermented in a bucket and turned out fine.

That said, I now have the equipment to ferment under pressure and do a closed transfer and I'll do both on my next NEIPA. For me the main advantage is the closed transfer though. If you are bottling I'm not sure pressure fermentation on it's own would convince me to splash out on the extra gear.

 

[Brew_DD2]

I'd definitely go for a Fermzilla or Keg King product. I dumped a load of batches of NEIPA before I realised it was oxidation that was ******* them after a few weeks. You'd need to look into kegs too. I don't say this to put you off, but rather to save you time, money and heartache. You can brew perfectly acceptable hoppier styles with your current set-up, but for Hazy and NEIPA styles you're on a hiding to nothing.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I have the same setup ie a plastic fermenter and separate bottling bucket and I've never had oxidation on hoppy beers even when dry hopping.