Cheers from Cleveland, OH

[Yontsey]

First time brewer, long time consumer. Been looking to try my hand at brewing for many many years and finally got an offer from a buddy up in Michigan who has a Grainfather, a Tilt, and a couple SS tanks along with some other gear at a great price that I couldn't turn down. Buddy has been brewing for 12+ years. He said he was going to bring it all down and we are going to do a brew session together to get the hang of it. I've been consuming videos, forums, and articles non-stop for the last 2 weeks to try and learn as much as I can without getting hands on. Seemed overwhelming at first, but when I started watching some YouTube videos, it doesn't seem as tedious as long as you keep everything clean and try to avoid oxidizing.

Probably going to start off my first couple times brewing kits. They seem pretty straight forward. Buddy has a Founders IPA clone that he's going to give me. I'm going to order one that is a little more complicated so I can do it while he's here so that I can see some of the procedures and be hands on. Try the simpler one on my own for my first go around. I'm lucky to have a couple really nice home brew stores within 30 minutes of me as well. Been following the boards on here and excited to get hands on!

 

[The Brew Mentor]

First time brewer, long time consumer. Been looking to try my hand at brewing for many many years and finally got an offer from a buddy up in Michigan who has a Grainfather, a Tilt, and a couple SS tanks along with some other gear at a great price that I couldn't turn down. Buddy has been brewing for 12+ years. He said he was going to bring it all down and we are going to do a brew session together to get the hang of it. I've been consuming videos, forums, and articles non-stop for the last 2 weeks to try and learn as much as I can without getting hands on. Seemed overwhelming at first, but when I started watching some YouTube videos, it doesn't seem as tedious as long as you keep everything clean and try to avoid oxidizing.

Probably going to start off my first couple times brewing kits. They seem pretty straight forward. Buddy has a Founders IPA clone that he's going to give me. I'm going to order one that is a little more complicated so I can do it while he's here so that I can see some of the procedures and be hands on. Try the simpler one on my own for my first go around. I'm lucky to have a couple really nice home brew stores within 30 minutes of me as well. Been following the boards on here and excited to get hands on!

Exciting, hopefully you're speaking of my shop. Stop in, get some products and advice and depending on the timing, grab a beer or 3.
Cheers,
Brian

 

[Yontsey]

Exciting, hopefully you're speaking of my shop. Stop in, get some products and advice and depending on the timing, grab a beer or 3.
Cheers,
Brian

Cheers Brian! Actually, I did not know of your place but I will definitely swing out. I'm out on the west side near Strongsville. I was referencing the one down on W25th and there's another one down in Medina. Great to see a local face here to be able to reach out. As soon as I get everything rolling, I'll come on out and introduce myself.

 

[Zambi]

Welcome @Yontsey
Keep us posted as to how it is all going!
Looks like you are lucky to have a choice of shops and advice

 

[wallyLOZ]

Welcome from Missouri!

Keep us posted on your pfogress.

 

[Minbari]

welcome to the group. beginning the adventure of wasting the most time possible

 

[Donoroto]

First time brewer, long time consumer. Been looking to try my hand at brewing for many many years and finally got an offer from a buddy up in Michigan who has a Grainfather, a Tilt, and a couple SS tanks along with some other gear at a great price that I couldn't turn down. Buddy has been brewing for 12+ years. He said he was going to bring it all down and we are going to do a brew session together to get the hang of it. I've been consuming videos, forums, and articles non-stop for the last 2 weeks to try and learn as much as I can without getting hands on. Seemed overwhelming at first, but when I started watching some YouTube videos, it doesn't seem as tedious as long as you keep everything clean and try to avoid oxidizing.

Probably going to start off my first couple times brewing kits. They seem pretty straight forward. Buddy has a Founders IPA clone that he's going to give me. I'm going to order one that is a little more complicated so I can do it while he's here so that I can see some of the procedures and be hands on. Try the simpler one on my own for my first go around. I'm lucky to have a couple really nice home brew stores within 30 minutes of me as well. Been following the boards on here and excited to get hands on!

Think about getting a copy of How To Brew by John Palmer. Arguably the best book to learn from. Maybe the library has a copy.

 

[Yontsey]

welcome to the group. beginning the adventure of wasting the most time possible

Holy smokes, just went down the rabbit hole that was your build out from the last couple years. That is insane. Great piece of engineering, my friend!

Think about getting a copy of How To Brew by John Palmer. Arguably the best book to learn from. Maybe the library has a copy.

Thanks for the rec. Gonna add that to my Amazon cart and snag a copy next time I order.

 

[The Brew Mentor]

Holy smokes, just went down the rabbit hole that was your build out from the last couple years. That is insane. Great piece of engineering, my friend!

Thanks for the rec. Gonna add that to my Amazon cart and snag a copy next time I order.

Or just pick it up at whatever home brew shop you stop into.

 

[Minbari]

Holy smokes, just went down the rabbit hole that was your build out from the last couple years. That is insane. Great piece of engineering, my friend!

Thanks for the rec. Gonna add that to my Amazon cart and snag a copy next time I order.

Lol, thanks. Took some time. Sometimes i think the building is more fun than making the beer, lol

 

[Craigerrr]

Welcome! Good luck!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Been looking to try my hand at brewing for many many years and finally got an offer from a buddy up in Michigan who has a Grainfather, a Tilt, and a couple SS tanks along with some other gear at a great price that I couldn't turn down. Buddy has been brewing for 12+ years. He said he was going to bring it all down and we are going to do a brew session together to get the hang of it.

This is probably the best way to get into home brewing! Welcome to the forum and ask all the questions you want.

 

[BilltownBrewingCo]

Welcome! Feel free to ask quesions and post them!

 

[Yontsey]

Welcome! Feel free to ask quesions and post them!

Thank you! Have some pieces parts coming in today from MoreBeer and Northern Brewer. My buddy who is selling me his setup is coming down from Michigan in 2 weeks on the 20th. Since I'm brewing with him and he's experienced, I'm going to start with something a little more complex then I would start with. Doing a NEIPA whole grain kit. He has a simpler Founders IPA clone kit that he's giving me that I'm going to do on my own after that one.

 

[BilltownBrewingCo]

Thank you! Have some pieces parts coming in today from MoreBeer and Northern Brewer. My buddy who is selling me his setup is coming down from Michigan in 2 weeks on the 20th. Since I'm brewing with him and he's experienced, I'm going to start with something a little more complex then I would start with. Doing a NEIPA whole grain kit. He has a simpler Founders IPA clone kit that he's giving me that I'm going to do on my own after that one.

That's a great way to learn, and sounds like you're in good hands lol. I was a college kid trying to figure it out on my own with some pots and plastic water jugs for fermenters lol. Needless to say, we made a lot of bad beer before we made good beer!

 

[Brewdomestix]

Welcome. An experienced brewer buddy and a few homebrew shops within striking distance - well you are off to a great start before you have even got stuck into the hobby there - nice! Nice also to read about your prepping. Oh if only I had done more of that could have saved some mishaps.

 

[Ward Chillington]

I'm going to order one that is a little more complicated so I can do it while he's here so that I can see some of the procedures and be hands on.

Welcome and a suggestion but not to dampen your ambitions...go with simple first so to learn the basics and not get but off by costs or failures...and believe me, we've all had our share. Let's us know how you make out and keep asking the questions as there are plenty of folks here who want to share and help!

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

Welcome and a suggestion but not to dampen your ambitions...go with simple first so to learn the basics and not get but off by costs or failures...and believe me, we've all had our share. Let's us know how you make out and keep asking the questions as there are plenty of folks here who want to share and help!

I think @Yontsey's experienced brewer friend will be the brew master and he will be the pupil.

@Yontsey , once your friend is gone, then do as Ward suggests and focus on simple recipes at first. Then use what your friend taught you on more complicated recipes.

 

[Yontsey]

@Yontsey , once your friend is gone, then do as Ward suggests and focus on simple recipes at first. Then use what your friend taught you on more complicated recipes.

This is my plan. My buddy has a Founders IPA clone kit he's going to give me to try on my own.

Friend is coming in Saturday afternoon and we're getting into my first brew. Yeast and hops are in the fridge. Grains are all ready. Tilt and Raspberry Pi are all set up and ready to rock. I've input my recipe into my Grainfather app so we should be good to go there. Beyond excited to get boots on the ground and get rocking on this.

I was reading over the recipe sheet from Northern Brew and the way I'm reading it, it sounds like 14 days primary fermentation with first round of DH after 2-3 days and then another round of secondary fermentation at 14 days with second round of DH 5-7 days before ending. is 28 days normal for a NEIPA DDH? I'm not planning to move the second round to a secondary fermentor. Just going to keep it in the same fermentor. Then as best as I have read/watched, roughly another 14 days for carbonation. Does this sound right?

Edit: here is the link to the brew instructions: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2...FruitBazooka-15276041664971-1603737958078.pdf

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I have not brewed an NEIPA (so, those with experience please correct me) but 4 weeks fermentation does sound a bit long. I suspect NB is being over-cautious to avoid potential bottle bombs from bottling too early. I would shorten that to 3 weeks total. If you are bottling then 2 weeks bottle conditioning is standard. I've never had a beer at 1 week of conditioning that didn't leave me a little disappointed. And yes, skip the secondary. You only need that for specific scenarios (i.e. aging a high gravity beer for a few or many months).