Beginner's Extract IPA adapted from J. Palmer

[JayEff]

Hey! Soon, my gear will arrive and I'll brew my first extract kit. Because I'm excited, I'm already trying to formulate my procedure for the next recipe. Feeling bold, I don't want to go for a kit this time. I went looking around and found an extract recipe in John Palmer's book which seemed low on ingredients but just complex enough to be a step up from the simple kit, as well as tasty. It uses 2 types of hops, 1 type of steeping grain and one type of malt extract. I tried my best to substitute with what was available to me.

The batch size did not match my goal and as a German I'm used to metric units, so I went ahead and converted and recalculated everything to fit my needs. I'd like to know if these numbers sound correct to you and also, if possible, what you think of the chosen brands!

Original recipe found here: http://howtobrew.com/book/section-4/ale-styles

Victory and Chaos India Pale Ale

Batch size: 12 liters, Boil Volume: 7.2 liters

Malts:
-2 kg GOZDAWA spray malt extract, extra light unhopped
-150 g CARAAROMA® (about 350 - 450 EBC) (substituted for Crystal 120L)

BG: 1.103
OG: 1.060
FG: 1.014
ABV: 6.07%

Hops:
-26g Galena (13.6%) at 60 minutes
-36g East Kent Goldings (5.2%) at 15 minutes
-18g East Kent Goldings (5.2%) at 5 minutes

IBU: 59.5

Yeast: Danstar Nottingham Ale - 11g
Fermenting temperature: 14°C - 21°C (lower is possible, suggested for lagers, though)

All water used is bought in bottles to avoid chloramine problems and ensure the top-off water is sterile. When using tap water, a quarter campden tablet should be used to be safe.

Complete procedure:
Steep grains in the 7.2l of water at around 160F for 30 minutes.
Remove grains, let it drip into the pot for a minute or two, do not squeeze.
Bring to a rolling boil, then remove the pot from the burner and stir in the malt extracts until dissolved.
Return pot to the burner and boil again.
Start the timer and make the hop additions according to schedule.
After 60 min, place into the sink with cold water, ice, whatever you can to chill the wort.
Once cooled to the target temperature, add the remaining 5l of water (bottled, hence sterile - when using tap water, boil first to sterilize) to the fermenter, add the wort and check temperature again. Chill if needed to reach 70F. Calculate the target temperature using the weighted average formula at the bottom.
Pitch the yeast, assemble fermenter, and keep it in a cool room of around 60F until fermentation is complete (2-3 weeks). Check gravity after 3 weeks, then again 2-3 days later. Compare results - if they're the same, fermentation is complete. If not, repeat every 2-3 days until two consecutive readings are the same.
Add 67g of sugar (sucrose, table sugar) dissolved in some water for bottle priming and bottle. Recalculate this amoung to account for losses from the trub and debris!
Store (=Condition) for at least 2-4 weeks before sampling.
(Sanitizing steps for equipment were omitted.)

As for the yeast: 133 billion cells should be added. Likely, the Wyeast package will contain less than 100 billion. A 1 liter starter should be used or alternatively, 2 packages. ncbrewer also suggested using a package of rehydrated US-05.
My final choice will be one package of rehydrated Nottingham.

This procedure is formulated by a beginner as an exercise and should not be taken as 100% correct! (edit: after a lot of advice was given, I'm going to say this is how I will do it) I'm hoping I'll get some input from the more experienced homebrewers so I can make sure everything is correct. I'll be updating this post with every advice I'm getting. Thanks for reading!

simple weighted average formula: (61 x 12 - <top-off water temperature in F> x <top-off water volume>) / <wort volume in l> = <target wort temperature in F>
Example: Wort volume was reduced in the boil to 6.5l, so 5.5l of top-off water is needed, which was stored in the fridge and has reached 53F.
(61*12 - 53*5.5)/6.5 = 67.7F - This is the target temperature.

edit: included some of the advice given by ncbrewer in his first response
edit: added mention for tap water vs bottled, and how to use a campden tablet, adjusted flavor hops back to original amounts. Mentioned yeast cell count and proposed using a 1l starter. Mentioned recalculating the priming sugar to account for any volume lost to trub and debris.
edit: Revisited the recipe and basically changed it completely:
200g Caramunich at 160F for 30 minutes. (= 7 oz)
1 kg Extra Light DME at the start of the boil (= 2.2 lbs)
1 kg Extra Light DME at flameout (= 2.2 lbs)
Boil a total of 15 minutes, since it's extract it should be fine with a short boil.
Hops:
15 g Simcoe Pellet 12.7 Boil 15 min 30.16 (= .5 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 5 min 11.33 (= 1 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 0 min --- (= 1 oz)

Total IBUs are 41.5.

 

[ncbrewer]

I won't second guess your recipe since you got it from How to Brew. If you haven't already, it would be good to check it on some brewing software. I use my own spreadsheet, but it took a lot of work to set up.

Here are some thoughts on procedure:

You can probably achieve the 60 IBU target, but just barely. It's commonly believed that the maximum solubility is 100 IBUs. When you dilute your boiled wort, which should be about 100 IBUs, you'll get about 60. If you were going for higher, you would need to boil more volume.

I don't think it would hurt to squeeze the grain bag - opinions differ.

For future brews, I suggest looking into late extract addition. This is adding around 1/4 to 1/2 of the extract at the beginning and the rest at flameout (or a little before). It minimizes maillard reactions. But I'd say go with your existing plan until you're comfortable.

I would wait until the wort is chilled as much as needed before adding the top-off water. It will chill easier that way. Check the top-off water temperature and use weighted average to determine what temperature the main wort needs to be chilled to.

I reco pitching with the wort 1 - 3 degrees F below your planned fermentation temperature. I think that's what the Yeast book recommends - it works well for me.

Use a fermometer or other method to measure the beer temperature while fermenting. Room temperature isn't accurate. After active fermentation is over, you can raise the temperature several degrees to help it finish.

Check gravity 2 - 3 days before the planned bottling day. Check again on bottling day. If It has dropped, it's not finished - don't bottle yet. In reality, it should be finished in 3 weeks - this is a safety precaution.

It is probably best to use a priming calculator for figuring priming sugar.

I'd say 3 - 3 weeks conditioning should be enough - you can sample and decide.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[JayEff]

I won't second guess your recipe since you got it from How to Brew. If you haven't already, it would be good to check it on some brewing software. I use my own spreadsheet, but it took a lot of work to set up.

I did have to change the hop amounts since Palmer's bittering addition had 11% AA rather than the 13% my supplier advertised, so that the calculator displayed the 60 IBU the recipe went for. I'm curious to know if my thought process was right, or if I'm gonna lose some hop flavor by using less.
What kind of software do you mean? I used the brewersfriend recipe system to play with those values. Playing with it just now showed me that the boil size indeed influences the final IBU as you say here...:

You can probably achieve the 60 IBU target, but just barely. It's commonly believed that the maximum solubility is 100 IBUs. When you dilute your boiled wort, which should be about 100 IBUs, you'll get about 60. If you were going for higher, you would need to boil more volume.

Oooh! So I had the right idea earlier, when I thought about reducing the boil volume even further. I considered it and decided that I might not be able to dissolve the malt then. Off by a little, since it's actually the AA that don't dissolve, but the right idea. I'll stick to the recipe for now, gotta get a feel for what 60 IBU even means before I decide to play with it ^^

For future brews, I suggest looking into late extract addition. This is adding around 1/4 to 1/2 of the extract at the beginning and the rest at flameout (or a little before). It minimizes maillard reactions. But I'd say go with your existing plan until you're comfortable.

I will do that. I've been wondering what a late extract addition would do, what effect does that have on the flavor?

I would wait until the wort is chilled as much as needed before adding the top-off water. It will chill easier that way. Check the top-off water temperature and use weighted average to determine what temperature the main wort needs to be chilled to.

I was going to do that, actually, but for writing up the recipe it makes no sense, since I don't know what other people's top-off water temperature will be. I don't even know mine beforehand! That's why I wrote it in a more generalized, fool-proof way. But actually I think I was just lacking the words to use. Not a native english speaker and when I thought about how to phrase this process or calculation I decided it would get too long. The phrase "weighted average" escaped me, but I'll add it now!

I reco pitching with the wort 1 - 3 degrees F below your planned fermentation temperature. I think that's what the Yeast book recommends - it works well for me.

I will add that to the write up and be sure to follow that advice once I get around to brewing it

Use a fermometer or other method to measure the beer temperature while fermenting. Room temperature isn't accurate. After active fermentation is over, you can raise the temperature several degrees to help it finish.

Don't have that .. I was considering to maayyybe poke a well-sanitized probe through the airlock hole like once a week, the hole is small, so there'd be little risk for oxidization but still, I'd rather not... I have a basement room in which I believe the temperature is rather constant, but I don't have a thermometer yet with which I could measure it, my equipment arrives tomorrow

Check gravity 2 - 3 days before the planned bottling day. Check again on bottling day. If It has dropped, it's not finished - don't bottle yet. In reality, it should be finished in 3 weeks - this is a safety precaution.

Good thing you mention this. I read about it and I was gonna do it, but I'm gonna add it to the post so I don't forget.

It is probably best to use a priming calculator for figuring priming sugar.

I did, actually!

I'd say 3 - 3 weeks conditioning should be enough - you can sample and decide.

I hope this helps. Good luck.

Will do, thanks, and this is definitely going to help!
I've got only one worry left, really, which is whether or not the yeast will be enough. I've watched a tutorial on how to make a starter, seems simple enough... get some extra DME, maybe use a preserving jar and poke a hole into the lid for an airlock, or just cover with sanitized aluminium foil... But I'd rather not do it, just another thing that could go wrong, introduce an infection or some such...

 

[ncbrewer]

I'll try to answer your latest questions.

First, I forgot to mention chlorinated water. If your water source has chlorine or chloramine, it needs to be removed. It can cause nasty off flavors. I use a campden tablet - at least one tablet per 20 gallons of water. Starting with less water, you can use part of a tablet. Make sure your top-off water and yeast water are also treated. I dissolve a tablet in 4 cups of water and then dip out the necessary volume for the boil water and top-off water (actually about twice the specified rate to be on the safe side - no negative effects). This should be done quickly because the campden dissipates if you let it sit out. For batches using dry yeast, the rehydration water can be taken from the top-off water bucket.

It sounds like your thought process was right for the bittering hops. Actually, boil size can influence bitterness in two ways. First, boil gravity affects hop utilization, at least by traditional beliefs. There's some disagreement in recent years. Second, the solubility limit prevents you from getting very high IBUs with a partial boil, as I mentioned before. Hop flavor is not really an issue for the bittering hops - usually the flavor oils are gone in a 60 minute boil. Your late hop additions should be kept as per the recipe, adjusting the 60 minute hops to adjust bitterness. Late additions are mainly for flavor and aroma.

I think late extract addition improves the flavor slightly, but that could be confirmation bias at work. Again, opinions differ.

You say you'd rather not poke a temperature probe into the fermenting beer. I agree, but I'm paranoid about infection. Anyway, once a week isn't nearly often enough. A fermometer is a simple stick-on thermometer strip. It would be really worthwhile to get one. If it's not possible, there are sensors that you can stick to the side of the fermenter, and put some insulating putty over the outside. I've never used one, so can't offer any details. If that can't be done either, you could put the fermenter in a water bath up to about 2/3 or higher up to the beer level. Temperature of the water will at least be a better indicator of the beer temperature, because heat transfer is much greater than with air. But - I find evaporation of the water bath cools it a little. If your room is 60F, it might get too cool. It's hard to say, since the active fermentation generates some heat.

I meant 2 - 3 weeks conditioning time - sorry.

Yeast - If your starting a little low, and it's not fresh, I would be a little concerned. I haven't experimented with under pitching, so I'm probably not the one to help with this. But you have a couple of good alternatives. You could use two yeast packs to eliminate the additional complexity. Or you could use dry yeast. Pitch dry for the simplest process, or rehydrate if you want or need to get the most live cells. It's commonly said that about half of the cells die if you pitch dry. If I was making that beer, I'd use US-05 and rehydrate it. Again, opinions differ. I believe dry yeast is as good quality as liquid - just not as many varieties to fine tune your beer.

I hope you'll update this thread after you brew, and after tasting. You'll probably brew better beer with experience, but you've done enough research that you should have a good brew with this one.

 

[markk308]

Hello,

I'm a beginning brewer myself with currently four 5 gallon extract IPA's under my belt. I am very happy with my 2 out of 4 brews!

Here are some things that I learned through doing these 4 batches.

First, can you tell us what equipment you are buying? What size pot you are boiling in? Looks like you are doing roughly a 3 gallon batch?

A full boil is always best but understood if you cannot due to pot size. I do partial boils as my pot is only 5gallons. I top up in the end.

Ncbrewer is right about adding late additions of extract. I usually add 1/3 at beginning and the rest at flameout. This is suppose to help with hop ultilization for patial boils (not certain if true), but most of all, reduces any unnessesary caramelization and dark colors from boiling the malt extract for a long period of time (60 min boil). Yooper states that you don't need to add the late extract addition at late boil but at flameout as the wort is plenty hot enough to sanitize the extract. The benefit of flameout extract addition is, you do not have to wait for the wort to get back to a boil in order to continue with your hop schedule since adding the extract will cool the wort.

I read that it is not good to squeeze out specialty grains due to releasing of unwanted tannins. I just set the muslin bag of grains in my strainer and poke it a couple times over the pot.

Are you using bottled water for the boil? If it is tap, do you know what is in your city water? Chlorine or chloramines? My first two batches left an undesirable taste from chloramines. The difference between chlorine and chloramines is that you CANNOT boil out chloramines, however, you CAN boil out chlorine. It is easily treatable by using Campden tablets. 1/4 of a tablet can treat 5 gallons of water. Once I started doing this, my IPA brews shot up drastically in quality. So check your water and treat it.

For fermentation, I'd check the gravity @ 1.5 weeks, then at 2 weeks. It takes my 5 gallon 6.7% ABV beer to finish fermenting in less than 2 weeks. This should be the same for you too as i'm fermenting at the same temp as you are. My schedule is:

Saturday I brew.
Next Saturday I dryhop.
Next Saturday I bottle.
This is a total of 14 days in the fermenter and I bottle on the 14th day. Goes to show you fermentation time is not that long and IPA's are meant to be drunk fresh!

How are you bottling? Are you xfering the beer to another bucket with priming sugar? Regardless of how you do it, the amount of priming sugar you have precalculated may change because the volume of beer may have flucuated do to trub removal so calculate again on bottling day.

As for carbonating, bottles sitting 2 weeks at 68 F carbed up nicely and was ready to drink.

This is all for now. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[JayEff]

About the fermometer: I was actually going to ask what you guys think of those stick on strips, if they're accurate enough or no, etc. My idea was to stick a bit of foam to the side of the fermenter for insulation, forming a pocket, and then sticking my digital thermometer in there for a few minutes every day during the first few days.

I adjusted the flavor hops back to the originally calculated weights.

markk308 suggested adding only 1/3 of the DME at the start of the boil, so about .666kg out of the 2kg, that seems like it's really not a lot! I read that there's a lot of chemistry going on during the boil, I would've expected you only do maybe a third or a quarter of the total DME as a late addition! Huh! I might try something like that, I'll consider it.

I was planning to use bottled water, yes, but my tap water has no chlorine smell or taste whatsoever so I don't think there's much in there...

I'll buy a 15 liter pot, but I don't have a gas burner. I'm going to do this on the kitchen stove with is an electric ceramic field. The pot would be much larger than the field itself, too. I don't think it can heat the full batch in a reasonable amount of time. I estimate its power to be between 1000 and 1500 watts. Does anyone have any experience on this topic?

I was also considering to add my hops in a bag, because this yeast is expensive and I might want to reuse it. Do you think this is a good idea? How long does yeast harvested after fermentation last? I assume you can put it in the fridge in a sealed and sterilized container and it'll go dormant for at least a few weeks?

Edit: Adding a question:
I compared some prices and boy, is the Wyeast brand expensive compared to other yeasts, especially dry ones. When looking to replace the Whitbread English Ale yeast with another yeast, what do you suggest? My online store has a few options for dry yeast that come up when I search "english ale":

There's SAFALE S-04 which is really cheap, and there's Danstar Windsor Ale, also quite cheap.
The Danstar is described as producing a fruity or "estery" flavor. I think I'd rather go for less fruitiness, I think I'd prefer the hops to come through more notably, but honestly, I have no experience on this. I've had a barley wine before and that was *nice*, but it's a sipper, right? (Assuming I understand that word correctly, meaning that you take sips, rather than swallows, cause it's so intense) I think I'd rather have an easy, quaffable beer for my first non-kit recipe.
Danstar Nottingham Ale's description sounds really nice, stating "It produces low concentrations of fruity and estery aromas and has been described as neutral for ale yeast, allowing the full natural flavor of malt & hops to develop." and I like this, but the temperature range seems a little scary: 14°C - 21°C and I expect my fermentation to be in the higher end of that spectrum.
There's just sooo much to choose from. Does anyone have any suggestions? US-05 is unfortunately not currently available at my online shop, but if they get some in stock when I'm ready to order the ingredients for this, I think I'd go with that, as ncbrewer suggested, the description of "low diacetyl and a very clean, crisp end palate" sounds appealing to my untrained palate.

 

[markk308]

1. I use the stick on thermometer and it works fine.

2. I use a 20 gallon pot on my electric stove so you are fine.

3. Why don't you use safale us-05 for your yeast? It's a great ale yeast and it's cheap!

 

[JayEff]

Aah, thank you for your response, markk, I had *just* edited my previous post with another question, as well as the info that US-05 is currently not in stock at my online store Otherwise it really sounds lovely.
Gosh golly, 20 gallons on an electric stove? WOW. That's, what, almost 4 times my batch size? That's very good to know, thank you. That was actually quite a big worry for me, that I might not be able to sustain a rolling boil without the lid.
I will certainly order one of those stick on thermometers when I order the ingredients, they're super cheap. Thanks for the advice!

 

[markk308]

Lololol I'm sorry, I meant 5 gallon pot! 20 liters.

 

[ncbrewer]

As far as sampling from the fermenter, as usual, opinions vary. Some sample several times. I'm very cautious about opening the fermenter. I only open it once, two days before bottling day, then again on bottling day. I try to minimize the possibility of contamination and oxidation.

I agree with markk's statement about priming calculations. I make an estimate of how much will actually be in the bottling bucket after trub loss and sampling, and use that volume in the priming calculator or other calculation.

I hate to complicate things at this point, but there is currently some debate as to whether boil gravity affects hop utilization. From my experience, I believe it does affect utilization, but since the jury is still out, I think it would be better to add all the extract at the start of the boil in order to stay with the original recipe. Then try late extract addition later - you might have to adjust the bitterness by trial and error.

The fact that your tap water has no chlorine smell is encouraging, but I'd still use the campden if using tap water. From what I've read, the taste threshold for chlorophenols is extremely low.

I've read some complaints about the smooth-top electric stoves. You should probably check it with water. Lots of brewers boil with the pot partly covered if the stove doesn't have enough power to boil with it open.

Using a hop bag is fine. I haven't done it, but apparently utilization is a little lower if in a bag. I don't harvest yeast - can't help with that.

I've used US-05 a lot. I like it a lot - pretty clean. Nottingham seems pretty similar to me. I ferment both of these at 66 - 67F. I like Windsor, but attenuation is pretty low. Somewhat estery. I fermented at 65F. I just tried S-04 recently in a porter. I like the esters. From what I've read, this should be fermented a little cooler - around 63F. I'd guess if you can't get US-05, Nottingham would be a good yeast for this brew.

As far as barley wine, I don't think this, or any kind of double, imperial, or strong style would be good until you get comfortable with more standard gravity beers.

 

[JayEff]

Yeah, I wasn't gonna make barley wine, I just meant it as an example of a fruity flavor, because I'm not entirely sure if this is what's meant when "estery" and "fruity" is used to describe the taste.

I'd like to try a heavier beer some day, but as you said, I'll stick with this kind for now.

Unfortunately, this brew will have to wait for a while. I was planning to brew the extract kit today, Brewferm Grand Cru (note how I said I'd like to try a heavier brew some day? whoops, I may have accidentally started with that kit but it's a kit, what can go wrong! ), but my thermometer did not arrive today, so I'm waiting for that.

Using this dry yeast - I'm thinking Nottingham - I won't need to harvest it, since it's so much cheaper than the wyeast liquid yeast. For a little over 3 gallons at that gravity, one rehydrated package should be enough, I'd be underpitching slightly at a rate of .62, probably not a big deal...

 

[ncbrewer]

Using this dry yeast - I'm thinking Nottingham - I won't need to harvest it, since it's so much cheaper than the wyeast liquid yeast. For a little over 3 gallons at that gravity, one rehydrated package should be enough, I'd be underpitching slightly at a rate of .62, probably not a big deal...

I hesitate to get into another controversial topic, but dry yeast cell count seems to be questionable. The dry ale yeasts are commonly used at a rate of one 11 or 11.5 gram package in a 5 gallon batch up to about 1.060 OG, even though it would be an underpitch according to the published cell counts. I don't remember where, but I read somewhere that the cell counting method might be at fault. With brewing, you'll find that there are a lot of judgement calls. It can be frustrating, but it's makes it interesting.

 

[JayEff]

I hesitate to get into another controversial topic, but dry yeast cell count seems to be questionable. The dry ale yeasts are commonly used at a rate of one 11 or 11.5 gram package in a 5 gallon batch up to about 1.060 OG, even though it would be an underpitch according to the published cell counts. I don't remember where, but I read somewhere that the cell counting method might be at fault. With brewing, you'll find that there are a lot of judgement calls. It can be frustrating, but it's makes it interesting.

Mh, well, since you're saying people have fine results at 11g per 5 gallons at my gravity, and my batch size is quite a bit smaller than this, 2 thirds actually, I'm thinking my plan to pitch one package (rehydrated of course) will work just fine.

But first, my Brewferm extract kit. It's in the fermenter now, but it's significantly too cold actually, 5 °F under the minimum according to the manual, so I'm moving it to a warmer room ... I think I sanitized well, so the yeast kicking off a few hours later shouldn't be too too bad... but this is off topic.

 

[buckinin]

On top off water... I usually put a couple gallons of water in the refrigerator to cool it. I then add it when the wort is not quite to pitch temp. Personally I don't worry about weighted average temps, just close enough and haven't noticed a difference in quality. I use a chest freezer for temp control during fermentation so get to an equalized temp pretty well that way. From what I've read fermentation temp control will impact quality much more than initial pitch temp. So you might not want to sweat getting to exact pitch temp before adding top off water. If you want to cool faster chill the top off water so it will bring you down to pitch temp a bit faster.

 

[JayEff]

If you want to cool faster chill the top off water so it will bring you down to pitch temp a bit faster.

I did that, that worked great, I only had to chill the wort to around 33°C, my top-off water was at <10°C, together they were perfect. I like to math it up sometimes, so I don't mind using weighted average.

I use a chest freezer for temp control during fermentation so get to an equalized temp pretty well that way. From what I've read fermentation temp control will impact quality much more than initial pitch temp.

I'd like to temp control properly, but currently don't have the facilities. I have a warm room and a cold room basically... What's more important, having the fermenting wort at the correct temperature for as long as possible, or keeping the temperature stable? I'm guessing the first?

How does the chest freezer work? I have a left-over old fridge that I might be able to use, but that's only for chilling, right? Perhaps with a temperature controller you can plug the fridge into, I saw one for rather cheap. But what if the wort needs warming?

 

[buckinin]

I use a Johnson Controls A419 temp controller. Just plug it in and plug the freezer into it, run the temp probe into the freezer (I close the door with the probe cable running out the door and it seals well), set the temp and you're done. I would imagine a refrigerator would work just as well. I think a lot of people use refrigerators for temp control too. It might be harder to hold the temp in the low 30s F if you're lagering. But for ales a refrigerator should work great.

You can buy heaters too. I have a brew belt that I use when I need heat. I put the fermenter inside the chest freezer even when using the brew belt to try to take advantage of the insulation to minimize temp swings.

I've heard that a nice steady temp during fermentation is most important to get consistent flavor from the yeast. As long as you're within the temp tolerance of the yeast keeping it steady is good. Some ale yeast have a pretty big range (10-15 degrees F), but I wouldn't want temp swings that big during fermentation. No experimentation on my part, but it seems to be the consensus on the forum.

 

[JayEff]

Thank you for your response. My Brewferm Grand Cru kit is sitting at the upper edge of the suggested temperature range, unfortunately I'm not sure about how stable the temp will be. Not very, I reckon, this room isn't very well insulated from the elements. I will just take this batch as an experiment with temperatures, I guess, I think I might have another room I could try.

I discovered that the fridge that's just lying around is too small for the airlock. I wonder ... perhaps I can rig up a blow-off tube, if I don't expect excessive foaming, my small diameter hose will probably be just fine. But since this is an ale, I'm hoping I'll get away without cooling, since I don't have a temperature controller yet.

 

[ncbrewer]

A swamp cooler is pretty good for controlling temps during fermentation (until you get a freezer). It's a tub with a water bath that the fermenter sits in - water maybe 2/3 of the height of the beer level. You can put a T-shirt over the fermenter hanging into the water. It wicks up the water, and evaporation cools the beer. But I don't like the T-shirt hanging over the bucket lid, so I put bottles of ice in the water bath as needed. And it seems the evaporation cools things off a little. An aquarium heater can be used in the water bath for heating. As far as steady temperature, I've read that it shouldn't vary more than 4F in a day.

 

[JayEff]

I've heard about the swamp cooler method - added thermal mass also helps to keep the temp more stable. Since it's rather simple, I might go for that. Gonna get pretty hot during summer, but I think I have a room that'll be suited for ale temperatures.

Today I simply stuck some wet paper towels to the sides of the bucket - they adhered just fine while wet and you can make sure they don't get up to the lid. This decreased the temp by maybe .5 - 1 °C nice and slowly. Now I moved the bucket in a slightly cooler room and I'll see how that works.

Tried my best to keep the wort from being disturbed too much but the liquid did of course move a bit while carrying. I don't think it'll be a big deal.

 

[buckinin]

A swamp cooler is pretty good for controlling temps during fermentation (until you get a freezer). It's a tub with a water bath that the fermenter sits in - water maybe 2/3 of the height of the beer level. You can put a T-shirt over the fermenter hanging into the water. It wicks up the water, and evaporation cools the beer. But I don't like the T-shirt hanging over the bucket lid, so I put bottles of ice in the water bath as needed. And it seems the evaporation cools things off a little. An aquarium heater can be used in the water bath for heating. As far as steady temperature, I've read that it shouldn't vary more than 4F in a day.

I second the swamp cooler. I noticed a big difference when I started using one after my first couple batches. I used the swamp cooler for two years before investing in refrigeration. I usually filled it all the way up to the level of the liquid in the fermenter. I started adding a little bleach in the water after I noticed green stuff growing in the tub due to the water sitting for a few weeks. Maybe $10 at Walmart for a big tub can't be beat for the improvement in quality.

I tried the aquarium heater in the swamp cooler bucket. It didn't seem to work very well for me due to lack of water circulation. The water right by the heater would heat up and the heater would turn off. But without circulation most of the water wouldn't change temp. Maybe I was doing something wrong?

 

[JayEff]

I'll give this a try then, but what was your room temp and desired fermentation temp?

I tried the aquarium heater in the swamp cooler bucket. It didn't seem to work very well for me due to lack of water circulation. The water right by the heater would heat up and the heater would turn off. But without circulation most of the water wouldn't change temp. Maybe I was doing something wrong?

That's a good thing to keep in mind - I just looked up aquarium pumps on amazon, and they can go really cheap, under 10 bucks. That should give the water some circulation.

I have a really cold room, 55-57F, very stable. I'm thinking a swamp cooler with circulation and a heater with selectable desired temperature could potentially be perfect for ale yeasts in there. Might even work for lager yeasts if I try those some time.

I'm guessing starsan would work too to keep nasties out of the swamp cooler, since I don't have bleach, but it's a bit of a waste isn't it.

Speaking of starsan, I noticed something curious: Starsan solution is cloudy, almost a little blue. But in my airlock it actually cleared up completely after a few hours of bubbling, it's now crystal clear. Can't find my PH strips anywhere...

 

[madscientist451]

Hops:
-26g Galena (13.6%) at 60 minutes
-36g East Kent Goldings (5.2%) at 15 minutes
-18g East Kent Goldings (5.2%) at 5 minutes

IBU: 59.5




(



.

Its supposed to be an IPA, I'd add some hops at Flameout and let it steep for 20 minutes before chilling. Remember, the IBU calculation is just a number. The perception of hop flavor and bitterness is influenced by more than the total IBU. I've had an all EKG IPA before and it was pretty good, I'd add 1/2-1 oz of EKG at flameout, in addition to the hops above.
The flameout addition won't add to your calculated IBU's but it will add another layer of flavor to your IPA and since you're not dry hopping I think you'll need it. If you are used to drinking commercial IPA's I think you'll be somewhat dissapointed using the hop schedule above.
If you wanted to add 1/2 oz at flameout and 1/2 oz dry hop, all the better. If you are using a bucket for a fermenter you may want to skip dry hopping, if using a carboy, getting the stopper or lid on and off is pretty easy. Some people throw the dry hops in before the fermentation totally stops, so the Co2 in the headspace gets replenished.
Also remember that the hop character/bitterness fades pretty quickly, so if its too bitter when it first carbs up, just lay it back and wait.

Edit:
55-57F is a little on the cool side for ale yeast, but cooler is better than warmer. If a small heater could bring it up to 62 of so would be perfect.
You don't need a swamp cooler.

 

[JayEff]

Its supposed to be an IPA, I'd add some hops at Flameout and let it steep for 20 minutes before chilling. Remember, the IBU calculation is just a number. The perception of hop flavor and bitterness is influenced by more than the total IBU. I've had an all EKG IPA before and it was pretty good, I'd add 1/2-1 oz of EKG at flameout, in addition to the hops above.

I'll consider hops at flameout, sure! Sounds like a good idea. Dry hopping, well, I use a bucket. Opening it sounds scary. I think I'll do without. (Maybe I can fit the pellets into the hole for the airlock! )

I wonder. I've heard that some hops such as citra impart a citrusy flavor. This sounds appealing to me. Would they work at flameout? With the high AAs I doubt replacing the EKGs would be a good idea.

 

[IslandLizard]

I'll consider hops at flameout, sure! Sounds like a good idea. Dry hopping, well, I use a bucket. Opening it sounds scary. I think I'll do without. (Maybe I can fit the pellets into the hole for the airlock! )

I wonder. I've heard that some hops such as citra impart a citrusy flavor. This sounds appealing to me. Would they work at flameout? With the high AAs I doubt replacing the EKGs would be a good idea.

I'm going to chime in with @madscientist451.

How to Brew is a great book, I assume you're referring to the 3rd edition from 2006. That's 11 years old, and although the brewing science is still very valid, it's quite outdated on the recipes and methods.

The new (4th) edition of the book has just been released, and contains significant updates. The rewrites and editing took 2 years.

Look around here on HBT for modern day Pale and IPA recipes and look at the hopping schedules. I'd adapt one of those rather than using Palmer's old ones.

EKG is really not a Pale Ale or IPA hop by today's standards either. Whirlpool hops and long hop stands with potent (high %AA) at reduced temperatures after the boil are all the rage.

 

[madscientist451]

Sure, use some Citra, you can skip the EKG and use All Citra if you want to try that.

 

[JayEff]

How to Brew is a great book, I assume you're referring to the 3rd edition from 2006.

Aaactually. I'm referring to the free online version. I just checked and that's the 1st edition

I will do that, I'll have a look around for IPA recipes and look at their hop schedules. When I found something, I'll let you know what I found and what I'm changing. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!

 

[JayEff]

(edit: the post below this one contains my updated hop schedule, feel free to disregard these if you don't feel like reading a wall of text!)
I've looked around and found an ISA (=light IPA, right?) made with only Mosaic here using
1 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Boil 30 min 27.83
1.5 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Boil 5 min 10.83
2 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Boil 0 min
2 oz Mosaic Pellet 12.5 Dry Hop 0 days
I looked at the mosaic and they seem nice, but I'm not sure how to account for the dry hopping. I was considering to ramp up the flame out addition, or can you dry hop when you pitch the yeast? The thread says he made a mistake and meant to put dry hop at 5 days, so I guess no?

I looked through some of the descriptions of taste for some of those hops. Mosaic for example is described thus:
It show up citrus notes of lime and tangerine, green fruits such as gooseberry, green and vegetal flavors such as onion, tomato leaves and pepper and cassis and peach responsible for the flavor profile. These are complemented by spicy notes of curry, chilli and myrrh.

Sounds alright, but I figured I'd look around more. I found a hop that sounded quite nice as well: Mandarina Bavaria with the description:
Predominated flavour of citrus such as grapefruit and lemon. Additionally expanded with blackcurrants and currants. But also combined with other tasty elements such as pepper or pineapple.

As I said before, citrusy flavor appeals to me. Based on that, I came up with this hop schedule:
Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
30 g MB Pellet 9.2 Boil 60 min 36.5 (possibly 30 min, see last paragraph)
30 g MB Pellet 9.2 Boil 5 min 7.3
40 g MB Pellet 9.2 Boil 0 min

Which would net me 100g of hops, which is the package size. Would be handy! The total IBUs are a bit low at 43.8 but still in style according to brewer's friend, and I don't mind brewing a beer that's slightly less bitter because I remembered a friend who doesn't like them too bitter.

Has anyone used Mandarina Bavaria before? Do these additions make sense at all? I kind of just fiddled with the numbers until I had decent IBUs and a nice late addition to give the hops a chance to impart more than bitterness. What should I expect?

I'd perhaps also replace the Crystal 150L with 60L because I heard that it could impart an ashy taste, which I don't want. What do you think? What would increasing the steeping grains do (apart from the darker color)? They're cheap and I wouldn't mind adding some more. As I understand it, they contain larger, unfermentable sugars so I'd expect more sweetness and body, which could be nice.

I am now also considering to add half the DME at flame out (1kg at the start, 1kg late), as was suggested earlier, since the IBUs are low now. Brewers friend says 68 IBUs then. In this case, I would consider adding the bittering hops at 30 min even, giving me 55 IBUs. This would be more in line with the recipe this is based on. Then I could even do a 30 min boil, since this is just extract, right ... ?

Edit: Reading through a thread about Mandarina Bavaria, it seems that they're not so great for bittering. Someone suggested using El Dorado instead. Perhaps I'll do El Dorado for bittering with the other additions the same? Thoughts?
Edit: Another thread suggests Columbus for bittering. Those sound nice, too. I'm pretty sure at this point, that I'll go for a different bittering addition, many people seem to say that MB on its own isn't amazing.

 

[JayEff]

(sorry for the double post, this seemed cleaner then editing the already long previous post)

Alright I revisited the hop schedule yet again and I'm proposing this idea:
Batch size: 12l = 3.2 gal
Boil size: 7l = 1.85 gal
Total DME: 2kg = 4.4 lbs
OG 1.060, FG 1.014, ABV: 6%

200g Caramunich at 160F for 30 minutes. (= 7 oz)
1 kg Extra Light DME at the start of the boil
1 kg Extra Light DME at flameout
Boil a total of 15 minutes, since it's extract it should be fine with a short boil.
Hops:
15 g Simcoe Pellet 12.7 Boil 15 min 30.16 (= .5 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 5 min 11.33 (= 1 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 0 min --- (= 1 oz)

Total IBUs are 41.5, which afaik is on the low end for an IPA, but since my friend likes it low on bitterness, I want to start at the lower end of the spectrum and work my way up to my taste - unless you guys say this won't come out well.

The low boil time would also let the hop flavor come through more strongly, which I hear is nice for an IPA.

Before I change my initial post, what do you guys think about all this? Have I done my research or am I missing something important? Thank you so much for your valuable advice so far!

 

[ncbrewer]

The 15 minute boil is unusual. I've never done less than 30 minutes, but from what I've read it should be fine. And as long as you're ok with the 41.5 IBUs, I think this should work well. I've had a relatively low bitterness IPA (don't know the number), and I liked it. Keep in mind that the IBU calculation is just an estimate anyway. You'll find how your system works and fine tune your recipes for it.

 

[JayEff]

That's good news! I will update the initial post with this updated schedule and I'll keep you posted on how it turned out - in a good month or two.

Thanks to everybody for all your advice, you really helped me greatly to formulate what's essentially my first recipe. I'm really excited for this

 

[JayEff]

So, tomorrow is brew day and I forgot to buy hop bags. Only now that I read up on dry hopping do I begin to wonder: I am correct in thinking that (disintegrated) hop pellets going into the fermenter is only an issue if you want to harvest the yeast after the batch is done, right? Or should I try my darndest to strain them out?

On the topic of straining, I was planning to add the steeping grains in a bag - but again, I forgot to buy any. They are pre-milled and there's some flour-looking stuff in the plastic bag they came in. I suppose a little bit of dissolved starch isn't a big deal so long as I strain the husks and larger bits out, right?

All I really have on hand is a mesh strainer, not exceptionally fine. Will this be fine, or are there makeshift alternatives (I've read of old t-shirts as a filter or bag)? Or should I just order some more gear and wait for that after all?

 

[IslandLizard]

So, tomorrow is brew day and I forgot to buy hop bags. Only now that I read up on dry hopping do I begin to wonder: I am correct in thinking that (disintegrated) hop pellets going into the fermenter is only an issue if you want to harvest the yeast after the batch is done, right? Or should I try my darndest to strain them out?

On the topic of straining, I was planning to add the steeping grains in a bag - but again, I forgot to buy any. They are pre-milled and there's some flour-looking stuff in the plastic bag they came in. I suppose a little bit of dissolved starch isn't a big deal so long as I strain the husks and larger bits out, right?

All I really have on hand is a mesh strainer, not exceptionally fine. Will this be fine, or are there makeshift alternatives (I've read of old t-shirts as a filter or bag)? Or should I just order some more gear and wait for that after all?

Steep the grains in a smaller pot, with say 2 quarts of hot water (~160F) for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then drain through your sieve or colander into another pot. Most grain will stay behind, some bits and dust will go through. Don't disturb the grain heap inside the colander. Now pour the collected runnings slowly over the grain in the colander placed over the first pot. The grain is the filter bed holding the small bits and dust back. Whatever makes it through is OK. Add the runnings to your boil kettle.

Now sparge by putting the grain back into the pot, add some warm water. Temp is insignificant, but no hotter than 168F. Stir and drain again, the same way.

You can let the hops swim freely in the kettle, after chilling, cover and let sit for 30 minutes or so. Siphon the clear wort from the top into your clean and sanitized fermentor, leaving the trub behind in your kettle. Tilt the kettle somewhat toward the end (stick a thick rolled up towel under the far end) to get more wort out. Alternatively, you could pour the clear wort from the top into your fermentor. When the trub starts to come through, stop pouring.

If you're frugal, there are ways to reclaim most of those 2-4 quarts of wort trapped in the trub too, under the paradigm "No wort left behind!"

Dry hopping isn't until later, so maybe you can score or make some bags by then. Yes, if you want to reclaim clean yeast it's better not to add loose hops to your beer.

Good luck. You're ready to brew!

 

[IslandLizard]

(sorry for the double post, this seemed cleaner then editing the already long previous post)

Alright I revisited the hop schedule yet again and I'm proposing this idea:
Batch size: 12l = 3.2 gal
Boil size: 7l = 1.85 gal
Total DME: 2kg = 4.4 lbs
OG 1.060, FG 1.014, ABV: 6%

200g Caramunich at 160F for 30 minutes. (= 7 oz)
1 kg Extra Light DME at the start of the boil
1 kg Extra Light DME at flameout
Boil a total of 15 minutes, since it's extract it should be fine with a short boil.
Hops:
15 g Simcoe Pellet 12.7 Boil 15 min 30.16 (= .5 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 5 min 11.33 (= 1 oz)
30 g Manda B Pellet 9.2 Boil 0 min --- (= 1 oz)

Total IBUs are 41.5, which afaik is on the low end for an IPA, but since my friend likes it low on bitterness, I want to start at the lower end of the spectrum and work my way up to my taste - unless you guys say this won't come out well.

The low boil time would also let the hop flavor come through more strongly, which I hear is nice for an IPA.

Before I change my initial post, what do you guys think about all this? Have I done my research or am I missing something important? Thank you so much for your valuable advice so far!

Try to do a hop stand. It's the modern way of brewing IPAs to keep more flavor and hop aroma in the wort and thus in your beer.

Here's the way to do it. When the boil is done, turn off the flame, but don't add your 0 minute hops yet. First chill to 170F, then stop chilling. Now add your "0 minute" hops, and let them steep for 20-30 minutes with the lid on. Stir every 5 minutes. Make sure your stirring spoon is sanitized. Then chill down to pitching temps.

 

[JayEff]

Thank you very much for your input!

Steep the grains in a smaller pot, with say 2 quarts of hot water (~160F) for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Then drain through your sieve or colander into another pot. Most grain will stay behind, some bits and dust will go through. Don't disturb the grain heap inside the colander. Now pour the collected runnings slowly over the grain in the colander placed over the first pot. The grain is the filter bed holding the small bits and dust back. Whatever makes it through is OK. Add the runnings to your boil kettle.

Now sparge by putting the grain back into the pot, add some warm water. Temp is insignificant, but no hotter than 168F. Stir and drain again, the same way.

I'm happy to say that that's basically what I did - or planned to do. I used less grain than I had planned (150g instead of 200) leaving most of the flour behind, so when I strained the "tea" the first time, it was already pretty much clear so I just poured some more hot water over the grain to rinse out a little bit extra and called it good. I wasn't concerned with efficiency, since I decided I wanted the hops to be more prominent anyways. Last minute modifications to the recipe, not smart, I know Also might make the process less reproducible.

You can let the hops swim freely in the kettle, after chilling, cover and let sit for 30 minutes or so. Siphon the clear wort from the top into your clean and sanitized fermentor, leaving the trub behind in your kettle. Tilt the kettle somewhat toward the end (stick a thick rolled up towel under the far end) to get more wort out. Alternatively, you could pour the clear wort from the top into your fermentor. When the trub starts to come through, stop pouring.

If you're frugal, there are ways to reclaim most of those 2-4 quarts of wort trapped in the trub too, under the paradigm "No wort left behind!"

Dry hopping isn't until later, so maybe you can score or make some bags by then. Yes, if you want to reclaim clean yeast it's better not to add loose hops to your beer.

Good luck. You're ready to brew!

I ended up grabbing a tea sock I had found in a drawer, sanitized it in starsan, and strained the last runnings through that until I was left with a thick sludge in the kettle. The only thing I'm concerned with is whether or not I sanitized it well enough, I should've probably boiled it, but I hope the heat of the moment was enough

Try to do a hop stand. It's the modern way of brewing IPAs to keep more flavor and hop aroma in the wort and thus in your beer.

Here's the way to do it. When the boil is done, turn off the flame, but don't add your 0 minute hops yet. First chill to 170F, then stop chilling. Now add your "0 minute" hops, and let them steep for 20-30 minutes with the lid on. Stir every 5 minutes. Make sure your stirring spoon is sanitized. Then chill down to pitching temps.

That's also ... preeeeeetty much what I did, except I added the 0 minute hops at around 200F, knowing I'd get some more bitterness from them that way. I whirlpooled for a minute or two and after less than 10 minutes started chilling in a water bath. Took quite a long time, so I figure I steeped the hops enough, but next time I'll do it more like you described. Think my method will yield a good hop aroma and flavor?

I've got another question. About 3 hours after pitching the yeast at 21C in a relatively cold room (16C or so), I already see the liquid in the airlock (S-shaped) moving, indicating there's gas forming, and the temp is still the same. This sounds like a reaaally short lag period. I hear that a short lag period could mean bad yeast health and perhaps low cell count ...? I hope I don't have to worry. Perhaps this is due to insufficient aeration of the wort? I let the siphon drip noisily into the bucket and then used a sanitized balloon whisk to whip up some nice bubbles, 2 or 3 times.

I'm swamp cooling after all. I want to keep the temp at the low end of nottingham's temp range for the first few days. We'll see how it goes.

edit: I'm having troubles keeping it cool! Well, it's only been around 6-8 hours but it's at 65F despite the swamp cooler and a roughly 62F room. I reckon once it starts going vigorously (not a lot of airlock activity just yet, no krausen, I'm so worried about the blow off that everyone says is just going to happen for sure ... ^^" ), it'll heat up even more. I'm not sooo worried about the flavors - I bet I'll love the beer either way - but more about the fusel alcohols: I heard that notty produces those if you go above the high 60s and they're supposed to cause headaches. Anyone got any experience with that? I'm not sure I can cool it much more than this ...

edit: wow swamp coolers are efficient. now it's hanging at slightly under 60F, that should be just perfect! The water line of the swamp cooler is not even half of the wort's level, cause I don't want to cover my fermometer strip with water - it says do not submerge. half of the bucket has a wet towel stuck to it, wicking the water up. That's all that's needed. No krausen yet, we'll see what happens then.

 

[ncbrewer]

JayEff: It's interesting to me that you had a lot of heat generated during the lag phase, and it's apparently producing less heat as it gets close to active fermentation. I've experienced the same thing whenever I pitch in the 66 to 6F range. When I pitch lower (around 62 to 63F), I get much less heat generated. I've never read anything about this happening - mostly about heat during active fermentation. Now I wonder if others have had this happen.

 

[JayEff]

JayEff: It's interesting to me that you had a lot of heat generated during the lag phase, and it's apparently producing less heat as it gets close to active fermentation. I've experienced the same thing whenever I pitch in the 66 to 6F range. When I pitch lower (around 62 to 63F), I get much less heat generated. I've never read anything about this happening - mostly about heat during active fermentation. Now I wonder if others have had this happen.

That so! Interesting. I'm not sure about my data point here, though. It's entirely possible I just overestimated the heat absorption of the swamp cooler or some other factors are at play. I'll describe exactly what I did (in part, wrong):

I had a small dish of water in which I poured the dry yeast. since about half of it didn't seem to hydrate at all, I poked around at it before covering - that's apparently a mistake as I've read later.

15 min later, I was supposed to swirl it around and begin adjusting the temperature, but instead I just straight up pitched it.

The wort was probably around 70F at that point, I don't think temperature shock could've been a problem, but it was probably too warm to pitch, still. I got impatient and once I started to hydrate the yeast, I knew I shouldn't let it sit around too long, so I decided I'd just pitch rather than lose viability.

I think the temperature behavior I was seeing was the wort being cooled down slowly, not fermentation heat. Right now it's bubbling happily but nowhere near as vigorously as I thought with notty, at 60F.

I also still have little to no krausen, judging by what I can see from shining a flash light through the opaque fermenting bucket's walls. I expected blow off for the first days from what I've read about notty, but so far, nothing of that sort. Though I'm a little worried since this is not the behavior I expected, I'm also kinda happy about that

I will definitely relax and try not to worry about all this non-optimal behavior. Can't have a homebrew yet though, my first batch is still carbonating

Regarding dry hopping: It's responsible for the aroma, not so much the flavor, right? Can it be done if you don't plan to do a secondary? What about sanitizing: my hops are in their original vacuum bags, rolled up in the freezer. How does one keep hops sterile anyways? Surely, dryhopping has a chance of introducing bugs from improperly stored hops?

 

[JayEff]

I read up on dry hopping some more, apparently they stay sterile because of their chemical composition.

My plan: Wait until the gravity is stable and check the aroma and flavor. If at that point I decide want more hop character, I will pour in some hop pellets through the airlock hole, no bag. Someone suggested making a funnel out of paper. After 4 days it should be done and ready to package.

I think I will use about ... 5g of simcoe and 15g of mandarina bavaria.

Can anyone see anything wrong with that?

If I dry hop, I plan to tie my tea sock to the racking cane to avoid hop particles in the bottling bucket. Should I tie it to the outlet of the siphon, or the inlet?

The bucket has been sitting at a solid ~15C = 60F for days now, very pleased with this. Is it correct to remove the swamp cooler after a few days, or should I not do so? What effect would that have?

 

[ncbrewer]

That so! Interesting. I'm not sure about my data point here, though. It's entirely possible I just overestimated the heat absorption of the swamp cooler or some other factors are at play. I'll describe exactly what I did (in part, wrong):

I had a small dish of water in which I poured the dry yeast. since about half of it didn't seem to hydrate at all, I poked around at it before covering - that's apparently a mistake as I've read later.

15 min later, I was supposed to swirl it around and begin adjusting the temperature, but instead I just straight up pitched it.

The wort was probably around 70F at that point, I don't think temperature shock could've been a problem, but it was probably too warm to pitch, still. I got impatient and once I started to hydrate the yeast, I knew I shouldn't let it sit around too long, so I decided I'd just pitch rather than lose viability.

Something Danstar emailed me that I think is a good idea: "Our technical manager suggests that you don't go longer than 30 minutes after the start of rehydration before pitching the yeast into wort as the yeast needs nutrients. If there is a delay you could actually add more wort to the rehydration water to give the yeast something to eat while you are waiting to pitch it, so long as it isn't too hot."

I think the temperature behavior I was seeing was the wort being cooled down slowly, not fermentation heat. Right now it's bubbling happily but nowhere near as vigorously as I thought with notty, at 60F.

I guess I'm still alone in seeing the heat generated during lag phase.

I also still have little to no krausen, judging by what I can see from shining a flash light through the opaque fermenting bucket's walls. I expected blow off for the first days from what I've read about notty, but so far, nothing of that sort. Though I'm a little worried since this is not the behavior I expected, I'm also kinda happy about that

You can get a pretty good idea of kraeusen by darkening the room and setting a flashlight on the lid aiming down. The kraeusen will show up better that way.

I will definitely relax and try not to worry about all this non-optimal behavior. Can't have a homebrew yet though, my first batch is still carbonating

Regarding dry hopping: It's responsible for the aroma, not so much the flavor, right? Can it be done if you don't plan to do a secondary? What about sanitizing: my hops are in their original vacuum bags, rolled up in the freezer. How does one keep hops sterile anyways? Surely, dryhopping has a chance of introducing bugs from improperly stored hops?

I'm too paranoid to dry hop, so I can't help with this.