[jth138]

as i stated in a previous post, i am trying to find as much info as possible before i dive into brewing. 

While a beer is fermenting in a carboy, are there any tips of the trade / devices that can be used to keep the carboy at a maintained temperature?  at night my wife like to go into what i call "hibernation" and she turns the thermostat down to 61-63. 

does "dry hopping" do anything aside from add to the aroma of a beer? 


thank you in advance 

[micsager]

Something like this may help:

http://morebeer.com/view_product/16674//The_FermWrap_Heater

But to be honest, I'd brew a few times with basic instructions that come with a kit before you try to learn it all.  The stuff in the books will make so much more sense if you have brewed a couple times.  But, if you want to learn, try the archives of "Brewstrong" on www.thebrewingnetwork.com

If you use Itunes, they are all available as podcasts.  I've learned much from Jamil and John. 

[tygo]

Yeah +1 to jumping in and getting your feet wet.

But as far as you're questions: 

Putting the fermenter into plastic keg tub filled with water will help buffer the temperature swings.  It doesn't sound like you're worried about the fermentation being too warm but if you were you could swap some frozen water bottles in the water periodically, like every morning before work and every night when you get home.  With a little trial and error on the number of bottles and timing you can get it to hold a pretty constant temp.

By the way the low sixties is actually a pretty good fermentation temp for ales.  And a fermometer on the side of the fermenter is nice to have.

Dry hopping is primarily done to add aroma to the beer.  There may be some flavor changes to the beer depending on alcohol content and length of time the hops are left in there but your primary objective with dry hopping is aroma.

[hopfenundmalz]

This article has a few tips that you can use.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/2490/Beat_the_Heat_JAzym00_.pdf