My advice based on past experiences are: avoid contamination with potential wild yeasts by keeping the entire process to bottle ultra-sterile, and use a good wort chilling process to get the temperature down to fermentation temperatures quickly (which will in turn also help avoid exposure to yeasts if this is an open-air process.)

One day it’s my hope to get back into this and pay the nice folks up at morebeer a visit. My goal is to try and replicate an ultra-hoppy northwest pale ale recipe using Cascade varieties of hops that is gluten-free. Best time of year to do this is in the late fall to early spring when room temperatures can be maintained easily at the correct levels during the fermentation process.