New brewer with some questions

I've been lurking for a while now, this is my first post. I'm new to brewing and I am hooked I just have a few questions about an extract kit that I have.

I have a spiced beer kit that came with a pack of specialty spices my first question is at what point in the brewing process should I add the packet of spice.

Second, the kit says to make a satellite fermenter it goes like this: "Pour the sample (from test tube) into an old beer bottle, place a paper towel in the neck & locate it next to your fermenter. This is called a satellite fermenter. It is used to take hydrometer readings without opening the fermenter. If the satellite becomes infected, the readings are still accurate."


Does anyone have any experience with this, it doesn't seem like a common practice here.


Cheers

Nobody uses satellite fermenters. It is an odd practice that really holds no merit. You can put two fermenters next to each other and they can react differently with the same yeast and the same wort from an identical batch. Granted, it isn't that common, but the small bottle will finish sooner than the big fermenter will, so it is still not a great practice.

As for the spice packet, end of boil is probably ok.

I haven't done a spice beer, so anything I tell you would not be rooted in experience.

Never heard of a satellite fermenter, but there's no point. Use a sanitized turkey baster to remove a sample, and plunk down 5 bucks for a wine thief next time you buy supplies. I can't imagine how such a satellite fermenter would be an accurate indication of what's going on in primary. If your beer has been fermenting, there's a blanket of CO2 on top of it anyway, so opening the fermenter is not such a huge deal.

i usually add spices with 5-10 minutes left in the boil.

and as carnevoodoo said, the satellite fermenter is purposeless.

I would add the spices at the end of boil 5 mins.

The reason is that the flavours and aromas tend to boil off, so the less they are boiled the better. However, you do want them to be boiled so that any bacteria on them is killed.

Think of spices like hops. If you want more aroma add them close to the end of the boil, if you want a deeper flavour, and less aroma, you can boil them longer. It's trial and error based on the amount you use and the freshness though.