@PrivateDriveBrewery - I've been researching this as well, both for coriander and grains of paradise. For the GoP most folks mention soaking the grains in vodka (for flavor extraction and sterilization) for a few days before adding the slurry to the secondary. I have a few more days before...
Thanks OmahaVike for keeping us posted. Can you post some pics of the collar? Was it fairly straight forward considering the how easily you were able to remove the plastic top? I think I'm going to grab one of these asap. I only have a need for 2 cornies at the moment.