I'm recently re-involved in online ordering after the tragic death of my LHBS. I ordered from Austin Homebrew last about a decade ago and had great service. My recent order was submitted on 2/29 and just shipped today, 3/12. This was only after an email prompt from me and a promise to ship...
Honestly surprised there's this much debate here. OP: directions for homebrew kits were written likely a decade ago. General homebrew practice has changed a lot since then. Personally, I have decided that a lot of fussy brewing practices make no difference in the end quality of my beer and...
My roaster is a $12 ebay rotisserie basket on a piece of all thread driven by my cordless drill. Works a treat, can do 2+ lbs at a time. Started with a popcorn popper.
This is a yearly go-to for me. Just rebrewed and totally changed the hop additions: 2oz cold conditioned amarillo, 2oz keg hop amarillo. Letting it condition in the keg, but it's an amazing base for what is basically now an IPA.
Not drinking through it now, but the last batch I suffered through was Berliner Weisse. I remember it fondly from my semester in Berlin, but I was not enjoying the last few bottles.