I'm really lucky to have friends that love craft beer and who also love the brewing process. My wife and I have had them over on a few brew days and I find teaching how to brew almost as satisfying as brewing.
As part of my friend Jessica's birthday gift, I ordered an extract kit of a "fat tire" clone (one of her favorite beers) and invited her over to brew it at our place. She was so excited! I only made the starter, setup the equipment, and answered questions, I let her do everything else.
Right in the middle of heating up the water it started to rain so we moved everything under the metal awning attached to the house and continued undeterred. The rain kept getting worse and worse and turned out to be the worst storm we've had all summer. We used beach umbrellas to shield us from the wind and rain but there was still almost an inch of water that slowly crept up as we moved closer and closer to the house. It was miserable, and turned out to be the most fun brewing we've ever had.
We unanimously named it Rainy Day Ale and three weeks later we presented it to her on her birthday. It was deliclous. I don't know what was better, the brew day, the beer or the smile on her face when she opened the bottle and took her first sip.
She did a fantastic job and we all had a great time. I highly recommend doing this for your friends, you'll be happy you did! I know I was!
tony