Mylo wrote:Keep it simple. Show them extract. Steeping some grains shouldn't be considered a "more difficult" step. You want them to make the best beer possible as soon as possible so that they will continue to want to grow in the hobby.
A year ago when I watched my first homebrew being made steeping (and crushing those specialty grains with a rolling pin in a big ziplock) was part of the process before the extract and hops were added. Did not make it seem overly complicated to me and was a bit more interesting than throwing only extract in for the boil.
What I did not learn until later was proper yeast pitching rates and the fermentation temperature should be held constant at a certain temp - if you can teach them that right at the beginning you will help them make good beer right off the bat.
