Now don't you
dare try and tell me that I'm the only one here who home brews beer/wine/cider/etc.
So let's hear some success/failure stories and some friendly tips.
I'll start.
I brew with a friend of mine and we usually brew 2 batches at once. We are each more or less "in charge" of our own brew and have the other fellow just assisting. My friend is currently making a pumpkin ale. He added the spices (cinnamon, cumin) near the beginning off the boil. Unless you want a more bitter tasting brew, save that until you shut off the boilers, especially with cinnamon. He may have to scrap the batch just because it is quite bitter.
Another friendly fun tip: beer bread! All you need is beer and flower! The yeast in the beer becomes reactivated in the presence of the flower so you don't need to add anything else. The alcohol is, of course, cooked out, so you can share the fun with the kids on this one.