Forget any of your ideas about huge shiny copper kettles and large coils that take up most of your kitchen space. You may even have ideas that involve enormous wooden vats that are bubbling and churning down in the cellar. These ideas of home-brewing are the product of Hollywood and have zero representation of what a home-brewery looks like today. Human civilization is well into the stage of stainless steel and plastic reigns supreme. Furthermore, in this day and age everything can be done on a smaller level with more durable and lightweight equipment. Every home-brewer was a first timer at some point or another and this means that every home-brewer started out with a minimal amount of equipment. Unless they purchased some horribly large kit by some fly by night salesman.
When home-brewing is boiled down to its barest essentials it only requires three tools to be successful: a brewpot which is used to boil the wort, a fermenter in which to ferment the beer, and bottles which, of course, are used to bottle your beer. This list may sound simplistic and truth be told it is a little bit simplistic. For example, the brewpot must be made to specific parameters and the fermenter must be able to vent carbon dioxide. Furthermore, the bottles require bottle caps which in turn require some kind of capping device. There are also a number of small items that brewers will want to have in their breweries such as a few standard kitchen utensils. As a brewer gains insight into the brewing process he or she will most likely purchase a few additional pieces of equipment to speed up the brewing process.
Home-brews vary just as widely, if not more so, then their commercial companions. Don't be scared off by the complexity of beers that are discussed by home-brewers. Start off simple and as you gain experience you will feel more comfortable with branching out and trying to brew more complicated beers. Follow your own pace and relax. Remember that home-brewing is a leisure activity that should be enjoyed both during the process and when you are sipping on the rewards.
