Starting off

I've been talking about brewing my own beer for as long as I've been drinking beer and think it's about time I went ahead and started. Looking for some advice on the best way to get up and gunning. Looking tor suggestions for a good starter kit, would prefer to spend under a €100 for kit and ingredients but could push it a little.

BeerNut

Any of the starter sets from the homebrew companies should be fine. You don't really need a brewbelt, however, and I know some of them package those. If you're going to start with kits, the darker beer styles are generally better than the pale ones -- stouts and ales, rather than blondes and lagers. If you're getting a one-can kit that requires a top-up fermentable, use spraymalt (DME) for best results, though liquid malt extract is also a good option, and tends to be quite cheap. Don't just bung in a load of sugar.

I doubt you'd be able to start extract or all-grain brewing for less than €100, unless you're going to make the extra bits of equipment yourself, so kits seem like the best way to go to begin, cheaply and easily.

blueshed

a kit like this along with the can of LME plus the carbonation drops would be a good first time brew http://www.homebrewwest.ie/coopers-original-dark-ale-classic-old-dark-ale-17kg-beer-kit-251-p.asp


this is a pretty good starter kit and you get to pick a Coopers kit http://www.homebrewwest.ie/brewsmarter-premium-starter-beer-kit-without-heating-belt-best-value-2744-p.asp


at the start keep it simple and always keep it sanitized.

Carawaystick

I'd get
A fermenter, airlock
Bottling bucket, bottling wand
Autosiphon
Hygrometer
Bottle capper&caps
A woodfords 3kg kit
Nottingham yeast

I'll assume you can source brown bottles from your local off-licence;)

You could go without an autosiphon and just use some food grade tubing to rack into a bottling bucket.
You could wing it and not use a hygrometer, I did, but I can't recommend anyone else do it for their first brew
You could not use an airlock and just leave the fermenter lid ajar, but I like to hear the blub blub of the bubbles
You could get a load of swing top bottles and not need a capper or bottles

You could get a cheaper kit, but the ingredients make the beer, the kit just helps

I wouldn't get carbonation drops, I'd use ordinary sugar, boiled up in a smidgen of water into the bottling bucket

I use a mix of thin bleach and distilled malt vinegar for sanitising,
Add a shot of bleach, a few litres of water and then add a shot of water, don't mix neat bleach &vinegar, this is dangerous, it releases chlorine gas
I'd assume you'll have these in the house for free too, if not it'll cost about 2 euros, for enough to brew 100 brews....

As mentioned, dark brews are easier than golden ales or lagers
My first stout was easily better than canned mega brewery non-draught stout
Weissbier is also a handy one, the yeast does most of the hard work flavourwise

Happy brewing