My homebrewing journey started in 2006 when I got a beer making kit as a gift. I have slowed down on my production in recent years, but I wanted to offer a basic primer to those who fancy themselves home brewers. My expertise was derived from taking a class at the local brewery, online searching, but mostly trial and error. I have made 40 batches in my brewing career, two using the "partial mash" technique, and the rest were "whole grain" batches. Partial mashes are when you use dry or liquid malt extract to make your wort, and you soak a porous bag full of crushed grains in your wort. Whole grain brewing is just what it says, you grind or buy ground malts and soak them in hot water to create your wort from scratch.
I brew more from method then from science. If you follow the steps and keep things sanitized, then you will be satisfied with your outcome.
Before you begin though, you will need some equipment! Here is what I recommend that you use to brew partial mash, or whole grain beer. Hopefully you will have a local brew shop for most of these items, but you can also find everything online (Krauss, e.g.):
A large stainless steel pot. I have a tri-ply 9.5 gallon pot that I got at a restaurant supply store. Cost was around $200. Expensive, but worth it.
Mash Tun. If you are making whole grain batches, you will need to construct one of these. Not necessary if you are using a partial mash or a batch of purchased dry or liquid malt extract.