I can't do better than Charlie Palmer. How To Brew is the best resource for beginning and getting an idea of how things work. It's a book, but the whole thing is available online for free.

Once you find that you're not scared away by the introduction, I would:

1. find a homebrewing club and attend a meeting where you might get to try some hand crafted beers, meet some brewers and get a hand getting started.
2. visit a store to get an equipment kit and your first ingredient kit.
3. give it a shot.

Our club has many guys who brew together which offers a chance for new guys to bring their stuff to brew with help. We also have AHA events like Teach a Friend to Brew Day in November and Big Brew in May.

It doesn't take much to make good beer. It can take decades to perfect a recipe.

If you want to take some shortcuts, I'd invest in a keg system early and plan to go to All Grain pretty quick. You can make good beer using extracts, but to make it really good, you need to do a lot of work making sure you get the right extracts from the right places. You can get what's called an Extract Twang if the extract is caramelized or aged.

I'm far from being an expert, but I do what I can do to share. I'm a BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) beer judge and I think I'm pretty good at that.

I second all of this. Kegging will make your life so much easier, and you get to enjoy your handiwork three or four weeks sooner! Definitely go all-grain as soon as possible. It's not as difficult as it may seem when you read about it - beer is pretty forgiving. The one thing I'd like to add is that if you're getting started with extract, the best thing you can do to improve your beer is to do full-volume boils instead of boiling a gallon or two of wort and diluting it in water before fermentation. That extract twang is no joke, and it mostly comes from burning the wort on the bottom of the kettle, which is much more likely with concentrated wort. If you do partial boils, you will get the twang, guaranteed.

Also, brewing can be an expensive, gear intensive hobby, but it doesn't have to be. There are plenty of resources out there that can help you get started brewing world-class beer at home without breaking the bank.

Prost!

For Inspiration:

I got a 60 quart kettle for Christmas. Made good use of it yesterday by brewing a high-end American Stout. Split a 10 gallon batch with a friend who has been asking to split a batch for months. The real down side was the constant 18mph wind that made the 25° feel bitterly cold. We had a good time, though.

I also got to taste three beers I brewed over the summer. They've all aged very well. I'm thinking about entering all three in competitions in February.

And in a measure of efficiency, I let my mash sour overnight. Drained out 3+ gallons of wort and then ran another 5 gallons through to get the rest of the sugars out. Using the basic style goal of a Berliner Weiss it got boiled for 15 minutes with 3 pounds of liquid malt extract and a hop addition and then was chilled. Fermenting it with some nondescript yeast and quarter of it also got a dose of Brettonomyces lambicus. That will give it a good hit of acidity that is supposed to be a lot like tart cherries.

I'll have about 8 gallons of something. There's a Belgian style called Flander's Brown Ale or Oud Bruin that this should be similar to. Berliner Weiss is a light colored, thin bodies wheat beer that is lightly soured. It has the refreshing effect of a lightly sweetened lemonade. Because this has a good deal of roasted malt character, I expect it to have more dark fruit flavors like dark cherries and plums. It takes about 6 months for the Brett to mellow down. It should make a great lawnmower beer.

I think I'm in trouble. After today's brewing session, I got several "You owe me"s. Next weekend she may sell some of my organs. Get your bids in early. (And stay away from the liver. It'll get well used next weekend.)