Best beginners homebrew kit

[B Sawyer]

Hi there,

I am thinking of buying my boyfriend some stuff to get him started with home brewing for his birthday, but there are so many different types of homebrew kits out there that I am really lost as to which one to get. I'm wanting something of decent quality, but ideally under about $150. 

He has no equipment currently, so I'd like something that has all the basics, plus ingredients for a first brew and maybe also extra ingredients to customize it a bit (though I could always buy these separately, suggestions welcome!). I guess with the beginner kits there probably isn't much choice in what type of beer you make, but he likes, for example, the Epic Armageddon IPA, Emerson's bookbinder and MOA original (amongst many others). 

I live in Dunedin, so if there is something that can be purchased here that would be good, otherwise something that has a delivery time <5 days or so. 

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[Nathan]

You can get a starter kit that comes with everything to make beer from a tin, If you got hat way id suggest getting some hop pellets as well to jazz it up a bit, Just add them to the brew by making a hop tea(coffee plunger) using a small handfull of hops and adding it to the fermenter when mixing up all the ingredients,Then about 5 days into fermentation throw another handfull into the barrel

http://www.brewshop.co.nz/brewing-equipment/coopers-home-brew-start...

[Cain Harland]

You will definitely need a fermenter some bottles and a way of transferring beer to bottle. The plastic fermenters are fine and there are better things to spend money on than a fancier one. You can buy plastic screw top bottles or get empty crates from th mill for bugger all if your going glass you will need a capper. That would get him brewing from a kit. All grain requires quite a lot more gear.
First upgrade should be temperature control for fermentation which can be set up fairly cheaply with an old fridge an stc-1000 and a heat belt or pad. Being able to maintain temperature makes a big difference.
Mangrove jacks pilsner is fairly good for a kit beer. The cans all say ferment for 7 days or so but 2 week is better.

[Brett Mason]

Since you are in Dunedin I would recommend the kit I started with, the Deluxe starter kit from Dunedin Malthouse. It has everything you need to start making kit beers. I'm still using the gear ~4 years later. If you head down there on a Saturday Bart should be able to sort you out with a couple of tweaks to ensure your boyfriend gets really good results from the kit beers.

http://www.dunedinmalthouse.com/?wpsc-product=home-brewing-delux-st...

[B Sawyer]

Thanks very much everyone for your helpful suggestions. I have gone with the suggestion from Brett, and also bought some extra hops to add to the first brew. Now to find somewhere to hide it for the next week! And fingers crossed he likes it!