I began brewing in December 2015. I have....16 batches under my belt. Most are all grain. So I have a fairly good read on what it's like to be a new brewer.
1. Equipment Kits. I think it can be the most cost-effective way to begin accumulating equipment. Of course, much depends on resources as to what you can and should get, so without a read on that it's hard to say what might work well for you. I bought the Deluxe starter kit from Northern Brewer, added the Mad Brewer test kit, bought the spoon and sieve kit, and there I went. The kit includes an extract kit which means....you can brew without the additional concerns of building a recipe.
I've since bought two more Big Mouth Bubblers. One's empty. I need to get brewing this weekend.
2. I see a lot of new brewers here attempting complicated recipes from the get-go. Like yours, for instance. IMO, it's better to do a simple recipe first. There's a lot to keep track of when you're new, and simple is better for that. You'll learn the process of preparing, boiling, chilling, pitching, and so on without the added complexity of a complex recipe. Learn the process with a simple recipe.
3. If you haven't, I'd strongly advise you to find someone with whom you can go through a brew day. Is there anyone local who is willing to have you watch them brew? Or can walk you through it the first time? I did this w/ a friend and it was invaluable to me. I saw him go through the steps so when I read more about it, it made much, much more sense to me.
4. Things go on sale. All....the....time. Northern Brewer has sale right now where if you buy $200 worth of stuff, you can get a megapot 1.2 for $100 off. So a $229 megapot w/ ball valve and thermometer is $129. Not a bad deal--the kit stuff I noted above will add up to about $200, then you get a really good pot for almost half off.
There are lots of specials and sales. If you know what you want and can be patient, you can save a goodly amount of money. Northern Brewer has them all the time. MoreBeer has a deal of the day (and free shipping over $59 of stuff). Others have similar things. Become familiar w/ the vendors here on HBT and you'll see that kind of thing.
5. If you're thinking of going all-grain, consider a Brew in the Bag setup. I would have done that except my 8-gallon Megapot 1.2, good for 5-gallon batches of beer, isn't optimal for BIAB. It has that thermometer poking into the kettle, good for monitoring temps, not so good for a bag. I needed a 10-gallon kettle for that, but lucked into a mash tun and other stuff so i went in that direction. If you think you're going to do all-grain, make sure you don't underbuy your kettle.
6. And that leads me to what has been the hardest--not underbuying equipment. If I could do it all over again....but I digress. If you can afford it, buy quality, and consider where you might want to be in six months, a year, and so on.
7. Mind your sanitation. Get some Star-San and use that. It's the one thing the kits don't have in them, so far as I know.
8. Enjoy. I love this--complicated as you want it to be, lots of room for experimentation, and by my 6th batch (or was it 7th? Can't remember) I'd produced beer that tasted better than anything I could get at my local watering hole. When you go to a bar and everything you drink leads you to conclude "I wish they were selling my homebrew," well, you'll know why we do this.
Good luck!
