Try to find a good local home brew store, they will have dealt with many beginners before and have helped any progress in their brewing career. The place I go to is great because he set me up with my first kit and was great at answering all my questions. I always give him one of my beers to...
I only read a few of the comments but I definitely agree with a proper kettle. Whether you build it by drilling holes into a large size kettle and adding your own accessories or buy a brew specific kettle. I have both, I bought a brew specific kettle initially and I built my second one, they...