Why does my beer taste like wine?

[Yooper]

Since I am a beginner just trying to get the process down, are there some kits that are recommended or better than others? What do you use instead of corn sugar?

There are lots of good quality kits out there!

Here's just one place with hundreds: http://austinhomebrew.com/

And here are some of the choices: http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_452_43

Instead of corn sugar, malt extract is used. After all, it's malt that makes beer. They also include grains to steep before boiling the wort, and hops to add to the wort. It's not "pour and ferment"- it's made like breweries make beer, it makes a great product.