You aren't telling me anything I don't already know. I brewed my first batch of beer on an electric hot plate with the biggest pot I had in my kitchen. It was drinkable but in no world would I have considered it "premium". And your first several batches are going to be in that realm because you're going to mess some stuff up along the way.
The price of even modest equipment adds into the cost to make the beer + the $45 a batch. I'm seeing $80 for a 1 gallon kit and $140 for a 5 gallon kit. That'll get you started. You can probably find free bottles but if not you'll be buying those too. A few bucks for caps and the kits come with a capper. Again, this just gets you started. Not saying that's exactly what you'll have to spend. You can go super frugal and find thing used or possibly free but you'll have to decide how much effort you want to put into finding a bargain.
Not to mention you're looking at a week to ferment, another week in the secondary (not necessary but it helps with clarity), bottle and another week before it's fully carbonated. If you want to keg and force carbonate that's a whole bunch more money.
Some of the best beer I've ever had came out of a guy's garage but they have hundreds if not thousands of dollars sunk into making beer. These guys buy RO water and have a tackle box full of minerals and make their own water profiles. It's a great hobby and I would encourage anyone that's interested to brew your own beer. But nobody should kid themselves into thinking it's going to be cheaper than a case of Natty Light from the gas station or that you're going to make brewery quality beer without proper equipment.
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