Hi all, I had a few questions about my upcoming first attempt at home
brewing. I've read a bit on this list; everyone seems to have so much
knowledge.

A bit of background--although I've never had the chance to try this
yet, my wife did try it once about a decade ago. Unfortunately, her
attempt ended badly (I haven't got much more information than it was
"really, really bad"). This has soured her on the entire idea of
homebrewing. I would still like to give it a try (it sounds both fun
and rewarding), but would like to have a nice easy-to-make batch or
two at minimal cost to convince her that it a) is possible/can produce
something that tastes reasonable, b) is not "too" expensive, and c)
won't drop a huge amount of cleanup work in her lap.

We get relatively cheap beer that works out to about $5.50/gallon.
It's not the best in the world, but it's drinkable. I'd like to try
to aim for this or ideally cheaper, especially for the first couple of
forays into it. If it tastes good (hopefully better than what we
buy), it's easier to justify spending more.

As for flavor, we'd like just about anything (light, dark, etc.).
Where we grew up, the beer we liked had around 6.50-7% alcohol in it,
so I'd rather avoid the recipes that come out with amounts in the 3ish
range.

As for local homebrewing options--we are now living in Western New
York, perhaps someone knows some good ones. If not, maybe someon has
some online suggestions.

I think I have most of the most basic hardware necessary, I'm
especially looking for recipe/supply suggestions with an eye on ease
and price.