[louiebeans]

I would recommend starting with beer, you can pick up starter kits and tons of recipes online. At most you would be spending ~$500, that gets you everything you need. I have a friend that does this for a hobby and its actually decent beer, better then all the bottom shelf stuff like bud lite. You could even turn it into a career if you make stuff people like.

Homebrew Guide and Full kit with keg

Distilling is just way too sketchy imo, but you can buy a copper still online. I would be worried they would track that stuff though.

Homeblending whiskey kit