Optional: Bump the extract up to 4 lbs, though that'll be more like 6%ABV. 3.5lb is good if you don't mind splitting 1lb in half and saving the rest for next beer. Maybe swap one of the pounds of extract for something slightly darker so it's not terribly light.
Swap the 1.5oz 0 min hop addition for something more American to make it more pale ale, maybe Amarillo/Cascade/Citra(ew)/Centennial
Possibly dry hop before bottling, but that's a more complicated step with an extra piece of gear (mesh hop bag) for a first brew.
Steps:
1) Fill kettle with 3-4 gallons of hot tap water (looks like target 3.9, but that depends how fast you can boil)
2) Add half a campden tablet, crushed. This just ensures any chlorine/chloramine in your water gets removed, super cheap and easy insurance from bad beer. Optionally add maybe 1/2tsp each of calcium chloride and gypsum, but you can do without for now.
3) Bring temperature up to 170F or so, just hot enough to mix in extract before the boil. Continue heating until the boil.
4) Add hops as noted and boil 60 minutes. At 10 minutes left in the boil, add half a whirlfloc tablet Top up the water if you boil much below 3 gallons. This can be done at the end of the boil to help cool it down, but use distilled water if you do. I you have to use tap water, use that during the boil to make sure chlorine gets driven off and pray for no chloramine (which I don't think gets used around here, but I'm not 100% on that).
5) Cool the wort to ~65F. If you don't have a chiller, just add it to the fermenter (maybe not quite at boiling temperature) and let it sit covered overnight.
6) Add the yeast
7) Drink some micro-brews for 2 weeks. I recommend Bizarre Brewing, Obec, Stoup (because they let us hang out in their Kenmore spot), or head over to Flying Bike and talk homebrew.
8) At this point, oxygen is the enemy. If you can get carbonation tablets, add those to your bottles. Otherwise, you have to add sugar to the batch as careful as possible and make sure it gets mixed well enough so the bottles all have the same amount of priming sugar when you put the beer in. At least bottle carbonating gives the yeast a chance to take care of oxygen for you, but still limit it as much as you reasonable can. Just don't slosh the beer...
9) Use the bottling wand to syphon beer into each bottle bottom-up. Fill the bottle basically all the way to the top, pulling the bottle wand out will drop the level near the middle of the neck where you want it.
10) Cap the bottles
11) Drink micro-brews one more week while the yeast does its thing at room temperature.
12) Fridge one bottle at least overnight to let the carbonation equalize at cold temps, then crack and try it the next day. If still not carbonated, leave the bottles longer and try again a few days later. When they're carbonated, throw them in a fridge or cellar and you're done.
