I was getting an error starting Homebrew-installed CouchDB. I resolved it by running the remove instructions on http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installing_on_OSX.

couchdb_startup_error_resolution

The error:

$ couchdb
Apache CouchDB 1.2.0 (LogLevel=info) is starting.
{"init terminating in do_boot",{{badmatch,{error,{bad_return,{{couch_app,start,[normal,["/usr/local/etc/couchdb/default.ini","/usr/local/etc/couchdb/local.ini"]]},{'EXIT',{{badmatch,{error,shutdown}},[{couch_server_sup,start_server,1,[{file,"couch_server_sup.erl"},{line,98}]},{application_master,start_it_old,4,[{file,"application_master.erl"},{line,274}]}]}}}}}},[{couch,start,0,[{file,"couch.erl"},{line,18}]},{init,start_it,1,[]},{init,start_em,1,[]}]}}
init terminating in do_boot ()

The resolution was to remove couchdb and its dependencies and reinstall as noted on http://wiki.apache.org/couchdb/Installing_on_OSX.

brew tap homebrew/dupes
brew install apple-gcc42
brew remove --force openssl erlang couchdb icu4c spidermonkey nspr
brew update
brew outdated
brew install erlang
brew install couchdb

Hope that helps anyone who has the same problem.

Thanks! Fixed it for me.

or simply try following
brew install -s couchdb