How long was your break?

I'm coming back from an 8 year break. Interesting to see how much I've remembered and how much I've forgotten.

When I was getting my equipment down from the attic there were a couple of items that took me a few days of head-scratching to remember what they did. I kicked off a mead 2 weeks ago and onto a burton pale this weekend.

I wanted to see if people had taken breaks then come back to the hobby. How log did it take to really get it in gear again? What brought you back?

I think I took a similar 8 year break, as at the time my first kid, new house then a new job all in the same year took the attention. Then a second child, and all. Kids got older and didn't need the same attention, routines settled in and started getting that 'itch' again. Found the corner of the basement that I stuffed all the equipment in and dusted them off. Trying to think back four or five yeas ago now, I think I bought a simple AG pale ale kit and just followed the directions, second or third batch in I was back to putting my own recipes together.

I starting brewing in 1986. Took a long break beginning in 1991ish. I'd brew one batch every couple of years, and then started back seriously in the early 2000's.

I homebrewed for a couple of years around '97-98 then stopped until 2009. It was such a long break I can remember exactly how long ago it was. I can only remember based on where we lived then and when my kids were born.

Back then I tried all grain for a few batches and just couldn't get it right. Home brewing with the Internet is so much easier.

2.5 years. Birth of first son. Left IPA extract ingredients in the fridge the entire time. Never ended up using them. What brought me back was a friend learning to brew. He and I have always been a bit competitive. So when I heard he was brewing, I brewed a Kolsch. It wasn't very Kolschy, but it was good. Two months later, I went all grain. Then he went all grain. From there, he and I would one up each other on equipment. I thought I had won when I emailed him a picture of my folding 3 tier stand. Then he opened a production brewery. I conceded (temporarily). Then, I built a single tier twenty gallon system and added temp. control to the mashtun (which he lacks). Checkmate!

I took a break from 1999 to 2009. Mostly from where I lived it wasn't very convenient to brew. But after getting back into the hobby and finding this forum my interest increased greatly. I'm amazed at how much the hobby has progressed in the 10 years I didn't brew.

I didn't play the tuba for 17 yrs. That was the question wasn't it? Got back into the hobby in 1999. Now I have all kind of professional quality gear.

Oh, beer! Started in '86. 4-5 batches a year through 1999. Then a few years off (focused on getting back into tuba playing) before resuming and switching to all-grain and kegging