Longest gone with out brewing and why?

[FamilyTradition]

Last time I brewed was on November 2nd.

Just mashed in and the smell gave me goose bumps.

Been working on this dang basement had to take a break from it and brew. First brew in the basement!

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[1977Brewer]

37 years.

Didn't know I could.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

3 years. No time, interest.

 

[stpug]

Probably in the realm of 4 years due to the fact that I strongly dislike bottling and that's all I was doing back then.

 

[MatIPluto]

Just brewed for the first time in over a year. Decided to go HAM on some debt I had so had to save money

 

[Natdavis777]

Maybe 2 months (in my 4 year career) due to moving. Bar is looking pretty solid though. Building that would have at least kept the beast at bay

 

[masonsjax]

Took about a 3 month break when we sold the house and moved. It was a nightmare!

 

[unionrdr]

Some 3 or 4 months for me. Bills & life took priority for awhile. Got an ESB bottled up 2/8/15. Got a kottbusser in the fermenter 2/11/15. It's looking to be finished with initial fermentation this morning. Had a 4-batch pipeline to work on that ran out while I caught up on bills. It's good to be back with one of my favorites carbing/conditioning & an extinct one fermenting.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

A little over two years while working in Iraq...was really temped to break all the rules but with the somewhat likely chance of loosing my job, kept the temptation to set up a brewery in check.

 

[CGish]

Two and a half years due to a combination of school, work, family, etc.

 

[phyllobeddo]

After starting in 2006, I quit in 2007 because I hated bottling. I brewed my next batch in November of 2009. I still hated bottling. My interest renewed in early 2014 and I got a 3 gallon keg kit for Father's Day 2014. Since that time, I've brewed 17 batches with 13 of those being All Grain. Right now my goal is to brew a new batch every weekend. There are so many recipes that I want to try.

 

[MaddBaggins]

I started in 97 (extract with grains)and would occasionally take half the year off. Just because. I smoked more weed back then and didn't drink much.

Then around 08 I actually stopped for almost 2 years. I hadn't discovered this place yet or any other online resource. I relied strictly on an old copy of The Complete Joy and the guy at the LHBS, who turned out to not know too much (or he was bad at advice). I was frustrated with my mediocre beers and just turned away for a while.
I got back into it around 10(still extract with grains) and started really trying to improve. Still with only Papazian and the LHBS, but the one guy was gone and a new, more helpful crew worked there. I began experimenting with recipes and started to research for recipes online. Thats when I found this place and started lurking around.

Now, I've been brewing pretty well non stop since and moved on to all-grain. I think I only miss a month or so once in a while now and only because I'm decently stocked anyway.

 

[Opiate42]

37 years.

Didn't know I could.

33 years. Also didn't know I could.

Failing that, roughly a month and a bit since getting started due to some travelling. Going through Vietnam and South America was a blast but lacked the brew days. Had to supplant by just drinking my face off.

Vietnam (Sabeco's 333), Peru (Neuvo Mundo) and Ecuador (Paramo) have some pretty great beers going around btw.

After starting in 2006, I quit in 2007 because I hated bottling.

Hate bottling.

Hate it.

Hate it hate it hate it.

But I consider it a necessary eviiiiiiiiiil until I can get a keg system going. :rockin:

 

[1975brewer]

From 1980 to 2001. Moved to Tucson, AZ & couldn't find supplies easily so I just didn't brew.

 

[Marc77]

Started in 2010 and made three 5 gallon batches of extract beer. At that point I wanted to move to all grain and started buying a few things. Since 2011 I've brewed one batch of extract with my brother in law.

Reasons? I met my now wife in 2011, got married in 2013 and had a kid in 2014.

Lessons? Buy anything you want or anything you might want before you get married.

In April I'll get some money for my birthday and finish off an all grain two vessel "system". Then I can use up the 210 lbs of grain I've had sitting in my temp controlled basement for 6 months.

 

[kh54s10]

Since I started in 2011 I have gone only about 2 months without brewing, usually mid summer when it is too hot or mid winter when it is too cold, for outside. The past 2 years I did some extract and smaller all grain batches in the winter. Other reasons for any gaps in the pipeline is just periods of laziness.

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

I am at 7 weeks now without brewing, buying a house and closing Friday, won't really be able to brew until the 1st/2nd week of March.

This is what it must be like to be a heroin addict.

 

[Zekk]

No brewing from May to October every year. Just can't brew when its 100+ outside and 80+ inside the house. I don't have a fermentation fridge do I just can't brew. I have made a Saison that turned out well in the high heat but for the most part, I just have to wait and curse the summer.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

9 months. I was in utero.

 

[Ridire]

No brewing from May to October every year. Just can't brew when its 100+ outside and 80+ inside the house. I don't have a fermentation fridge do I just can't brew. I have made a Saison that turned out well in the high heat but for the most part, I just have to wait and curse the summer.

I have the opposite problem. I go months without brewing this time of year because of the cold.

I am really hoping to get a March brew in. Hell, I'm brewing Christmas beer by May/June.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

4 years or so now. Started in college in summer '08 and brewed through fall '10-spring '11 when I brewed a few dumpers since I was more focused on school. Sold a bunch of gear (had about 20 kegs, should have kept them) to fund a final summer of freedom before my senior year of college and that was that. Put my time and (soooooooo much) money into a project car when I finished my undergrad. Worked full time and did my masters in 2 years.

Now I'm getting back into it- kept 6 kegs, a few carboys, kegerator, 2 co2 tanks,a bunch of taps and odds and ends, but my burner/kettle/mash run are all gone.

Its kind of nice as it affords me the ability to essentially retool my brewing entire setup without being "out" extra money of old gear sitting around. I'm going to be doing 2.5 gallon batches, fermenting in my kegerator in cornies with a homemade brewPi temperature controller. Will be doing closed vessel racking/carbing and bottling with a bottle gun. I know bottling will suck but this will give me a lot more control over my fermentation control and ability to make different beers and store them without having to clear taps out for new beers.

 

[ibbones]

I have the opposite problem. I go months without brewing this time of year because of the cold.

Ha ha, I am South Texas and I brewed today and gonna get one in tomorrow because it's gonna be cold Sunday. Low 60's!

 

[Ridire]

Ha ha, I am South Texas and I brewed today and gonna get one in tomorrow because it's gonna be cold Sunday. Low 60's!

It got down to about -20°F (yes, that is a minus sign) yesterday. No way in hell I'm brewing in that.

EDIT: And I hate brewing in the house.

 

[Tutsbrew]

Usually run two+ months between brews, longest "dry" spell maybe 4 months. As to "why", well, life's priorities can run beyond hobbies I 'spose.

 

[moreb33rplz]

I'm a spurt brewer. Brew three weekends in a row, and then nada for 2-3 months.

Nothing wrong with long breaks, brewing is easy to put aside and pick back up when your pipeline runs low.