Why do people Quit brewing?

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Boredom with a hobby is common enough especially if there is not a lot of local activity that helps keep it going such as a club, contests and the like to keep it interesting.
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I live in a small town and don't know another home brewer within 100 miles --- oh I am sure there are some, but how do you find 'em?

I would love to have a brew day here or there - but 99% of the drinkers around here want rice and corn in their beer, if you know what I mean.

ButchV12
 
With great sadness, I sold my mash tun and fermentation chamber today. Both were projects, especially the chiller, which took my father and I two weekends to complete. It was a glorious chamber and the guy who bought it got it for less than the cost of materials. Surely he will pass it on to another aspiring brewer some day. My reasons have been multifactorial:

1. Moving to a small apt and all my gear takes up half a garage

2. Pretty hard on my back

3. Led to too much drinking

4. Takes a ton of time

5. The output:investment is decent, but when you factor in the time, it's not frugal by any means

6. For some reason, despite having 3-4 years of experience and many amazing beers, both in esoteric and common recipes, I had a series of really oxidized batches that puzzled me and stunted my ambition

7. Fridge space, conditioning space, brewing space

8. Nowadays, there is SO much good beer on the market, with new brewpubs opening constantly

9. Other interests to pursue. While I tried to keep things simple, ultimately I found pressure to pitch on this day or bottle on that day, or rotate this and that and the other, and it just became too consuming. I think I can explore 2 or 3 new hobbies with the time freed up from no longer brewing.

My biggest downsides and bummer-inducers about quitting:

1. I doubt I'll ever see a brewery large or small making Mosher's Maple Buckwheat beer, which was fantastic and fun to produce

2. Grabbing beers before heading to a party and impressing everybody with no preplanned effort

3. The satisfaction of the process

4. Not making ALL those recipes I'd wanted to make


Whenever I finally buy a house, I suspect I will make a return, or at least think really really hard about it. For now, I can look back happily knowing that brewing opened a whole new world to me that led to club participation, endless chatting with other brewers and beer nerds, awesome inspiring books, visits to London, Belgium, Portland, and 19 breweries on a recent CA/OR road trip, a true love for sours, an excitement when I see a new small brewery opening up and fulfilling a brewer's dream and benefitting the community, an understanding of different grains I would never think about (spelt? kasha?) using in brewing or cooking, and the satisfaction of finally popping a top or cap and having a first taste of a new batch and thinking "Wow! This is so good! And I made it."

Happy brewing out there guys, and thanks for all the knowledge.
 
I've had two co-brewers quit. One was because I moved away, and the other because I moved my gear from his house to mine. Neither was *really* all that into it, though, once they didn't have me to make the recipes and run the process. They were more into it for the end product than the process.

I had one coworker quit brewing... He determined that he was gluten-intolerant (possibly even celiac, I'm not sure how severe his issue is), and had to cut out beer entirely. It's not entirely a lost cause, though -- I did convince him to start making apfelwein ;-)
 
Hyperion said:
With great sadness, I sold my mash tun and fermentation chamber today. Both were projects, especially the chiller, which took my father and I two weekends to complete. It was a glorious chamber and the guy who bought it got it for less than the cost of materials. Surely he will pass it on to another aspiring brewer some day. My reasons have been multifactorial:

1. Moving to a small apt and all my gear takes up half a garage

2. Pretty hard on my back

3. Led to too much drinking

4. Takes a ton of time

5. The output:investment is decent, but when you factor in the time, it's not frugal by any means

6. For some reason, despite having 3-4 years of experience and many amazing beers, both in esoteric and common recipes, I had a series of really oxidized batches that puzzled me and stunted my ambition

7. Fridge space, conditioning space, brewing space

8. Nowadays, there is SO much good beer on the market, with new brewpubs opening constantly

9. Other interests to pursue. While I tried to keep things simple, ultimately I found pressure to pitch on this day or bottle on that day, or rotate this and that and the other, and it just became too consuming. I think I can explore 2 or 3 new hobbies with the time freed up from no longer brewing.

My biggest downsides and bummer-inducers about quitting:

1. I doubt I'll ever see a brewery large or small making Mosher's Maple Buckwheat beer, which was fantastic and fun to produce

2. Grabbing beers before heading to a party and impressing everybody with no preplanned effort

3. The satisfaction of the process

4. Not making ALL those recipes I'd wanted to make


Whenever I finally buy a house, I suspect I will make a return, or at least think really really hard about it. For now, I can look back happily knowing that brewing opened a whole new world to me that led to club participation, endless chatting with other brewers and beer nerds, awesome inspiring books, visits to London, Belgium, Portland, and 19 breweries on a recent CA/OR road trip, a true love for sours, an excitement when I see a new small brewery opening up and fulfilling a brewer's dream and benefitting the community, an understanding of different grains I would never think about (spelt? kasha?) using in brewing or cooking, and the satisfaction of finally popping a top or cap and having a first taste of a new batch and thinking "Wow! This is so good! And I made it."

Happy brewing out there guys, and thanks for all the knowledge.
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So, you're first post in this forum is to tell us you are no longer a homebrewer?:confused:
 
I hit a rut about 4 years ago and almost gave up on brewing. Well, more like burned out I guess. I made it a goal to stop buying beer and become self sufficient. I did that for almost a year brewing 5 gallon batches and the time I investing was just unreal. Brewing became a chore instead of a joy. Since I really enjoy the hobby (and I knew I wasn't going to stop drinking beer) I put together a barebones 1 bbl brew rig. Problem solved. Now I can brew 3 or 4 times per year and always have beer to drink. If I want to brew more often than that, I invite a brewbuddy over and split a batch or just brew a 5 gallon batch once in a while. I actually find myself wanting to brew more often than I need to most of the time. Long story short, If I was still cranking out 5 gallon batches and bottling all of them, I probably would have given up a long time ago.
 
BBL_Brewer said:
I hit a rut about 4 years ago and almost gave up on brewing. Well, more like burned out I guess. I made it a goal to stop buying beer and become self sufficient. I did that for almost a year brewing 5 gallon batches and the time I investing was just unreal. Brewing became a chore instead of a joy. Since I really enjoy the hobby (and I knew I wasn't going to stop drinking beer) I put together a barebones 1 bbl brew rig. Problem solved. Now I can brew 3 or 4 times per year and always have beer to drink. If I want to brew more often than that, I invite a brewbuddy over and split a batch or just brew a 5 gallon batch once in a while. I actually find myself wanting to brew more often than I need to most of the time. Long story short, If I was still cranking out 5 gallon batches and bottling all of them, I probably would have given up a long time ago.
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I noticed the same thing. I was getting burned out with moving equipment everywhere to make it work on my stove top, swamp cooler, absolutely dreading bottling, etc. Now that I've made it relatively easy on myself with a new setup and kegging, I love it again. It's so much easier now, so I can concentrate more on enjoying the recipe and what goes into it. The process is simple enough now to where it doesn't take up a whole afternoon and I can do other things while it's moving along.
 
Most people that quit seem to have some life event causing it. Be it financial, infant, marriage (some SWMBO's say no), medical (gluten, liver problems, alcoholism), legal, time, etc. Some probably just lose the bug.

I feel for those that are forced to quit for whatever the reason may be. I understand with those who just aren't feeling it anymore. Hobbies should be fun and are for using your disposable income and spare time and should not be a burden of any sort. If they were a burden why would you be doing it?

Lets lift a glass of homebrew to all those homebrewers we have lost for whichever reasons, and wish them the best with whatever they do.
 
I started brewing with 2 other guys. We each bought 1/3 of the equipment and split the batches (12 gallon) 3 ways. 1 of the guys couldn’t keep up when I wanted to brew more often. It’s not that I drank more; I just had a larger group of friends and family to share with. The second guy quit because he just didn’t enjoy the hobby. He loved the results but didn’t have a passion for the process or the work. I ended up buying them both out. Now I brew as often as I like and keep all the beer for myself. As far as I know neither of them brews.
 
With all endeavors, when the level of aggravation exceeds the level of compensation, I'm out.

So far, what I get out of this hobby is more than I put into it, so I'm staying in.

Pete
 
I enjoy it. Due to the chaos I deal woth all week. I like to chill in me kitchen. Drink a few brews, smoke a few. Er. And relax. It's relaxing to me. I wanted to do it ten years ago. When I was 24. I'm glad I'm doing it. I've made several mistakes. Only to make several more. But, I'm learning something I've always wanted to do. It's soothing to me. I'm around & have always beem around heavy machines, nail guns, jackhammers. Constant yelling. So, for me to chill in my kitchen with out all of that is very soothing. I don't have to rush. Not getting yelled at to rush. I'm me own boss. And love it.
 
Did anyone else notice that most of the comments at the beginning of this thread were from people who use to contribute a ton to this forum and post all the time and now they are not really around? Kinda ironic...
 
When my son introduced me to the hobby I cared little and knew little about beer. It wasn't beer that attracted my interest, but brewing. I'm a serial hobbyist and I've come to recognize what makes, for me, a "perfect" hobby: first, there must be a relatively low threshold for initial success (homebrewing has this, golf doesn't, for example), and, second, the perfect hobby isn't easily "mastered", that is, the learning curve seems never to stop climbing. Home brewing is a great hobby from this standpoint. Two more books came in the mail today and I can't wait to get as much as I can from each of them. The hobby is enhanced by people who share the hobby. I have a "team" of brewers I meet with monthly and we challenge each other in every way. We formally judge one another's beers and examine one another's processes to track down sources of flaws or shortcomings. This keeps the hobby engaging and challenging. And, of course, after the judging and critiquing, we share pizza and beer and bs. I'll quit the hobby if and when I feel like the excitement of learning something new is no longer there... and I really don't expect that to happen because homebrewing really is the perfect hobby.
 
Jmarsh544 said:
Did anyone else notice that most of the comments at the beginning of this thread were from people who use to contribute a ton to this forum and post all the time and now they are not really around? Kinda ironic...
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I had to check when the OP was last active. It was last December, so not too long ago.
 
Really never "quit", just stopped brewing for long periods of time (several years), until one day I see my mash tun sitting there and realize I haven't used it in a long time. Then I say to myself, maybe next weekend... eventually I just get it out and make a beer. It's really that simple. Never had a need to sell stuff. A mash tun, cooling coil, two fermenters and a box of siphons, air locks etc... don't really take up much space.

Now if you're going to the extreme of selling, then you're probably bordering on the, "I'm drinking too much" or "I need the money" side of things.
 
Spartan, yup. I used HBT for 5 years and surely spent hundreds of hours reading threads. Since I have the patience to search, I never found a need to start a new topic, and all the threads I read had covered the topic in question quite thoroughly (often too much so...apfelwein thread?!). *Shrug* When I posted it was a really unexpectedly emotional day after getting rid of my brewing-specific pieces, and this was a place to release, positively. After finding this thread (through a search, fancy that) I decided to contribute a few different reasons from what was listed in other people's decision to stop brewing. Surely there are many people who brew and then move on without making a single post on HBT. I appreciate the community here, but I didn't feel the need to be a participant. My farewell to brewing, I thought, could help other people rationalize a difficult decision if they found themselves on the fence.
And BBL, I was doing the same thing as you. I moved from the SF Bay Area to a BMC zone in the Mojave Desert and I needed to "beer homestead" in order to survive. It got to be a drag. In the past 3 years, good craft beer became available, and eased the burden. If and when I return to brewing (could be many years away), I will focus on recipes like those from Radical Brewing, use a keg, and just buy common styles at the brewpub. I think one or two batches a month would keep it fun. My last big year, I made 17 5-gal batches, and bottled all of them. Obviously it's a passion, but there is a line between it being fun and it being work.
 
And Shoots, the tiny Bay Area apartment I'm moving into really can't accommodate all the kit I acquired since having a garage in SoCal. If I'm not going to brew for at least several years, it makes more sense to let go of some things than to drag them around. I'm still keeping all my small tools (refractometer, mash paddle, etc), but it just would be an eyesore/pain to have a huge 3-carboy fermentation chamber with mini fridge, tun, HLT, grain mill, bags of grain, a freezer full of hops, 13 cases of swing top bottles, 4 big carboys, 2 small carboys, 150ish crown cap bottles...in my living room. I certainly don't need the money from the items, and quitting homebrewing doesn't impact my consumption choices since there is so much creativity and accessibility to great beer nowadays. I know you qualified your statement with "probably" so I'm just responding with a "not necessarily."
 
I noticed that the reason I quit recently has not even been mentioned! I reside in Richmond Virginia where recently it was said there are 30 new homebrewers every week in this area. Mostly people trying to keep the hipster moement alive, or college students/grads still spending daddy's money. Because of this surge, we now have 3 homebrew shops, all of which are below par. Either the owner won't sell to you unless he likes you (or you offer to pay more than the sticker price), or the owner is more focused on opening his own brewery than dealing with you. At all of them you have to wait in line just to get inside and find out the supplies you need are long gone. There are various brew clubs with memberships at capacity. Mostly people looking for free beer. Every time I tried to bring a batch in for input, 99% of responses I got were "Its good. Can I drink some more?"
Maybe I will try it again one day after the "homebrew fad" dies down, or when people leave this forsaken city. But for now I'm going to enjoy throwing my equipment and surplus beer in the bonfire this weekend...
 
I started back in 1980, but life got in the way, kids and also a workaholic. So I took a 18 year hiatus. I was looking around and then my oldest purchased a home and I was left with a vacant floor. I put 2 and 2 together and thus my "man Floor and brewery" was born. (not zoned for non family apartments anyway) So you never truly quit. But brewing does take time and space, and that I have plenty of now. Only wish I had restarted sooner. Living off the beaten path helps.
 
Manholebrewhause said:
I noticed that the reason I quit recently has not even been mentioned! I reside in Richmond Virginia where recently it was said there are 30 new homebrewers every week in this area. Mostly people trying to keep the hipster moement alive, or college students/grads still spending daddy's money. Because of this surge, we now have 3 homebrew shops, all of which are below par. Either the owner won't sell to you unless he likes you (or you offer to pay more than the sticker price), or the owner is more focused on opening his own brewery than dealing with you. At all of them you have to wait in line just to get inside and find out the supplies you need are long gone. There are various brew clubs with memberships at capacity. Mostly people looking for free beer. Every time I tried to bring a batch in for input, 99% of responses I got were "Its good. Can I drink some more?"
Maybe I will try it again one day after the "homebrew fad" dies down, or when people leave this forsaken city. But for now I'm going to enjoy throwing my equipment and surplus beer in the bonfire this weekend...
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Why don't you brew because you like to? Not for the brew clubs, or the fad, or anything else. If the homebrew shops suck in rva then order off of morebeer.com. You get free shipping if you spend over $60; which is about 2-3 batches of beer.
Part of the fun for me is sharing my beer. Now that doesn't mean I give beer to everyone who asks me for it. Then I'd have none left for me but sharing with the folks I want to share it with is fun and rewarding.
I've been brewing for a few years and I'm not part of a club or anything. I've been a couple times to meetings but I felt like I wasn't really part of it. I know everyone is different but I like brewing because I enjoy the activity and the challenge. Yea, homebrewing has blown up over the past few years but that's not a bad thing really. There's been some really good shops open up and there's more competitions to enter your beer into. I'd keep your stuff because it sounds like you'll get into it again at some point. Don't let the stupid people ruin it for you! :mug: There's idiots in every village, everywhere.

IDK, I don't see myself quitting any time soon. I think the only reason I'd quit is because I physically couldn't drink anymore. Even then though, I'd probably still brew and just take a taste here and there. :tank:
 
I quit because there is so much good beer available within a few miles of my house, not worth the effort to brew......but, of COURSE, this does not mean I've stopped fermenting at home, just concentrating on meads anymore(maybe an occasional beer, I do have the basics for an American wheat of some kind at some time, but...) My Mrs loves my meads....she cares a lot less for good hoppy beer, so...it's a win...and heck, the microbrewery/brewpub in my city is close enough I can ride my bicycle there
 
I enjoyed that a thread was revived 2 years later so that someone could share their story that they quit because it was too hipster to brew, basically. I am slightly suspicious of the claim that a LHBS exists to this day where their business model is to only sell to those they like and if they don't like someone then they sell only if the customer pays above the marked price. I can't imagine that store being open long at all and considering there are business licenses, there are complaints that can be filed at the state level.

Either way, I brew because I love it, not because it was a unique hobby that not many people did. I jumped into brewing when I suppose the "hipster movement" happened. I had no idea home brewing was that big of a deal in the first place. I guess my timing was just coincidence...and Groupon had a deal.
 
I haven't quit but I've cut back severely. I have three taps on my keezer on home and find it difficult to keep them all full. I currently have a half keg of Pale Ale that's been sitting on tap since New Years and is starting to lose it's taste. I've been focusing on losing weight this past year and have been very successful (down 50 lbs to date), but that means I find it difficult to justify fitting homebrew into my calories for the day. I find myself drinking Miller Lite when I do have a beer instead....It tastes terrible but 96 calories is hard to beat.

That being said, I regularly give beer away or focus on styles that take time to mature like lagers. I have a Munich Helles that's lagering and I'm excited about my next brew: a raspberry wheat lager that should be similar to Purple Haze. I haven't lost the love of brewing but heart disease is prevalent in my family so getting to a healthy weight is my priority for the time being.
 
For me it was bad equipment and not enough research.

I was given a Mr Beer kit and followed the directions when I was 21, it said you could add table sugar to bump up the abv so I did and ended up getting a beer that tasted cidery, I dumped it and kept drinking BMC. (At that age it was all about getting hammered)

That same year I was given the normal starter kit, two buckets, capper ect, that was found at a garage sale but due to the original bad experience I used the bottling bucket for harry buffalo at parties.

After finding the buckets in my basement 6 years later I thought what the hell lets try again and I bought a red ale kit and haven't slowed down yet. I just wish I would have tried again sooner.
 
Just when I thought I was out, they PULL ME BACK IN!

No one ever quits. Sure you see the craigslist clearance posts, but those are the same people that come back 5 years later and rebuy all their stuff tenfold.


I'll never quit. I might slow down from one batch per month to one every couple months or worse dare I say. But quit? No, no reason to.
 
I don't see myself ever quitting. But I could see batches getting spaced further a part, for a while, at least. Especially when kids start entering the picture!!!
 
Alcoholism and weight gain are two good reasons to quit brewing. One has to ask themselves if they are dependent, when you find yourself drinking a couple of beers every evening, and then cracking a breakfast beer without giving it a second thought. You can develop a dependence on home brew just like you can on factory brew, and it can upset the equilibrium of your life just as much. It can effect your relationships and your job.

How many of us haven't asked ourselves if we could walk away from alcohol?.....How many should ask that question?.....How many of us could? Personally I drink coffee, beer, and water............nothing else exists that I care to drink...... I do enjoy some whiskey, but I sip that and not very much. Take beer out of your life and what do you replace it with?

Personally I would love to have a satisfying non-alcoholic or extremely low alcohol beer... I love that hoppy bite nothing but beer has.

The expanding waistline is a problem not to be discounted......... a reason to give up drinking and brewing beer..........


H.W.
 
I think if you balance it out you can still drink and not gain weight or if trying to lose weight you can just cut back.

Im trying to lean out a bit for summer but im not fat. im trying to get to prob 10% bodyfat and im currently around 14-15%. I just limit my drinking to weekends. eat healthy and workout during the week. If i want a beer during the week ill skip some carbs i would normally have with a meal.

Its all about moderation. weight gain should not make you give it up.
 
Once my 2nd child was born, available "me time" was at a premium. When I have "me time," there are other things I'd rather be doing. Whether that be something productive or simply sitting in front of a game on tv, not thinking or worrying about anything.

That said, A few weeks ago I finally bottled an IPA that I brewed in Nov 2012:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=6849133#post6849133
 
I agree with quitting if its a dependency issue or weight gain issue.
Its not worth putting your life at risk.
If you cannot go a day with a beer (and not because you choose not to, but you just honestly get the DTs if you dont have an infusion of beer daily), it may be time to hang it up.
Heart Disease and significant weight gain is also a health risk.
Beer is good in moderation. I actually enjoy making the beer and the associated process more than the drinking part to be honest.
Its why I will never give it up.
I also do not go to any homebrew club meetings or do any of the crapola you see with those guys who are "craft beer drinkers only". If I give you a free beer (mine or store bought), I dont want a scoring sheet on it. It was either good or it was not. Tasting notes and a profile breakdown will only bore me.
:rockin:
 
Time (aka kids) is certainly a factor, but for me a sting of bad batches and mishaps caused me to quit for 6 years. Now that the kids are older, I spent a great deal of time re-educating myself and learning better techniques before brewing again. So far every batch has come out good at worst and I'm brewing much more frequently.
 
Reasons to quit brewing -

1 ) Brewing takes time. If you have small children or other hobbies/work you might not have the time.

2) You might move and not have the space. (But you could still do stove top brewing.)

3) You don't have anyone to share your beer with / your club folds.

4) You get old and it's harder to manage. Maybe a 60 year old woman or 65-70 year old man has trouble carrying a 5 gallon bucket down the stairs.

5) Maybe after years of brewing, the person never managed to make beers they love, and are content to drink some of the excellent craft brews available.

6) You practice a religion that bans alcohol.
 

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