If you gave up brewing a few years back and what made you get back into it

[ozdevil]

Gday All

Someone posted recently or many have said the HB shops etc has taken off due to Covid 19 and there will be selling gear on gumtree or where ever.

got me thinking about what got myself back into

I had basicly given up homebrewing around 2009/10 and just didnt have time with working and and other life duties as we all have, at that time something had to give or life would have been different

anyway i have somewhat been semi retired for the past 4 years and i have a kev bloody wilson type senerio work 2 days have 5 off (Tuesday and thursday are my work days). while at the start and everyone thinks how good would that be to work 2 days get paid the same as ya would if ya worked 5-7 days a week. well i think alot could handle it specially if they are into dyi or into woodwork or into cars and tinkering with moters etc, but to me i wouldnt know what a hammer between a screw driver, well i do, but i am not a handy man fixer uperrer of any sort.. i am not in to fixing cars or doing them up... just found myself sitting home alot as the partner she still wants to work hard ... all i do is a bit of housework a day to keep the lady happy and watching tv or on the computer watching iptv and browsing stuff on forums etc. not really good for the old soul in my opinion

So before covid 19 appeared on the scene i sat down said to myself what do i do to stimulate myself and what can i do to change things arounds.. so as i am not sitting on my backside and wasting the braincells i have and would be fun to do... i ask do i start a new hobby or do i go back to an old hobby or do i take another sport up or do i come out of semi retirement etc

I usually get out and play golf on a saturday and play golf or if not playing golf i am at the mcg or etihad watching my team get slaughtered by the rest
well other the tv and housework and the pc thats all i am doing

So i have decided to take up 2 old hobbies i have enjoyed doing in my past, fishing and homebrew

as i said above the reason why i got of brewing was no time in my life to do it and keeping the mrs happy, but fishing was different i didnt just do this as lets just go for a fish , i did it for a sport and chased records etc. However i fell out of love or just lost the passion for the hobby through an old mate, ya see i owned all the gear from boat down to crabbing nets and fishing rods etc, i would be paying for all the fuel and bait and hooks sinkers while he chose what we went out to catch.. and that was just for whiting,gar and blue swimmer crabs and i never really got to do what i wanted, i had to clean the boat myself( prefered to do that anyway) and just recently got the bug back and i can fish for what i want.

anyway i have always enjoyed watching the process of beer and enjoyed brewing when i was doing it So i thought i could put a couple of batches down a week to occupy my mind

At the moment i have been enjoying get my equipment back and i still have a few things to get and i know that wont stop there as there is always something to add to the list

currently have a brewzilla 35l and have the 65l on backorder hopefully that arrives next week as my major purchase and really looking forward to brewing in them

But i think most of all being home and doing nothing has encouraged me back into brewing


So what made you take it up during covid 19 or what made you come back and start brewing once again

 

[planner]

Don't really know why I gave up brewing 6-7 years ago, just drifted away from it.

COVID was definitely the driver for taking up the hobby again. Once lockdown / shutdown (whatever you call it) started, I decided that I needed something else to occupy my time. I completed a couple of outdoor jobs, but they were mostly daytime projects (gardens, firepit etc.) It just seemed logical to dust off the HB gear. The early threats (unfounded) to continuity of beer supply probably planted the seed, but I didn't believe that supply would be effected.

Anyway I'm 5 batches back into it and really enjoying it again. Currently setting up kegs, as I've always bottled in the past. Starting the same hobby again means that I can spend "setup" costs again

Planner

 

[mje1980]

I had a few years off. Recently got back into it with a robo. So awesome haha

 

[Malted Mick]

I tried home brewing brielfy over 30 years ago but gave it up for various reasons. Several factors influenced my decision to start up again late last year.
Retirement.
BIAB
The range of quality ingredients.
Damm cheap affordable new gear.
And I like trying different beers.

 

[donutnick]

I stopped years ago because of a surgery I had made it hard to drink carbonated drinks. But my neighbor always having awesome beer got me back into brewing.