diff --git a/channel.go b/channel.go
index 4524f5a..d63b1c7 100644
--- a/channel.go
+++ b/channel.go
@@ -12,12 +12,13 @@ type channelManager struct {
 	logger              Logger
 	url                 string
 	channel             *amqp.Channel
+	connection          *amqp.Connection
 	channelMux          *sync.RWMutex
 	notifyCancelOrClose chan error
 }
 
 func newChannelManager(url string, log Logger) (*channelManager, error) {
-	ch, err := getNewChannel(url)
+	conn, ch, err := getNewChannel(url)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ func newChannelManager(url string, log Logger) (*channelManager, error) {
 	chManager := channelManager{
 		logger:              log,
 		url:                 url,
+		connection:          conn,
 		channel:             ch,
 		channelMux:          &sync.RWMutex{},
 		notifyCancelOrClose: make(chan error),
@@ -33,16 +35,16 @@ func newChannelManager(url string, log Logger) (*channelManager, error) {
 	return &chManager, nil
 }
 
-func getNewChannel(url string) (*amqp.Channel, error) {
+func getNewChannel(url string) (*amqp.Connection, *amqp.Channel, error) {
 	amqpConn, err := amqp.Dial(url)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 	ch, err := amqpConn.Channel()
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, nil, err
 	}
-	return ch, err
+	return amqpConn, ch, err
 }
 
 // startNotifyCancelOrClosed listens on the channel's cancelled and closed
@@ -56,10 +58,13 @@ func (chManager *channelManager) startNotifyCancelOrClosed() {
 	notifyCancelChan = chManager.channel.NotifyCancel(notifyCancelChan)
 	select {
 	case err := <-notifyCloseChan:
-		chManager.logger.Printf("attempting to reconnect to amqp server after close")
-		chManager.reconnectWithBackoff()
-		chManager.logger.Printf("successfully reconnected to amqp server after close")
-		chManager.notifyCancelOrClose <- err
+		// If the connection close is triggered by the Server, a reconnection takes place
+		if err.Server {
+			chManager.logger.Printf("attempting to reconnect to amqp server after close")
+			chManager.reconnectWithBackoff()
+			chManager.logger.Printf("successfully reconnected to amqp server after close")
+			chManager.notifyCancelOrClose <- err
+		}
 	case err := <-notifyCancelChan:
 		chManager.logger.Printf("attempting to reconnect to amqp server after cancel")
 		chManager.reconnectWithBackoff()
@@ -101,11 +106,15 @@ func (chManager *channelManager) reconnectWithBackoff() {
 func (chManager *channelManager) reconnect() error {
 	chManager.channelMux.Lock()
 	defer chManager.channelMux.Unlock()
-	newChannel, err := getNewChannel(chManager.url)
+	newConn, newChannel, err := getNewChannel(chManager.url)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
 	chManager.channel.Close()
+	chManager.connection.Close()
+
+	chManager.connection = newConn
 	chManager.channel = newChannel
 	go chManager.startNotifyCancelOrClosed()
 	return nil
diff --git a/consume.go b/consume.go
index 99d8232..393fa24 100644
--- a/consume.go
+++ b/consume.go
@@ -1,238 +1,245 @@
-package rabbitmq
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"time"
-
-	"github.com/streadway/amqp"
-)
-
-// Consumer allows you to create and connect to queues for data consumption.
-type Consumer struct {
-	chManager *channelManager
-	logger    Logger
-}
-
-// ConsumerOptions are used to describe a consumer's configuration.
-// Logging set to true will enable the consumer to print to stdout
-// Logger specifies a custom Logger interface implementation overruling Logging.
-type ConsumerOptions struct {
-	Logging bool
-	Logger  Logger
-}
-
-// Delivery captures the fields for a previously delivered message resident in
-// a queue to be delivered by the server to a consumer from Channel.Consume or
-// Channel.Get.
-type Delivery struct {
-	amqp.Delivery
-}
-
-// NewConsumer returns a new Consumer connected to the given rabbitmq server
-func NewConsumer(url string, optionFuncs ...func(*ConsumerOptions)) (Consumer, error) {
-	options := &ConsumerOptions{}
-	for _, optionFunc := range optionFuncs {
-		optionFunc(options)
-	}
-	if options.Logger == nil {
-		options.Logger = &noLogger{} // default no logging
-	}
-
-	chManager, err := newChannelManager(url, options.Logger)
-	if err != nil {
-		return Consumer{}, err
-	}
-	consumer := Consumer{
-		chManager: chManager,
-		logger:    options.Logger,
-	}
-	return consumer, nil
-}
-
-// WithConsumerOptionsLogging sets a logger to log to stdout
-func WithConsumerOptionsLogging(options *ConsumerOptions) {
-	options.Logging = true
-	options.Logger = &stdLogger{}
-}
-
-// WithConsumerOptionsLogger sets logging to a custom interface.
-// Use WithConsumerOptionsLogging to just log to stdout.
-func WithConsumerOptionsLogger(log Logger) func(options *ConsumerOptions) {
-	return func(options *ConsumerOptions) {
-		options.Logging = true
-		options.Logger = log
-	}
-}
-
-// StartConsuming starts n goroutines where n="ConsumeOptions.QosOptions.Concurrency".
-// Each goroutine spawns a handler that consumes off of the qiven queue which binds to the routing key(s).
-// The provided handler is called once for each message. If the provided queue doesn't exist, it
-// will be created on the cluster
-func (consumer Consumer) StartConsuming(
-	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
-	queue string,
-	routingKeys []string,
-	optionFuncs ...func(*ConsumeOptions),
-) error {
-	defaultOptions := getDefaultConsumeOptions()
-	options := &ConsumeOptions{}
-	for _, optionFunc := range optionFuncs {
-		optionFunc(options)
-	}
-	if options.Concurrency < 1 {
-		options.Concurrency = defaultOptions.Concurrency
-	}
-
-	err := consumer.startGoroutines(
-		handler,
-		queue,
-		routingKeys,
-		*options,
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	go func() {
-		for err := range consumer.chManager.notifyCancelOrClose {
-			consumer.logger.Printf("consume cancel/close handler triggered. err: %v", err)
-			consumer.startGoroutinesWithRetries(
-				handler,
-				queue,
-				routingKeys,
-				*options,
-			)
-		}
-	}()
-	return nil
-}
-
-// startGoroutinesWithRetries attempts to start consuming on a channel
-// with an exponential backoff
-func (consumer Consumer) startGoroutinesWithRetries(
-	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
-	queue string,
-	routingKeys []string,
-	consumeOptions ConsumeOptions,
-) {
-	backoffTime := time.Second
-	for {
-		consumer.logger.Printf("waiting %s seconds to attempt to start consumer goroutines", backoffTime)
-		time.Sleep(backoffTime)
-		backoffTime *= 2
-		err := consumer.startGoroutines(
-			handler,
-			queue,
-			routingKeys,
-			consumeOptions,
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			consumer.logger.Printf("couldn't start consumer goroutines. err: %v", err)
-			continue
-		}
-		break
-	}
-}
-
-// startGoroutines declares the queue if it doesn't exist,
-// binds the queue to the routing key(s), and starts the goroutines
-// that will consume from the queue
-func (consumer Consumer) startGoroutines(
-	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
-	queue string,
-	routingKeys []string,
-	consumeOptions ConsumeOptions,
-) error {
-	consumer.chManager.channelMux.RLock()
-	defer consumer.chManager.channelMux.RUnlock()
-
-	_, err := consumer.chManager.channel.QueueDeclare(
-		queue,
-		consumeOptions.QueueDurable,
-		consumeOptions.QueueAutoDelete,
-		consumeOptions.QueueExclusive,
-		consumeOptions.QueueNoWait,
-		tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.QueueArgs),
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	if consumeOptions.BindingExchange != nil {
-		exchange := consumeOptions.BindingExchange
-		if exchange.Name == "" {
-			return fmt.Errorf("binding to exchange but name not specified")
-		}
-		err = consumer.chManager.channel.ExchangeDeclare(
-			exchange.Name,
-			exchange.Kind,
-			exchange.Durable,
-			exchange.AutoDelete,
-			exchange.Internal,
-			exchange.NoWait,
-			tableToAMQPTable(exchange.ExchangeArgs),
-		)
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		for _, routingKey := range routingKeys {
-			err = consumer.chManager.channel.QueueBind(
-				queue,
-				routingKey,
-				exchange.Name,
-				consumeOptions.BindingNoWait,
-				tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.BindingArgs),
-			)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	err = consumer.chManager.channel.Qos(
-		consumeOptions.QOSPrefetch,
-		0,
-		consumeOptions.QOSGlobal,
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	msgs, err := consumer.chManager.channel.Consume(
-		queue,
-		consumeOptions.ConsumerName,
-		consumeOptions.ConsumerAutoAck,
-		consumeOptions.ConsumerExclusive,
-		consumeOptions.ConsumerNoLocal, // no-local is not supported by RabbitMQ
-		consumeOptions.ConsumerNoWait,
-		tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.ConsumerArgs),
-	)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
-	for i := 0; i < consumeOptions.Concurrency; i++ {
-		go func() {
-			for msg := range msgs {
-				if consumeOptions.ConsumerAutoAck {
-					handler(Delivery{msg})
-					continue
-				}
-				if handler(Delivery{msg}) {
-					err := msg.Ack(false)
-					if err != nil {
-						consumer.logger.Printf("can't ack message: %v", err)
-					}
-				} else {
-					err := msg.Nack(false, true)
-					if err != nil {
-						consumer.logger.Printf("can't nack message: %v", err)
-					}
-				}
-			}
-			consumer.logger.Printf("rabbit consumer goroutine closed")
-		}()
-	}
-	consumer.logger.Printf("Processing messages on %v goroutines", consumeOptions.Concurrency)
-	return nil
-}
+package rabbitmq
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/streadway/amqp"
+)
+
+// Consumer allows you to create and connect to queues for data consumption.
+type Consumer struct {
+	chManager *channelManager
+	logger    Logger
+}
+
+// ConsumerOptions are used to describe a consumer's configuration.
+// Logging set to true will enable the consumer to print to stdout
+// Logger specifies a custom Logger interface implementation overruling Logging.
+type ConsumerOptions struct {
+	Logging bool
+	Logger  Logger
+}
+
+// Delivery captures the fields for a previously delivered message resident in
+// a queue to be delivered by the server to a consumer from Channel.Consume or
+// Channel.Get.
+type Delivery struct {
+	amqp.Delivery
+}
+
+// NewConsumer returns a new Consumer connected to the given rabbitmq server
+func NewConsumer(url string, optionFuncs ...func(*ConsumerOptions)) (Consumer, error) {
+	options := &ConsumerOptions{}
+	for _, optionFunc := range optionFuncs {
+		optionFunc(options)
+	}
+	if options.Logger == nil {
+		options.Logger = &noLogger{} // default no logging
+	}
+
+	chManager, err := newChannelManager(url, options.Logger)
+	if err != nil {
+		return Consumer{}, err
+	}
+	consumer := Consumer{
+		chManager: chManager,
+		logger:    options.Logger,
+	}
+	return consumer, nil
+}
+
+// WithConsumerOptionsLogging sets a logger to log to stdout
+func WithConsumerOptionsLogging(options *ConsumerOptions) {
+	options.Logging = true
+	options.Logger = &stdLogger{}
+}
+
+// WithConsumerOptionsLogger sets logging to a custom interface.
+// Use WithConsumerOptionsLogging to just log to stdout.
+func WithConsumerOptionsLogger(log Logger) func(options *ConsumerOptions) {
+	return func(options *ConsumerOptions) {
+		options.Logging = true
+		options.Logger = log
+	}
+}
+
+// StartConsuming starts n goroutines where n="ConsumeOptions.QosOptions.Concurrency".
+// Each goroutine spawns a handler that consumes off of the qiven queue which binds to the routing key(s).
+// The provided handler is called once for each message. If the provided queue doesn't exist, it
+// will be created on the cluster
+func (consumer Consumer) StartConsuming(
+	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
+	queue string,
+	routingKeys []string,
+	optionFuncs ...func(*ConsumeOptions),
+) error {
+	defaultOptions := getDefaultConsumeOptions()
+	options := &ConsumeOptions{}
+	for _, optionFunc := range optionFuncs {
+		optionFunc(options)
+	}
+	if options.Concurrency < 1 {
+		options.Concurrency = defaultOptions.Concurrency
+	}
+
+	err := consumer.startGoroutines(
+		handler,
+		queue,
+		routingKeys,
+		*options,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	go func() {
+		for err := range consumer.chManager.notifyCancelOrClose {
+			consumer.logger.Printf("consume cancel/close handler triggered. err: %v", err)
+			consumer.startGoroutinesWithRetries(
+				handler,
+				queue,
+				routingKeys,
+				*options,
+			)
+		}
+	}()
+	return nil
+}
+
+// StopConsuming stops the consumption of messages.
+// The consumer should be discarded as it's not safe for re-use
+func (consumer Consumer) StopConsuming() {
+	consumer.chManager.channel.Close()
+	consumer.chManager.connection.Close()
+}
+
+// startGoroutinesWithRetries attempts to start consuming on a channel
+// with an exponential backoff
+func (consumer Consumer) startGoroutinesWithRetries(
+	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
+	queue string,
+	routingKeys []string,
+	consumeOptions ConsumeOptions,
+) {
+	backoffTime := time.Second
+	for {
+		consumer.logger.Printf("waiting %s seconds to attempt to start consumer goroutines", backoffTime)
+		time.Sleep(backoffTime)
+		backoffTime *= 2
+		err := consumer.startGoroutines(
+			handler,
+			queue,
+			routingKeys,
+			consumeOptions,
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			consumer.logger.Printf("couldn't start consumer goroutines. err: %v", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		break
+	}
+}
+
+// startGoroutines declares the queue if it doesn't exist,
+// binds the queue to the routing key(s), and starts the goroutines
+// that will consume from the queue
+func (consumer Consumer) startGoroutines(
+	handler func(d Delivery) bool,
+	queue string,
+	routingKeys []string,
+	consumeOptions ConsumeOptions,
+) error {
+	consumer.chManager.channelMux.RLock()
+	defer consumer.chManager.channelMux.RUnlock()
+
+	_, err := consumer.chManager.channel.QueueDeclare(
+		queue,
+		consumeOptions.QueueDurable,
+		consumeOptions.QueueAutoDelete,
+		consumeOptions.QueueExclusive,
+		consumeOptions.QueueNoWait,
+		tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.QueueArgs),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if consumeOptions.BindingExchange != nil {
+		exchange := consumeOptions.BindingExchange
+		if exchange.Name == "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("binding to exchange but name not specified")
+		}
+		err = consumer.chManager.channel.ExchangeDeclare(
+			exchange.Name,
+			exchange.Kind,
+			exchange.Durable,
+			exchange.AutoDelete,
+			exchange.Internal,
+			exchange.NoWait,
+			tableToAMQPTable(exchange.ExchangeArgs),
+		)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		for _, routingKey := range routingKeys {
+			err = consumer.chManager.channel.QueueBind(
+				queue,
+				routingKey,
+				exchange.Name,
+				consumeOptions.BindingNoWait,
+				tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.BindingArgs),
+			)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	err = consumer.chManager.channel.Qos(
+		consumeOptions.QOSPrefetch,
+		0,
+		consumeOptions.QOSGlobal,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	msgs, err := consumer.chManager.channel.Consume(
+		queue,
+		consumeOptions.ConsumerName,
+		consumeOptions.ConsumerAutoAck,
+		consumeOptions.ConsumerExclusive,
+		consumeOptions.ConsumerNoLocal, // no-local is not supported by RabbitMQ
+		consumeOptions.ConsumerNoWait,
+		tableToAMQPTable(consumeOptions.ConsumerArgs),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	for i := 0; i < consumeOptions.Concurrency; i++ {
+		go func() {
+			for msg := range msgs {
+				if consumeOptions.ConsumerAutoAck {
+					handler(Delivery{msg})
+					continue
+				}
+				if handler(Delivery{msg}) {
+					err := msg.Ack(false)
+					if err != nil {
+						consumer.logger.Printf("can't ack message: %v", err)
+					}
+				} else {
+					err := msg.Nack(false, true)
+					if err != nil {
+						consumer.logger.Printf("can't nack message: %v", err)
+					}
+				}
+			}
+			consumer.logger.Printf("rabbit consumer goroutine closed")
+		}()
+	}
+	consumer.logger.Printf("Processing messages on %v goroutines", consumeOptions.Concurrency)
+	return nil
+}