Sorry for the late post, folks. Life has been keeping me busy lately, and apparently life doesn’t care that Grandpa has a blog to maintain. Go figure.

Anyway, lately I’ve been thinking about something that is probably on the minds of a lot of people my age: retirement.

Yep, at the ripe old age of 62, I find myself thinking more and more about what retirement is actually going to look like.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The idea of retirement sounds pretty damn good. Sleeping in, having no alarm clock yelling at me at some ungodly hour, and being able to do whatever I want sounds like a pretty good deal.

But then reality kicks in.

You can only go golfing so many days.

You can only go fishing for so many hours.

And here in Nebraska, both of those activities have one little problem:

Winter.

There are only so many cold, windy days when you can look out the window and say, “Yep, definitely not going fishing today.”

So that got me thinking: What the heck am I going to do to keep myself busy?

Well, I’ve come up with a few ideas.

Welcome to YouTube University

One thing I’ve discovered over the years is that if you want to learn how to do something, there’s a pretty good chance somebody on YouTube has already made a video showing you how.

I call it YouTube University.

No tuition.

No student loans.

No homework.

And you can attend class sitting in your recliner wearing sweatpants.

What’s not to like?

Lately, I’ve been looking into brewing.

And I’m not just talking about beer.

I’m talking about beer, wine, homemade sodas, kombucha, and even mead.

A few years ago, I took an extract brewing class and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I never really did much with it afterward. Life got in the way, as it tends to do.

I still have the equipment for one-gallon extract brewing, though, and recently I discovered something pretty interesting:

A lot of the same equipment can be used for making wine.

Well, that got my attention.

So naturally, I went back to YouTube University and started learning how to make wine.

And wouldn’t you know it…

I made some.

Grandpa Makes Wine

About three weeks ago, I started my first batch of wine.

And what did I choose for my first attempt?

Rhubarb.

Now, there’s actually a reason I chose rhubarb.

Growing up, I always heard stories about my grandfather making rhubarb wine and dandelion wine. Everybody talked about how good they were.

The problem is, Grandpa apparently didn’t believe in writing recipes down.

So nobody really knows exactly how he made them.

Typical Grandpa.

“How did you make that?”

“Oh, I just put some of this in there and some of that.”

“How much?”

“Eh… enough.”

And there goes the family recipe.

So I decided that since I can find recipes for rhubarb and dandelion wine today, I might as well give it a shot and see if I can recreate a little piece of the past.

Luckily, I was able to get some rhubarb from my sister and a friend, so rhubarb wine became my first project.

Right now, it’s sitting in secondary fermentation.

And yes, I’m checking on it.

Probably more than I should.

I’m pretty sure winemaking involves a certain amount of patience, but patience has never exactly been one of Grandpa’s strongest qualities.

So now I wait.

Hopefully, sometime around October or November, I’ll be able to tell you whether Grandpa’s first attempt at rhubarb wine was a success…

Or whether I accidentally created something that could strip paint off the garage.

Dandelion Wine Might Be a Little More Difficult

The next project I’d like to try is dandelion wine.

That one might be a little more challenging.

Not because the process necessarily looks difficult, but because apparently you need a whole lot of dandelions.

And I’m not sure I have enough dandelions growing in the yard to make a decent batch.

I suppose I could start knocking on the neighbors’ doors.

“Hi, I’m Grandpa. I’m making wine. Can I have your weeds?”

I’m sure that will go over really well.

Homemade Root Beer and Cream Soda

Wine isn’t the only thing I’ve been experimenting with.

I’ve also made my own root beer and cream soda.

And you know what?

They actually turned out pretty damn good.

That’s when I started thinking that maybe there’s something to this whole brewing thing.

I’ve got my extract brewing equipment, so I’m thinking about getting back into that.

And now I’m even considering taking the next step and trying all-grain brewing.

Because apparently I don’t know how to leave well enough alone.

Why make one thing when I can turn this into a full-blown hobby?

What’s Next?

So now I’m looking at all kinds of possibilities.

Beer.

Wine.

Root beer.

Cream soda.

Kombucha.

Mead.

Maybe I’ll even find something else along the way.

And honestly, that’s part of what I’m looking forward to about retirement.

It’s not just about quitting work.

It’s about having the time to explore things I’ve always wanted to try.

Maybe I’ll become pretty good at making wine.

Maybe I’ll become a decent home brewer.

Maybe I’ll make some fantastic mead.

Or maybe I’ll end up with a garage full of bottles that nobody is brave enough to drink.

Who knows?

But that’s the fun of it.

I’m hoping to get everything set up and really get into some of these hobbies once I finally retire.

And yes, for the record, I was hoping to retire yesterday.

That didn’t work out.

Apparently the universe had other plans.

So until that glorious day arrives, I’ll keep working, keep experimenting, keep learning, and hopefully keep finding new ways to keep myself busy.

And I’ll definitely keep you updated on the rhubarb wine.

If it turns out good, I’ll tell you all about it.

If it turns out terrible…

I’ll probably tell you about that too.

Because that’s what Grandpa’s Rants is all about.

Until then, I’m off to check on my wine.

Again.

That’s enough outta me for now. But don’t worry — I’ve got plenty more to say next time.

– Grandpa (Professional Ranter and Amateur Philosopher)