hen his efforts at beer making fell flat, Pat Ayers didn't get discouraged, he just tried something else.

"I just wasn't good at it," says Ayers of Jim Thorpe. "It tasted good, but I couldn't get any head on it."Since beer wasn't his calling, he decided to try his hand at making wine.Before moving to the area, he and his wife, Marge, lived in Willow Grove. While at Keystone Homebrew Supply in Montgomeryville, he came upon kits for winemaking."The smallest kit they sold at the time was for a gallon of wine," says Ayers. "I thought if I could do that, then maybe I would keep making wine. That's pretty much how I got hooked."Immediately met with success and discovering that a gallon of tasty wine will disappear rather quickly, Ayers signed up for classes.One of the things he learned was that as a hobbyist, he can make up to 200 gallons of wine a year.That's a lot of wine. Ayers says that 200 gallons is the equivalent of more than 800 bottles."That's more than enough," he says. "I do 40 gallons a year."He can't sell the wine, but he's very generous in sharing a bottle or two with friends and neighbors.While Pat is the head winemaker in the family, Marge enjoys the process as well, and has become proficient at blending their creations into interesting flavors. Her Red-White-Blue is a mix of 50 percent blueberry wine, 25 percent cranberry and 25 percent Thompson seedless."We weren't happy with red and blue on their own," she said. "The Thompson seedless gave it a nice, smooth finish."One of her other creations, peach sauvignon blanc, came about after she thought the peach wine she had made was too sweet."We blended it with chardonnay that (Pat) made, and we won a silver medal for it in North Carolina," she said.That made two medals for the Ayers. Pat had previously won a bronze medal for his Meritage in 2013.The Ayers made 11 different varieties of wine this past year, and have made 17 different kinds overall, including: Cabernet Franc, Carménère, Meritage, Pinot Noir, merlot, Barbera, Ruby Red, Red-White-Blue, riesling, Gewürztraminer, Moscato, Rhubarb, Blueberry, Cranberry Blush, Coconut Lime, Strawberry Traminette and Cranberry.Ayers says winemaking isn't an expensive hobby.A kit runs about $115, but most of the items can be used more than once. The kit includes a 6-gallon carboy, which is a large bottle; test tube; yeast and other additives; hydrometer; pH tester; thermometer; siphon tube; corks; and bottles.Of course you'll also need grape juice. A 6-gallon bucket sells for $47 to $71, depending on the type of grapes. Six gallons of juice will make 30 bottles of wine."I make it because I enjoy it," said Ayers. "I don't care about the cost. If I find out somebody else likes wine, I find out if they like dry or sweet, and give them a bottle. Then I want their feedback."You can't help but wonder if they Ayers have grown their list of friends since they began making wine.They chuckle."Yes," says Ayers. "Always."Early picsRiesling - juice from Chile; Pinot NoirRackingFiltering the wine to get off the sedimentspH orange meter2.8 white wine2.5-3.5 is good