The Thrifty Shopper Blogs

Woodfordes Microbrewery

April 29th, 2010

Woodfordes Microbrewery

woodfordes-wherry-microbreweryEverything you need to brew 40 Pints of Quality Bitter.

All equipment is completely reusable and will last for years. Once you have bought the starter kit you only need to buy a Beer Kit to make another 40 pints.

Included in the kit is:

• 25 Litre Fermentation Vessel (Brewing Bucket) with Grommeted Lid
• 40 Pint Pressure Barrel with Valved Cap
• Long Handled Plastic Spoon
• Hydrometer
• Thermometer
• Plastic Sample Jar
• Steriliser
• Co2 Injector with one free bulb
• Handy Airlock
• Siphon Tubing
Woodfordes Wherry Bitter Kit

Woodfordes Wherry is fresh and zesty with crisp floral flavours. A background of sweet malt and a hoppy ‘grapefruit’ bitter finish characterises this champion bitter. This Beer has won several awards including - Supreme Champion Beer of Britain (Bronze) 2005 & Supreme Champion Beer of Britain (Gold) 1996 + Numerous Champion Bitter of Britain awards.

Wine Making Kits

April 14th, 2010

Wine Making Kits

We stock over 100 Wine Making Kits offering complete ranges from all the best Wine Kit manufacturers. From Albarino to Zinfandel – you can be sure that we will have your favourite wine making kit in-stock and ready for dispatch.

Please visit our Wine Making Kits page.

If you haven’t made wine before we also have a great set of pre-made starter kits and tools to help you chose the best starter kit for you.

Visit Our Wine Starter Kits page or our Starter Kit Builder Tool.

Alternatively, you can always give us a call on 01925 357480 were we will be happy to assist you in whatever way we can.

Wine Making Kits – The Brands

The main differences between the wine kits on offer are the ‘time to brew’ and whether or not additional sugar is required. Below i have listed the selection of Wine Kit Brands, a brief introduction to their respective strengths and features an indication as to whether they require an added sugar and the expected ‘time to brew’;

California Connoisseur Wine KitsCalifornia Connoisseur Wine Making Kits

These are a range of very good quality wine kits. The ratio of juice to water is high and no additional sugar is required. These kits take 30 days to brew.

BUY California Connoisseur Wine Kits

Beaverdale Wine KitsBeaverdale Wine Making Kits 

These are great wine kits on a par with the California Connoisseur range. The ratio of juice to water is also very high and no additional sugar is required. These kits also take 30 days to brew.

BUY  Beaverdale Wine Kits 

Solomon Grundy Wine KitsSolomon Grundy Wine Making Kits

This is the most popular wine kit range in the country. They make a good quality wine, in my opinion on a par with a £3 bottle of new world wine that you find in the supermarket. The quantity of juice in the kit is a lot lower than the Cal. Conn. or Beaverdale kits so 3kg of additional sugar is required for the White and Rosé variety kits and 4kg is required for the Red varieties. The great thing about these kits is that they take just a week to brew.

BUY Solomon Grundy Wine Kits

A note on adding additional sugar – normal household granulated sugar is perfectly fine to use but if you want to make the most of your wine kit we would recommend you use winemaking sugar. This sugar helps produce a more smooth wine and is available at TheThriftyShopper.co.uk in 1kg bags.

Cantina Wine KitsCantina Wine Making Kits

These are my favourite wine kits when I take their fantastic value for money in to account. They are so simple to make and they clear fantastically well. It takes just a week to brew one of these kits and no additional sugar is required.

BUY Cantina Wine Kits

Cellar 7 Wine KitsCellar 7 Wine Making Kits

This range of wine kits is NEW to the market. The ratio of juice to water is high and no additional sugar is required. These kits take 7 days to brew.

BUY Cellar 7 Wine Kits

Magnum Wine KitsMagnum Wine Making Kits

This range of wine kits is an old favourite but actually quite new to The Thrifty Shopper. They require 3.5kg of added sugar per kit but due to very fast acting yeast take only one week to brew.

BUY Magnum Wine Kits

Mondego Wine KitsMondego Wine Making Kits

This range of wine kits requires 3.5kg of added sugar per kit but due to very fast acting yeast take only one week to brew.

BUY Mondego Wine Kits

All of these fantastic wine making kits are In-Stock and ready to dispatch. Enjoy your winemaking!

The Thrifty Shopper

St Peters IPA Beer Kits

April 14th, 2010

st-peters-ipaSt Peters India Pale Ale Beer Kit

We’re very excited; rumour has it that our favourite brewery - St Peter’s in Suffolk is considering launching a beer kit for their famous IPA (India Pale Ale). 

St Peters IPA is a high hopped traditional IPA with a zesty character.

Expected ABV 5.5%.

India Pale Ales became popular in the early 19th Century as tastes changed away from Porter Style Ales. As the years passed the hops and alcohol content rose to preserve them during their long sea journey to British forces in India - hence the name.

As soon as we hear anymore we’ll let you know.

The Thrifty Shopper

Beer Starter Kits

April 12th, 2010

Beer Starter Kits

At The Thrifty Shopper we aim to offer the best products, help and advice to to all of our customers but in particular we aim to help and encourage beginners take their first steps in making beer at home 

To start making beer you will need a beer starter kit

Wine Starter Kits

Our Beer Starter Kits contain all the equipment and ingredients required to make your first 40 pints of beer so the next time you brew you only need to buy a refill beer kit.

Refill Beer Kits start from £10 - that’s 25p a pint.

To make life easier for beginners we have even put together a Starter Kit Builder this is a really easy to follow tool that guides you through the choices you have to make - we even offer recommendations based on answers to 4 simple questions.

Failing this why not give us a call on 01925 357480. We will be happy to help.

The Thrifty Shopper.

Homebrew Mail Order

April 12th, 2010

We are pleased to announce that The Thrifty Shopper can now accept telephone orders as an alternative to online shopping.

Call us NOW on 01925 357480

Same Product Range,
Same Great Service,
Same FREE Shipping on Orders over£25,
NEW way to BUY

The Thrifty Shopper Ltd

Wine Starter Kits

April 12th, 2010

Wine Starter Kits

At The Thrifty Shopper we aim to offer the best products, help and advice to to all of our customers but in particular we aim to help and encourage beginners take their first steps in making wine at home 

To start making wine you will need a wine starter kit

Wine Starter Kits

Our Wine Starter Kits contain all the equipment and ingredients required to make your first 30 bottles of wine so the next time you brew you only need to buy a refill wine kit.

Refill Wine Kits start from £15 - that’s 50p a bottle.

To make life easier for beginners we have even put together a Starter Kit Builder this is a really easy to follow tool that guides you through the choices you have to make - we even offer recommendations based on answers to 4 simple questions.

Failing this why not give us a call on 01925 357480. We will be happy to help.

The Thrifty Shopper.

Magnum Wine Kits

March 25th, 2010

Magnum Wine Kits - New Product On-Site


The Thrifty Shopper has recently launched the complete range of Magnum Wine Kits.


This is an extremely popular range of kits that many brewers return to again and again. The main reason for this, let’s be honest, is the price.
Magnum Wine Kits

Magnum Wine Kits

These 30 Bottle kits are £16.85 each - that’s an incredible 56p a bottle.
The Magnum Wine Kit range contains a white, a red and a rose. My favourite is the Rose; it really is a very good table wine.


Remember ALL products we sell are In-Stock and ready to dispatch. Buy Now!

Starter Kit Builder

February 16th, 2010

starterkitbuilder

The Thrifty Shopper is proud to launch the Starter Kit Builder.

Our Starter Kit Builder helps you choose the perfect Starter Kit for your budget and experience. Don’t worry about the actual parts just choose on price and how you wish to serve your drink.

To help you get started we have heavily discounted the items when you buy them as a kit and we’ll even give you free shipping.

There are just 4 quick and easy steps:

Step 1 - Answer a few questions to help us recommend the right kit.
Step 2 - Select one of our fermenter bundles; Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
Step 3 - Select a dispenser; Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum.
Step 4 - Select a Beer, Wine or Cider kit from our comprehensive range.To make things even easier we will make recommendations along the way. If you are happy with the price just click on the select button.

Please remember - all of the combinations in this Starter Kit Builder contain everything you need to brew fantastic quality beer or wine. The Bronze options contain the most basic and cost effective equipment whilst Platinum contain the best quality and most comprehensive equipment.

Brupaks Pride of Yorkshire - Colne Valley

February 15th, 2010

Refill Kit: Brupaks Pride of Yorkshire – Colne Valley
Price: £19.50
Rating: 9 out of 10
Review:
I’m a big fan of Brupaks, I’ve been happy with everything i’ve brewed from the range so far. The Colne Valley refill is a Colne Valley Beer Kitstwo tin kit. No added sugars are require, the box contains everything you need.
The Brupaks kits are a little bit different than most kits on the market. They contain a sachet of hops that you brew in water (like a tea bag). This hops ‘tea’ is then added to your fermenter. The extra step is easy to do and very worthwhile particularly if you’re making an English style bitter or ale.

Colne Valley is an excellent bitter with a floral hoppy finish. It’s chestnut in colour and a good strong head.

I found that the kit clears and conditions remarkably well.

Primary Fermentation: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: 14 days
Conditioning: 14 - 21 days

Fermenting Equipment: 
25Ltr Thrifty Fermenter, stirrer, steriliser, siphon tubing.

Dispenser:
A basic white barrel, kept off the floor so it never gets too cold – the way I like my bitter.

Coopers Wheat Beer Review

February 15th, 2010

Refill Kit: Coopers Wheat Beer
Price: £11.30
Rating: 8 out of 10
Review:
The Coopers range is very popular around the world. They are single tin kits that need up to 1kg of fermentable sugar Coopers Wheat Beeradded to them to produce a 23Ltr brew. TheThriftyShopper.co.uk will recommend the best type of fermentable sugar for each beer style. For this kit I used 500g of light dry malt and 300g of dextrose.

I was very keen to try this kit as I’m a big fan of wheat beers (Schneider Weissen Original being my favourite commercially produced beer). The results were really good, i was very impressed. I didn’t get the banana aroma’s of some Bavarian Wheat Beers but i did get a wonderfully creamy, cloudy and refreshing wheat beer.
The only thing i’d change about it is the strength. I like a strong beer and this first attempt lacked a little something. Next time i brew this kit i’ll take SG readings and up the malt to 700g. I’ll let you know how i get on.

Primary Fermentation: 7 days
Secondary Fermentation: 14 days
Conditioning: 14 days

Fermenting Equipment: 
25Ltr Thrifty Fermenter, stirrer, steriliser, siphon tubing.

Dispenser:
Ibrew dispensers with tap-a-draft