The Thrifty Shopper Blogs

Archive for the ‘Cooking and Food’ Category

The St Peter’s Beer Kits are Here

Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

We are very pleased to announce the launch of the St. Peter’s Ruby Red Beer Kits.

st-peters-ruby-red-aleThese kits are in stock and ready to ship  - PLUS FREE Delivery this month on ALL Orders.

This St. Peter’s beer kit is a delicious tawny red ale with subtle malt undertones and a distinctive spicy hop aroma. The St. Peter’s Brewery in Suffolk is one of the leading lights of breweries in the UK in our humble opinion. Whenever we are in London we visit their City based pub, The Jerusalem Tavern for a pint or two. One of their best brews is this Ruby Red Ale - Click Here to get started.

St Peter’s Brewery in Bungay are proud of their surroundings and drew their name from the Great Hall at St Peter’s near Bungay Suffolk, which dates from around 1280 and is the centrepiece of the St Peter’s brewery site. In 1539 the East wing was added using materials from the nearby Flixton Nunnery, which was one of a dozen Monastic houses given to Cardinal Wolsey by King Henry VIII to finance the building of a school in Ipswich, Suffolk’s county town Then as today, Suffolk barley was carefully malted to brew beers and that tradition lives on today in the St Peter’s brewery.

St. Peter’s Beer Kits NOW IN STOCK with FREE DELIVERY

Thursday, October 29th, 2009

st-peters-home-brew-bottle1

 NOW IN STOCK;  ORDER HERE

Word has reached us that St.Peter’s are about to launch a 40 pint Ruby Red kit. We expect it will be a two tin 3.6kg kit and we understand that the distinctive St. Peter’s oval shaped bottles will be available for sale to give your brew a really authentic St. Peter’s look as well as taste.

We’ll of course stock the full range on the site http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk as soon as they are available we’ll let you know.

We’re hoping that the Ruby Red kit is the first of many St. Peter’s homebrew kits. TheThriftyShopper are great fans of the St. Peter’s Brewery and we pay a visit to The Jerusalem Tavern whenever we are in London. It’s a beautiful little pub, packed with history as well as fantastic beers. st-peters-pub-frontage 

The brewery itself is housed in listed former agricultural buildings which were last used in the late sixties. These building then became derelict but offered a superb site for a working brewery and a visitor attraction.

St. Peters now produces 15,000 barrels of real ale per year (83,000 pints a week).

St. Peters homebrew kits COMING SOON – we’ll keep you posted.

Homebrew Taste Test

Friday, August 7th, 2009
The Enthusiastic Tasters

The Enthusiastic Tasters

We are always talking to people about how good homebrew wine and beer are, but the real test of this is how they fair when compared against a branded bottle bought from the supermarket – and what better way to measure this than by a blind taste test.

Thrifty’s Paul is the in-house wine making expert and he set a few of the team a challenge this morning; could they spot the supermarket purchased wine?

The test consisted of three chilled white wines in clear bottles marked A, B & C:

Bottle A was a Solomon Grundy Medium Dry White - Made from a 30 bottle kit for £20.99. Brewed for 9 days. 73 Pence a bottle.

Bottle B was a Blossom Hill California White - Purchased yesterday from Paul’s local Co-op for. £4.04 a bottle.

Bottle C was a California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer - Made from a 30 bottle kit for £34.25. Brewed for 28 days. £1.14 a bottle.

Here’s what they said;

Matt, Managing Director
Bottle A - “Very palatable wine, it has a slightly sulphurous nose but very palatable”
Bottle B – “Slightly acidic taste, nose is good, average taste, a decent quaffing wine”
Bottle C – “Good nose, good taste, a lovely wine with a full flavour”       

Darren, IT Guru
Bottle A – “Not a lot of flavour at first but I am getting a bit of a floral taste at the end”
Bottle B – “More taste in this one and a better aroma”
Bottle C – “Really good, loads of flavour, quite floral….can I have some more?”

Vanessa, Accountant
Bottle A – “Nice and smooth, the nose is not great but a very drinkable wine”
Bottle B – “This one is a bit sharp, quick drinkable but acidic”
Bottle C – “This is a bit too dry for me, it’s nice, but not one i’d choose to drink”

Russ, Warehouse Manager
Bottle A – “A little bit tart, quite nice but it’s not one i’d buy again”
Bottle B – “This is a good quaffing wine, it’s the kind of wine that my wife and I would buy”
Bottle C – “This one is really easy to drink, a good quality dry white”

The Result
So, which did our guinea pigs say was the bought wine?

Matt went for ‘C’ the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer
Darren went for ‘C’ the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer
Vanessa chose ‘A’ the Solomon Grundy Medium Dry White
Russ chose ‘B’ Blossom Hill California White

The Winner
The winner is home-made wine – the California Connoisseur Gewurztraminer  from The Thrifty Shopper weighing in an £1.14 a bottle.

For your reference - the equipment Paul used to brew these two homebrew wines;
The Beaverdale Starter Kit

25 Litre Fermentation Vessel

If you have any questions about homebrew or would like to try making wine at home please visit The Thrifty Shopper or email us on info@thethriftyshopper.co.uk

The Diary of an ibrew Home Brewer

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

ibrew home brew starter kits

Day 1
Choose which variety of the ibrew system you would like to try. There are three home brew kits available in the ibrew range; bitter, lager or stout. Order on-line at www.ibrew-uk.com. ibrew-uk and The Thrifty Brewer are offering Free Shippingon all ibrew orders.

ibrew-bitter-starter-kitDay 3
Unwrap your your ibrew system and familiarise yourself with the various components. Your kits should contain 2 x 20 pint home brew beer kits, a home brew fermentation vessel, 2 x 10 pint dispensers, a home brew stirrer, and a carbonator / tap.

Remove the label from one of the ibrew cans and place in a bowl of warm water and leave to soften contents. The second can is for your next 20 pint brew.

Pour 20 pints of cold tap water into your home brew fermenter (the ibrew outer packet) and stir in 2 teaspoonfuls of the steriliser/cleaner powder using the plastic stirrer supplied. Place the stirrer and lid in the water to sterilise and leave for 15 minutes.

While the fermenter and stirrer are sterilising, bring to the boil a full kettle. After 15 minutes, empty the water from the fermenter and rinse the lid, stirrer and fermenter with cold tap water. Remove the can from the warm water and dry with kitchen roll. Open the can and pour the contents into the sterile fermenter. Half fill the empty can with hot water from the kettle and stir with the sterilised stirrer until all of the remaining can contents are dissolved and pour into the fermenter. Take care the can will be hot!

Add the rest of the hot water from the kettle and give the fermenter contents a good stir. Then top up with cold tap water to the 20 pint mark printed on the home brew fermenter, DO NOT FILL TO THE TOP!

ibrew-yeastCut open one of the yeast sachets and sprinkle this onto the surface of the liquid. If brewing bitter, add the contents of the hops sachet. Then loosely replace the fermentor lid and leave to ferment for 7 days at room temperature.

Day 10
Your home brew will be ready to transfer to transfer to the dispenser bottles. Put one teaspoon full of the cleaner powder into each of the 2 dispenser bottles and fill with cold water. Insert the siphon tube into one of the bottles, leaving about 2cm protruding from the bottle and leave to sterilise for 15 minutes. Rinse the bottles and tube with
clean cold water.

home brew dispenser bottleCarefully lift the fermenter onto the kitchen worktop and remove the lid. Place the sterilised dispenser bottles on the floor near the home brew fermenter and siphon the home brew from the fermenter into the first one then the other bottle, leaving about 3cm head-space.

To do this place the siphon tube into the beer in the home brew fermenter and hold in place while you suck the other end to fill the tube with home brew. Then quickly place into the empty bottle. Pinch-bend the end of the tube to stop the flow when you transfer to the second bottle - this may take some practice! Then screw the caps in place. Store bottles upright in an area where they will not be disturbed for 14 days.

Day 24
Remove the cap from one bottle and insert the carbonator/tap unit into the bottle and hand tighten. Check that the tap is closed. Gently tilt the bottle so that the gas bulb holders are upright (tap on top), undo one of the two gas bulb holders, insert a gas bulb and replace the holder, tighten gently into place until a hissing sound is heard. Insert the base plate onto the carbonator/tap unit and gently slide into the fridge to chill.

Now you are ready to enjoy your home brew beer!

Simply open the tap fully to dispense. If your home brew needs extra carbonation, or stops flowing, insert the second gas bulb into the empty bulb holder and tighten until a hissing sound is heard.

Once the bottle is empty, open tap to release any residual gas then gently undo the carbonator/tap unit and insert into your second bottle using the same method as described above.

Home Brew Bitter RefillIt’s now time to start your next brew, using your free 20 pint home brew kit.

Remember that refills are available from The Thrifty Brewer.

Enjoy and drink responsibly.

ibrew - Revolutionary Home Brew Kits

Monday, July 6th, 2009

ibrew beer kitsThe Thrifty Brewer is proud to introduce a new starter kit into the home brew market - the ibrew brewing system.
 
Do you remember helping your dad brew beer back in the 80’s. Remember the taste? WELL forget it because things are different now……….

Ibrew is for YOU. Modern, fun, easy to make, NATURAL products and QUALITY results.

Ibrew is available in three styles; bitter, lager & stout. There is also FREE Shipping on all ibrew products.

 

About ibrew

The ibrew system – All the equipment and beer kits to make 40 pints of quality home brew. 
Ibrew has been created to remove the mystique around making beer at home. This system will introduce a new generation into brewing at home and will surprise those returning to home brew with the quality results it produces.
What could be more satisfying than brewing your own great tasting beer? Imagine serving your own beer on tap at your next garden party. Available in three styles; lager, bitter & stout.

ibrew bitter kit

What do you get – you get 2 x 20 pint beer kits, a fermentation bucket, a packet of fast acting home brew yeast, a beer paddle, steriliser, 2 dispenser bottles, beer tap and base plate, siphon tubing, gas bulbs and instructions.

What do you have to do– your ibrew system will contain a really clear set of instructions, but in a nut shell;
You clean the kit,
You tip your tin of malt into your fermenter,
Add water and yeast,
Wait 7 days (you can go about your normal business during this step),
Siphon your beer into your bottles,
Wait 14 days (as above),
Attach your tap and place in fridge,
drink  responsibly.

This is a seriously good home brew beer making kit. Try it today. Free Shipping on all ibrew orders.

ibrew larger kits

FAQ’s

Q. I used to brew beer many years ago, are the kits better these days?
A. The quality of beer and winemaking kits has improved massively over the years. The ibrew beer making kits contain only the best quality malt extract. The results you get are fantastic.

Q. Is it difficult to make a good brew?
A. Not at all, just follow the really clear instructions and you will get great results ibrew stout kitsevery time. There are two main stages that require some effort; 15 minutes upfront and 15 minutes after 7 days. Not bad for the satisfaction of making your own quality homebrew.

Q. Is there lots of cleaning and sterilising involved?
A. Don’t get too paranoid about sterilisation. Yes its important, but you just have to add steriliser to your fermenter or dispenser, fill with water, wait for 15 minutes and give it a good rinse.

Q. I bought an ibrew Bitter system for my first time, can i use to make ibrew lager or stout?
A. Yes, one of the advantages of the ibrew system is that it can be used to brew any style of beer – or even cider.

Q. Can i make wine in this equipment?
A. No, unfortunately you will expose your wine to too much air in this fermenter. The ibrew wine making system is on its way but in the meantime; click here for a great range of winemaking kits.

Q. Where is the easiest place to buy an ibrew system?
A. Here or other online home brew retailers.

Q. Is everything in the system re-usable?
A. The only consumables you will need to re-order are; the 20 pint refill kits, steriliser & co2 bulbs.

Q. Do i really need the CO2 bulbs?
A. It’s really up to you. The co2 bulbs are great for giving a slight carbonation. Personally, I always use co2, but just one bulb at a time.  

Q. Where should i store my beer?
A. If you have brew bitter you may want to keep it in a cool room, pantry or cellar. But the ibrew dispenser bottles have been designed to fit perfectly into your fridge. Perfect.

Free Shipping on ALL Order. BUY NOW

Is a Minimum Price for Beer and Wine on the Way?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Beer and WineI saw this article on the BBC recently. 

One more reason to brew your own at home.

“The government’s top medical adviser has drawn up plans for a minimum price for alcohol which would double the cost of some drinks in England.
 
Under the proposal from Sir Liam Donaldson, no drinks could be sold for less than 50 pence per unit of alcohol they contain.  It would mean most bottles of wine could not be sold for less than £4.50.

The proposal is aimed at tackling alcohol misuse and is set out in Sir Liam’s annual report on the nation’s health. A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We have not ruled out taking action on very cheap alcohol - it’s clearly linked to people drinking more and the subsequent harm to their health.”

She said more work needed to be done to make sure action was “appropriate, fair and effective” but decisions would take the “wider economic impact during this difficult time” into account.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said it was important to deal with people’s attitudes and not just the supply and price of alcohol.
The Liberal Democrats backed Sir Liam’s stance and said putting an end to “pocket-money priced alcohol” would influence drinking behaviour.”

While I support any initiative that aims to reduce anti-social behaviour, poor health or violent behaviour caused by excessive drinking i can’t help but feel that it’s the responsible drinkers that are going to be most affected by this. Once again the responsible majority will carry the can!

Useful Links:

The Thrifty Brewer

The Thrifty Winemaker

The Thrifty Brewer and Winemaker are Born!

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
The Thrifty Winemaker

The Thrifty Winemaker

The Thrifty Shopper have launched our first two transactional websites; The Thrifty Brewer & The Thrifty Winemaker.

These homebrew sites are committed to providing our customers with quality home brew kits, advice and service. We will make sure that we stock the very best products available on the market to help you produce delicious results every time.

If you’re new to home brew, Thrifty will help get you started - believe us, it’s easy, it’s fun and you can save loads of cash.

You’ll need to invest in a bit of kit up front £40 for all the wine making equipment you’ll ever need or about £25 if you’d like to start with beer making.

Then it works out at £34 for every 30 bottles of quality wine or £20 for 40 pints of real ale.

We’ve put together some great video tutorials YouTube if you want to learn a bit more or take a look at the kit in action before you buy. Subscribe to The Thrifty Video Channel Now.

Come and join the homebrew revolution.

Warning! the results are very very good - please drink responsibly

Money saving meals from Tesco

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

Every little helps when you can find the offers!

Every little helps when you can find the offers!

Money saving meals from Tesco

 

I’ve just been to the local Tesco Metro to pick up some lunch and I spotted this leaflet half dumped on the end of the checkout - it amazes me that Tesco would bother to produce something like this ‘Family Feast for under a fiver’ leaflet and then leave it dumped at the end of a checkout for customer to maybe spot on their way out!

Why don’t Tesco promote these kind of deals? They could, for example, have a huge banner and promotional stand somewhere near the entrance of each store. They could even put all the products they’re promoting with the huge promotional banner AND all the leaflets so customers might SEE the products AND buy them! Now there’s an idea…

This leaflet is promoting ‘Cook up a delicious spaghetti with bacon sauce for UNDER £5′ It’s promoting the great low prices of Tesco onions, spaghetti, pasta sauces and bacon along with some other Discount Brand products on the reverse of the leaflet. It is a good offer from Tesco and if I was in the store I’d make an effort to look fof the products; if I had time.

I’m very surprised that supermarket stores aren’t making much more of their prices and running promotions like this using the massive foot-fall of people they get through their stores every day. If supermarket’s really went all out on promotions I’m sure us customers would benefit and we might end up showing more loyalty to a supermarket offering what we see as the best deals to save us money on our food bills.

Grow Your Own Vegetables - Tomato

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

Growing Tomatoes

tomato-plantSowing - March - April
Sow your seeds thinly into small pots of moist compost and cover with a sprinkling of compost. Leave on a warm windowsill until each plant is big enough for a pot of it’s own. Germination should take between 7 and 14 days.

Transplanting - April to June
When your plants are four weeks old, plant into a grow bag (max three per bag) or directly into the ground (half a meter apart). Sit them in a warn sunny and sheltered spot. Feed and water regularly until ripe.

Where to position them
Put them somewhere warn and sunny.

tomato-harvestHarvesting - July - October
Allow the fruits to fully ripen on the plant before picking.

Elapsed Time - 4 months

Pests
Whitefly, Aphids, Blossom End Rot, Greenback

Soil
Dig in some well rotted compost or manure as tomatoes like a fairly rich water retaining soil, pH6.5-7.00. Apply lime if necessary. Two or three weeks before planting apply a general fertilizer like Growmore and rake in.

Varieties
Standard, Cherry, Beefsteak, Plum, Marmande, Oxheart

Tips
Before moving plants outdoors, its best to acclimatise them. Stand them outside during the day and bring them in at night for a week before permanently moving them outside. Plants growing in grow bags need more watering than those in the ground.

Useful Links
Crocus -
For all your gardening needs
Clearance Garden Equipment - up to 80% Off RRP
Water Features - Quality UK Water Features
Garden Gifts - Exceptional Prices
Blooming Direct - The Online Garden Centre 

Always Check Thrifty’s Vouchers for Current Deals & Offers