I will be dead straight with you – I love real ale…maybe a little too much, but we all have our vices!
It comes as no surprise that I have managed to track down the most perfect Christmas gift for a real ale drinker, I was on a bit of a mission. Mini Cask deliveries are just too expensive, and anyway, I have found something much better.
The Mr Beer Real Ale Homebrew Kit from Treathim.com has been a real hit in my house. It is a homebrew kit, but do not be put off by poor imitations. The West Coast Pale Ale kit is more than just chucking ingredients into a bucket and hoping for the best.
There are two stages to the brew - preparing the ‘wort’, the mix that is the base of the real ale, and after a week to ten days the bottling process, which will naturally carbonate your beer. This takes at least a week.
After a week waiting, I tried my first brew. It wasn’t bad, but a little flat. I left it a few more days and went back to another bottle. A very satisfying fizz when I opened the bottle was just what I wanted to hear.
The brew is better than most guest ales you get in pubs. I really mean that. This week, I have to work hard and finish these bottles off as I have another brew waiting to be bottled, ready for New Years Eve!
The fact I made this fab real ale all by myself is just brilliant. I totally recommend the kit, it’s technical enough to be a slight challenge, yet simple enough to be an enjoyable task.
The results speak for themselves, my real ale would hold it’s own against a lot of professionally brewed ales.
If you are looking for the perfect Christmas gift for a real ale drinker, you have just found it!
Perfect for the DIY lover in the house this Christmas is a great range of tools from Worx. These tools are the perfect ‘For Him’ gift, and they are also great for the handywoman of the house too!
Ideal for the DIY perfectionist is this Worx HandyCut. This takes Compact Sawing to a new level, with its ‘small’ look! Forget intimidating and bulky circular saws, the compact and lightweight HandyCut is half the size of standard models, making it the versatile must-have tool for tackling tight spots with ease. The protective blade guard automatically lowers to surround the blade for increased safety once cutting tasks are completed. It comes with four interchangeable blades and is supplied in its own handy carry case. This HandyCut is ideal for precise plunge and pocket cutting, installing switch boxes, slicing through tiles, wood and many other applications around the house. The HandyCut is available exclusively from B&Q fro £89.98.
For something that every household should own is this Worx D-Lite. The handy Worx D-Lite is a must-have for any tool kit, as it completes heavy work with mush less weight than your average drill. This compact, cordless drill / driver has a 2 speed gear box and will tackle most drilling and screw driving jobs around the home. The lithium-ion technology means that it’s light enough to be used for longer without weighing you down and can be easily held above head height – allowing you to get to those hard to reach places. For the casual DIYer this is a fantastic piece of kit as it covers both drilling a screw driving. The Worx D-Lite is also available from B&Q, retailing at £79.98.
I would like to introduce this brand new puzzle to our readers. If you like the Rubik’s Cube, you are going to love this newbie puzzle! This is so the next generation of the Rubik’s Cube, and will without a doubt be just as popular. Made by Moulding Innovations, The Dioctipoid is totally amazing and hugely challenging.
It looks fantastic! Being a self confessed puzzle fanatic, I knew on seeing the Dioctipoid that it was one for me. This is perfect for those who enjoy a little brainteaser, and like to test their mental agility, dexterity and challenge your puzzle solving skills. It really is a great brainteaser for all ages, and not to mention highly addictive!
The Dioctipoid comes in many stages. The 1.0 comprises of 6 different coloured “stars” around 12 white diamonds. This is the easiest of the current range of DIOCTIPOIDS to solve, but it will keep you guessing for a long time – I have yet to complete it! Once3 I have it fully complete, I am looking forward to going up a level to 2.0! This comprises of 6 different coloured segments with no common white shapes. This is the harder of the current range of DIOCTIPOIDS to solve.
So, how do you play the Dioctipoid? Here are some instructions:-
• Mix the puzzle and hopefully solve it
• Rotate one segment at a time
• Rotate around FREE segment
• Each time one segment has been rotated, re-orientate the Dioctipoid in the “holding” hand and rotate the free segment with the other.
• Continue until solved - if you can!
It may sound a little confusing, but honestly, it’s not! Once you get the hang of it, the moves are easy, and if my 6 year old can work it – so can you! Each Dioctipoid comes assembled complete (in correct colour order) and is complete with a Dioctipoid stand, in its own dedicated box. They cost £18.49, and will without a doubt be worth every penny! For further information, check out http://www.mouldinginnovations.com.
Christmas Conundrum: What do you buy the following people at Christmas?
• The sports fan
• The health conscious
• The gadget obsessed
• The outdoor pursuitist
• The frustratingly impossible to buy for!
Simple; a stylish Trion:Z award winning magnetic and negative ionic wristband of course!
The perfect stocking filler (from £19.99), these little wonder wristbands are loved by global sporting heroes, the active and the health conscious amongst us, all over the World. In fact, wearers of the bracelet often claim to experienced better sleep, focus, sporting performance, endurance, pain relief and injury recovery.
Trion:Z promotes itself as the perfect gift for a healthy and active lifestyle and let’s face it, after Christmas and who knows how many mince pies and T.V. specials, we are all looking for a bit of that. In colours and sizes to suit everyone, all from as little as £19.99, Trion:Z is this years’ must have stocking filler!
SPECIAL OFFER: Get £5 off when you buy any two bracelets PLUS FREE POSTAGE on everything!
To Purchase, go to www.trionz.co.uk
Just think – A game where you can ‘bring your toys to life’! How happy and thrilling would this be for any child (even the big ones!), thank you Activision for launching this fantastic new kids computer game!
Activision, who you may know from computer games such as Call of Duty, have just launched a new kids game called Skylanders. The cartoon itself of Skylanders is captivating for many a child, but with this game (which can be used with Xbox or Wii), you use actual toys to play it!
In Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure, you can take part in a boldly innovative adventure game where players collect real-world interaction figures and transport them directly into the game using a mystical Portal of Power. It may sound a bit confusing, but when you play it, you will be surprised at how easy it actually is! You put the figure on something called a portal then you become that toy in the game – it’s very clever indeed! The toy then saves your levels, points etc for the next time you play even if it’s on a different platform at your friends house so if for example you have an Xbox and your friend has a Wii you can still take the toys to your friends house and play.
Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure allows you to enter fantastical journey into an amazing world, where you will explore mysterious, mythical lands, battle menacing outlandish creatures, collect gold and treasures, and solve interesting puzzles while on a quest to save their world from Kaos, an evil Portal Master. Oooh, it does sound good!
“Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure changes the way we look at toys and videogames, as well as how we interact with them by introducing action figures that become interaction figures and remember all of their dynamic experiences created in the game. For the first time ever, players can personally customize and power-up their toys, as well as bring them to life on a friend’s Portal of Power for co-op play and player-versus-player arena battles. Additionally, with the freedom to change characters whenever they like, Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure allows kids to utilize different interaction figures and strategies each time they play.”
Key features within Skylanders Spyro’s Aventure include the following:-
• Interaction Figures – Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure offers over 30 characters to bring out the kid in everyone. It’s all about choice, and each interaction figure has their own unique and expressive personality, powers and abilities which provide distinct advantages and skill sets for various levels, obstacles and enemies.
• Toys with Brains – Each interaction figure contains a “brain” that remembers the player’s shared experiences and leveled-up abilities (e.g. stats, ability and attack upgrades, and gold collected) directly within each toy.
• Categories, Strategy & Collectability – Interaction figures are classified by element types (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Life, Undead, Magic, and Tech) and each has their own heroic challenges that are unlocked as more characters are collected.
• The Portal of Power – The mystical Portal of Power serves as a gateway between our world and the amazing game world, allowing you to ‘Bring Your Toys to Life’ by teleporting real-world toys directly into the game for players to control when placed upon the Portal of Power.
• Exploration – As the tale unfolds, players will encounter a variety of vivid environments, each with its own unique look and feel, and each providing different challenges, puzzles, and the discovery of secret areas, rewards and mini-games.
• Co-Operative Play – Players can join forces with friends and drop in and out of each level with as many different interaction figures as they like
• Player vs. Player – A classic battle mode provides a selection of different game modes and arena maps for players to face off against each other. Each unique arena map contains a variety of obstacles, hazards and power-ups
Skylanders Spyro’s Aventure comes with the portal and three figures and costs around £40.00. The price may differ depending on the retailer. Some of the stockists are Tesco, Argos and GAME. Age range is 7-13. For more information, be sure to visit the official Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure game website located at http://www.skylandersgame.com.
