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The PICO is the most remarkably simple wort making machine that exists. Reading on HBT gives folks a sense of how complicated brewing can be. This is literally plug and play with no worries or concerns. Many traditional homebrewers can not fathom this. Go for it and enjoy.
 
zigzap said:
Hi, I'm strongly considering buying a picobrew pico. I was however wondering if cooling the wort overnight instead of as quickly as possible, produces a bad result. Won't cooling overnight strongly increase risk of contamination, or at the very least produce a cloudy result?
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There is no risk cooling overnight, it is sealed with the keg seal. I chilled my first 4 brews overnight, I'm an admitted lazy brewer and gave up on chilling quickly years ago, can't be bothered with the extra steps and storing more equipment. With this said, yesterday I had a double brew day and threw my kegs in the pool! They were chilled to 63' the temp of the pool water in less than 45 minutes. Like skunk said if chilling quickly watch your keg seal, it creates quite a vacuum, might get sucked in. Next time I will put the metal keg lid on before chilling.

The Pico is amazing, you will love it. Yesterday I did a double brew and deep clean in about 6 hours with minimal hands on. I got stuff done around the house and spent time with the family, the Pico has gotten me back into brewing.

IMG_5506.jpg
 
Thanks, for the replys. I was wondering one more thing is it completely impossible to creat your own picopack? Or is there a workaround?
 
Completely impossible. There will be freestyle Pico packs, where you customize the ingredients and they build and ship it to you.
 
Darn I love this thing! Drank the Half Squeezed (not perfect but drinkable and totally probably my fault), Whetstoner Session is carbonating right now (ready tomorrow), brewed Dead Guy today and it's cooling now.

My question, anyone know if I can unplug this thing and leave it unplugged between batches or will I loose the wifi info and have to redo my password. Hate to bother the Pico guys with trivia, they have been so helpful with all the other things like the bad regulator. I only worry about power surges and the Pico doesn't have quite a long enough cord for me to put a surge protector on it.
 
Just wondering - is there any reason not to brew and cool down the wort with the metal lid in place instead of the black rubber one?
 
Just got done with my second batch-- here my review so far. never brewed before this

1- plinius maximus-- ff at temp controlled 76 degrees for 9 days, dry hopped after the 3rd day. quick carbonated and poured on christmas. cold crashed 24 hours--result? we drank it but it was way too sweet and had no hoppiness to it at all. ive had the real pliny and they are worlds apart. But it was definitely potent abv wise...

2- lucky envelope mosaic-- normal fermentation at temp controlled 70 degrees for 8 days, dry hopped after the 3rd day. cold crashed 2 days and quick carbed.--result? to be fair i never had the original, but at first taste i was turned off. drinking a little more and its ok, but no real hoppiness and im still not sure if this is what it is "supposed" to taste like

Have Rogue Dead Guy and Stingray IPA fermenting right now...im open for suggestions particularly re: getting a hoppiness to my IPAs.

The Pico is an easy enough machine but so far im unimpressed with that i have been able to produce... surely its my issue and not the product
 
The lack of hoppiness has been plaguing me too. The only suggestion I can offer is what was said to me above - ferment for 7 days first, then dry hop for 5 days. I am going to try that with my current batch.
 
bobbob911 said:
Just wondering - is there any reason not to brew and cool down the wort with the metal lid in place instead of the black rubber one?
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Don't brew with the metal lid. Pico sells extra keg seals for cheap if you need another one. The gaskets and pressure valves are not rated for temperature, nor the vacuum created.
 
Noticed the same thing with the Plinius, no hoppiness whatsoever. I've had the real one many times as well, and you're right, they're worlds apart. Noticed the same thing with my 2nd batch...forget which one it was, the rye IPA from Denny Conn.
I wish they would be more forthcoming with details about the type of hops being used for dry hopping (and grains..and gravity numbers). I'm a bit concerned about their freshness. I have a homebrew store about 5 minutes from my house and would like to purchase some fresher hops to try as a replacement.
 
I'm doing the Rye IPA right now, with a 7 day ferment followed by a 5 day dry hop. Hops have been in the fridge until ready. I'll let you know how it goes.

My feeling is that dry hopping should be a no brainer - it should produce a strong hop nose at least for a good week or two easily.
 
I'll be dry hopping the deaf turtle tonite and I'll let it sit until saturday when I'll transfer it to another keg and carb it up overnight. I'll report results here :)
 
nonac75 said:
How long has it been fermenting
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Since 12/19 at 68* f. Finally got a chest freezer and inkbird to use as a fermentorium/keezer so I've got high hopes that this batch will be better than my last 3 that were allowed to ferment at ambient and and turned out pretty gross...2 were dumpers :(

*edit*
That 68* is wort temp, NOT ambient temp. I have the temp probe sandwiched between the keg and a keg parka. Inkbird set to 68* with a 1* differential.
 
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That's interesting - ideally is the goal to keep the fermentation temperature on the low side of the range? And if so, what does that do to the fermentation time?
 
Fermentis lists the "ideal" temperature range for this yeast as being 59-71 degrees, so 68 is closer to the higher end.
 
bobbob911 said:
That's interesting - ideally is the goal to keep the fermentation temperature on the low side of the range? And if so, what does that do to the fermentation time?
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Those lower temps are for the standard fermentation. If you use the fast fermentation you can do up to 84'. If you are doing standard I would stay closer to the lower-mid range of the scale in my experience. The Pico stickers show the ranges for standard and fast. Standard does take more time, I would do 2 weeks if your in the standard range.
 
Assuming I'm doing Fast Fermentation method, what temperature should I be aiming for ideally? Or are you saying any temperature across the range 61-84 (according to the sticker) is equally good with this method?
 
Any recommendations for threaded Co2 cartridges to use? My local HBS only has unthreaded and ive found some online but not sure if there is truth to the whole "beverage grade" vs "food grade" comments i see.

I could buy from pico but at $17 shipped for 5 of them its not ideal
 
bobbob911 said:
Assuming I'm doing Fast Fermentation method, what temperature should I be aiming for ideally? Or are you saying any temperature across the range 61-84 (according to the sticker) is equally good with this method?
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What temperature is your house? Mine is about 75' and that's where mine ferments. Brews have been great. The Pico is meant to be simple, just leave it in a dark corner of your house and enjoy, I wouldn't aim for a certain temperature.

Any temperature across the 61-84 works with this method, just realize the lower temps like 61-71 are still standard fermentation temps and take standard times, you don't get any time benefit. The benefit of fermenting under pressure is it restricts the production of ester off flavors.

I can't stress enough, don't pitch the full yeast packet they provide! I think this is the source of some issues people are having with off flavors. Pitch half at most, I try and do a little less than half just eyeballing it.
 
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jrb03 said:
What temperature is your house? Mine is about 75' and that's where mine ferments. Brews have been great. The Pico is meant to be simple, just leave it in a dark corner of your house and enjoy, I wouldn't aim for a certain temperature.

Any temperature across the 61-84 works with this method, just realize the lower temps like 61-71 are still standard fermentation temps and take standard times, you don't get any time benefit. The benefit of fermenting under pressure is it restricts the production of ester off flavors.
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My house is at about 72-73, but I can get a little higher or lower depending on where I put it in the house.

I can't stress enough, don't pitch the full yeast packet they provide! I think this is the source of some issues people are having with off flavors. Pitch half at most, I try and do a little less than half just eyeballing it.
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Okay, so this is new - you are the first person I have read mention this. Why do you say this? How can this system be easy to use if they give you too much yeast and expect you to eyeball how much to put in? (Assuming that pitching to little will cause other problems?)
 
Anyone tried to carbonate and serve using Nitrous Oxide (N2O)?
I see 16g cartridges for Whip cream, and I'm thinking cream ale/stout....
 
I wouldn't recommend nitrous oxide. Beer gas is a mixture of nitrogen and CO2. The nitrous oxide may work for one night, but it will release a bunch of oxygen into your beer and that would not go well for longer-term usage of that mini-keg.
 
bobbob911 said:
My house is at about 72-73, but I can get a little higher or lower depending on where I put it in the house.



Okay, so this is new - you are the first person I have read mention this. Why do you say this? How can this system be easy to use if they give you too much yeast and expect you to eyeball how much to put in? (Assuming that pitching to little will cause other problems?)
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The yeast they provide is for 5 gallon batches. I have been pitching half because I knew this and it made sense to me. Annie from Pico has recommended only pitching half on the Facebook group, and they have stated they are working with the yeast providers on smaller packets but they were not ready by release. They don't manufacture the yeast so they are at the suppliers mercy, there are no smaller packets on the market. They are also working with white labs on the pico sized liquid yeast option. They should of mentioned this in the manual and then edited when the proper packets are available.

As long as you get a third of a packet in there that is more than enough. If your really concerned about eyeballing it you can always weigh with a kitchen scale. Just eyeball half you will be fine.
 
Thanks, makes sense. I did a little research and the conclusion seemed to be that over-pitching the amount of yeast is not really harmful unless its an extreme amount. Just curious what your concern is related to - what off flavors could we potentially expect from too much yeast?
 
bobbob911 said:
Thanks, makes sense. I did a little research and the conclusion seemed to be that over-pitching the amount of yeast is not really harmful unless its an extreme amount. Just curious what your concern is related to - what off flavors could we potentially expect from too much yeast?
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I agree. Everything I've read/heard suggests that over pitching is not a concern unless you are extremely over pitching. Under pitching on the other hand is where you can easily get off flavors.

Also if you look at some of the yeast pitching calculators (mrmalty.com) you will see them suggest 2 5 gram packets of dry yeast for a 5 gallon batch.

Furthermore if you are not rehydrating your dry yeast before pitching you can assume that half the cells will die immediately upon contact of the wort.

So a single 5 gram pack of yeast that isnt rehydrated will only have enough yeast for a 1.25 gallon batch.

From my personal experience pitching a single pack without rehydrating into a 5 gallon did result in off flavors, slow fermentation, and poor attenuation. I also have a small semi-automated setup for making 1 gallon test batches as well as for making cheese, and I have always pitched a full pack of yeast without rehydrating. I have not had any fermentation issues from doing that.
 
harrke said:
I wouldn't recommend nitrous oxide. Beer gas is a mixture of nitrogen and CO2. The nitrous oxide may work for one night, but it will release a bunch of oxygen into your beer and that would not go well for longer-term usage of that mini-keg.
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Hummm, rereading myself after your comment I noticed N20. That's nitrous oxide, they're using laughing gas in Whipped cream? Wow. We don't want this.

Should I be able to carb my beer, then dispense using nitrogen and expect respectable results? If so, how can I build a portable solution? I don't mind using the fermenting kegs to serve as I may need to fit a nitro tap. Price of nitro cartridges are prohibitive though! Any good source of say 76g of nitro anywhere? Unless I can use a small poney bottle for say paintball, and adapt it. Refill must be much cheaper than those cartridges.

But the main question is, can I expect decent results in a portable solution or only a proper kegerator will give me that?
 
Do what you want guys. A full pack is too much for these small batches. Pico brew agrees after various complaints of off flavors. Pico packs will soon come with yeast packs scaled correctly when they are available. Just relaying the facts to those who aren't on the Pico users Facebook group.

I've pitched under a half pack since the beginning and have had great results, active healthy fermentation with no off flavors or blowoff through the FF valve. Seen people with these issues report much better results with a half pack including a well respected master homebrewer. But of course you can use calculators and do what you want if it's working for you.
 
jrb03 said:
Do what you want guys. A full pack is too much for these small batches. Pico brew agrees after various complaints of off flavors. Pico packs will soon come with yeast packs scaled correctly when they are available. Just relaying the facts to those who aren't on the Pico users Facebook group.

I've pitched under a half pack since the beginning and have had great results, active healthy fermentation with no off flavors or blowoff through the FF valve. Seen people with these issues report much better results with a half pack including a well respected master homebrewer. But of course you can use calculators and do what you want if it's working for you.
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When pitching half a pack, are you still simply dumping it into the wort? Or are you re-hydrating first? Thanks!
 
Here's another thought - has anyone tried racking using CO2 instead of the Pico unit? I'm wondering if the Pico unit is potentially adding too much oxygen as a result of the pumping?
 
bobbob911 said:
Here's another thought - has anyone tried racking using CO2 instead of the Pico unit? I'm wondering if the Pico unit is potentially adding too much oxygen as a result of the pumping?
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You are greatly over thinking a well thought out process.
 
bobbob911 said:
Here's another thought - has anyone tried racking using CO2 instead of the Pico unit? I'm wondering if the Pico unit is potentially adding too much oxygen as a result of the pumping?
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Does your beer taste like cardboard? Doubt it, it's not near enough pressure to be an issue.

Oxidized
Oxidation is probably the most common problem with beer including commercial beers. If the wort is exposed to oxygen at temperatures above 80°F, the beer will sooner or later develop wet cardboard or sherry-like flavors, depending on which compounds were oxidized.
 
Could be. The other think I was thinking about is purging/priming the serving keg with CO2 first before racking to it.

Since I am serving from another corny keg I think I'll go right from ball lock out to ball lock out, that way I could keep both kegs essentially sealed during racking. Again, probably overkill but it seems no more difficult to do.

I may be over complicating a well thought out process but I am not getting the results I want yet and this is a variable.
 
Easy enough to try if you have the parts. I think your barking up the wrong tree though. Enough people are using the Pico to rack without issue. I would start with pitching a half pack of yeast and giving extra fermentation time. I do 10-14 days at 73'-75' with FF adapter. Then cold crash a couple days before racking to drop as much yeast as possible.
 

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