Morning everyone,
First before anyone questions my new account, I've been following homebrewtalk threads for a while and finally figured it's time to open an account. Ive never owned a pico before but I did crowd fund brewie. I have been one of the lucky brewie owners which have had great successes (delivery day june 17). Yes, brewies software still needs a lot of work and their customer service isn't the greatest. I have seen their service improve, the biggest issue was the service center in USA wasn't active during all the shipments which is why you hear stories about the long service time. So far I love my brewie, sometimes I have issues with software but they are always updating the software. I believe most of the issues have been in the US, don't know if its caused by the different voltage or not. While their are a lot of negatives, there are also a lot of positives. I've enjoyed mine and I actually place an order for the b+ as I'm interested in making 10 gallons instead of 5. I'm still thinking if 5 extra gallons is worth $1800 though so I don't know if I'll keep my preorder (ordered it through morebeer, 60 day return policy)
This is how I see both machines
Pico
Pros
-great customer service
-been around longer
- has more user experiences
- can use picopaks if you want to spend that type of $$$
Cons
-can only make 2.5. Gallons per machine
-2.5 gallons cost the same price as brewies 5 gallon
- requires a 5 gallon keg for each 2.5 gallons of brew ( one of the biggest negatives for me)
- I heard their super loud.
-plastic parts/step filter
- ALWAYS requires network connection.
-I also heard the are now/have been, owned by a company that keeps messing and ripping of the homebrew industry (don't know how true it is, read it in a reddit post)
Brewie
Pros
- cost of picos 2.5 gallon, but can brew 5 gallons
- it's actually built really well, I was impressed with the finish
-auto cooling
- touch screen/ easier interface in my opinion.
- doesn't require network connection
-their currently building an app and social platform, I expect the app to be released probably around May (I don't know what pico has in terms of app/website I'm sure they have something similar)
- doesn't require a keg to operate, one less thing to clean. why would I want to wash 4, 5 gallon kegs for a 10 gallon batch?
-automatic water inlet
-overall brewie has more features then any pico can offer, just a matter of time for them to work out all the kinks.
Cons
- quite a few people have stated issues, ranging from a lot of different things
- software could use some work, which their currently working on all the time
-customer service probably takes 2-3 weeks to reply to messages I believe. They recently updated the software to where they can remote in and see what's causing the issue which hopefully could resolve a lot of service center returns as well provide improvements to the software.
- the weight sensors have caused some overflows for some, I think it's due to people not calibrating it after moving it a lot or after 3 brews like they recommend. (I believe they ditched the weight sensors and are using pressure sensors now in the B+)
Overall, currently I'm pleased with my brewie. I would still choose it over the pico. If they could improve their customer service brewie would destroy pico, but who knows if that will ever happen. I'm really hoping the B+ is the machine everyone wants and has a lot of the issues fixed from the b20. Brewie has been trying to correct a lot of the broken machines, I'm thinking their almost caught up fulfilling orders.
But it's up to you, regardless $1800 is a lot of money especially if it causes nothing but problems. I recommend following the brewie owners group on facebook, lots of good information. A lot of negative but I would keep In mind, if you don't have a problem your probably not going to talk about it. There's a poll going on right now and I'm excited to see the results of it.
Anyways, my fingers are tired of typing. Best of luck!