OK. now 4 days into this adventure. My half Squeezed IPA that I did not dry hop and I filtered (Wanted to taste the beer at it's raw form without the added hops to see what it made). I moved it to a Kegerator but was only two half pints left. I am seeing a sulfur smell (Diacetyl?) once it sits a moment it is gone. Still a good tasting beer. But it is now empty, on to next adventure. I will post my adventures So far I am really liking this little machine. I have brewed for a few years so I know the fundamentals... but ran out of time... this seems really nice.
PicoBrew Pico users
- Thread starter jrb03
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Did you ever try this? I'd really like to know if the RFID tags can be reused. Thinking I may try 3D printing a reusable pak, but I'd need to reuse an RFID tag.
That's exactly why I got the Pico, life got busy and didn't have time to dedicate a whole day to brewing. I can brew 2 batches in an afternoon and go about my day while the Pico does it's thing. Loving it.
I still actually really enjoy doing my traditional homebrewing a lot more. I like the Pico a lot and I like the ability to make beers from breweries around the country but it will never replace my normal 5 gallon AG batches particularly for my beloved IPAs. I need more then 1.5 gallons of hoppy goodness at a time
Plus I love recipe tweaking and the current freestyle packs are way to limited
Plus I love recipe tweaking and the current freestyle packs are way to limited
Lbarouf
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Try resubmitting the same serial manually after turning off your wifi. See if the stores recipe can be pulled while offline.
While Picobrew has invited us to try to hack it, they put a lot of efforts to make it as hacker proof as they could.
I would like it work so I can take my pico where there's no internet. I would of course consider trying my own recipes manually if a reusable pack existed. I would first need a freestyle pack to start with to get the first serial.
![Craft A Brew - Safale BE-256 Yeast - Fermentis - Belgian Ale Dry Yeast - For Belgian & Strong Ales - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [3 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bcKEwQmWL._SL500_.jpg)
waiting to hear from Pico but anyone else not have their brew show up in the Brewhouse? I started brewing over half an hour ago and it's still not showing on my Brewhouse page. Always before it's be almost instantly there.
trl2112
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Yeah this happen to me yesterday. I emailed support and they got it to show up, no really explanation and I have not followed up yet. The stats/graph is not as precise as previous brews, it only checked in few times. I thought it might be fakly wifi connection because I was in the basement but now that I hear this from you I wonder... Let us know how it turns out.
nah the thing is brewing! It isn't looking for a network or nothing.
yep, they are telling me to reboot (well not exactly those words) but we've all heard that excuse before. They forced the connection somehow now but the session is showing as starting at 5:06 (NOT) and it's giving me a wort temperature. Nothing else. Not a biggy but wondering why! And odd there are 2 of us! And this is my sixth beer. Lets keep them honest.
exactly
they didn't answer my question about whether the plastic over the pico pac should be airtight? This pack has an expiration date on the hops pack but the grain pack plastic wasn't sealed. Should it be?
how long ago? I hadn't brewed since Jan 14th but I had trouble with that one too! It had trouble getting started and a bunch of error code 5's before it started to brew. That's the one I am about to keg. Which is why I thought I would risk starting another batch.
diagnosis mode? You seem to know a lot more than what is covered in the manual. Network test? When does it do a network test? How would I know if it did one and that the results are?
Lbarouf
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It actually does it on its own when it starts. But if you are not looking at the screen when you power it up, you can go in. The one in the normal menu is more basic... does it connect to the network, can it find a DNS, can it reach picobrew.com.
Diag menu is more in depth, for making sure pumps work properly. I hope not to have to use it on mine.
I thought once you saw the smiley face in the graphic you were good to go?
Okay, all packs should be sealed. I have 3 that aren't they ask for photos. So to be safe as soon as you receive a pack you should check the seals and reseal if necessary. These were all bought in December so I am not worried but I have resealed them and double bagged them.
Lbarouf
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Ewelady,
Yes. But for instance, if your wifi was unreachable (my pico often does not "see" my network while all my other devices have no issue) at one point, the site can't display the progress anymore. But as long as it has access when you start, it should start brewing fine as the recipe will be downloaded from the site and your pack's serial will be authorized. So smiley means stable wifi link? Not certain.
Yes. But for instance, if your wifi was unreachable (my pico often does not "see" my network while all my other devices have no issue) at one point, the site can't display the progress anymore. But as long as it has access when you start, it should start brewing fine as the recipe will be downloaded from the site and your pack's serial will be authorized. So smiley means stable wifi link? Not certain.
h;mmm, but it did download from the site because the Packs logo came up and the serial number was authorized. There was no time delay after that because I started the brew immediately. Something was wrong at their end.
I brewed Plinius today, no issues with the data upload graph looked normal.
I had originally planned on another double brew day with liquid yeast, but decided to brew Pliny and use the included dry yeast to get data. I dropped my tilt hydrometer in, and a couple drops of fermcap-s because I've heard this one can make a mess. I pitched a tsp of yeast, I'm using FF valve and my house is currently about 74'. I'll update when fermentation completes, this is a big beer. Sticker says OG should be 1.079 and the tilt is reading 1.082. Close enough for me!
I had originally planned on another double brew day with liquid yeast, but decided to brew Pliny and use the included dry yeast to get data. I dropped my tilt hydrometer in, and a couple drops of fermcap-s because I've heard this one can make a mess. I pitched a tsp of yeast, I'm using FF valve and my house is currently about 74'. I'll update when fermentation completes, this is a big beer. Sticker says OG should be 1.079 and the tilt is reading 1.082. Close enough for me!
VagueSkunk
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Good luck! My attempt at the Plinius turned out to be an undrinkable, disgusting mess. Ended up dumping half of it it was that bad.
Well that's why I used the correct amount of yeast and have a hydrometer monitoring the fermentation. This one will be done properly and we can get a good data point of how long this big beer takes to ferment. I'm not going to start dry hopping until the grivity stops dropping.
Lbarouf
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I'm not saying it can't be that, I'm saying it's one variable to keep in mind. If it disconnects from the Wifi while brewing, it would not be able to update the page. Site error is quite possible indeed.
I made Plinus twice, once with fast ferment the second one with regular fermentation. The second one was better, but both were pretty bad.
Pliny was one of my kickstarter choices. I brewed it right before xmas and thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm starting to get the feeling that people who are turning out bad brews aren't letting fermentation go long enough. I've done airlock fermentation for every one of my ~18 Pico brews, letting each one ferment for 10 days. Deaf turtle is the only one that I haven't liked, and that seems to be a consensus among a lot of people.
Wally
Wally
Lbarouf
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Yeah. I saw the kickstarter and thought it was a great idea. Now that I see the final product after forgetting about it, I'm really tempted as well. Removing the guesswork of "when is the fermentation over".
I let them both go for a full week before adding the dry hops, so 10 days each.
10 days for me too with airlock and controlled temperature. I also compare it to the all grain version I make and there is no comparison.
Finally tapped my Deaf Turtle last night. This was 1teaspoon yeast, vigorously aerated wort, 14 days FF at 72 degrees, 3 days dry hopped with new filter pouches, 2 more days dry hopped while cold crashing, racked with CO2, 3 days carb.
The results are certainly better than before, but still not great - I still have some of the same exact off flavor I've had on every beer so far. The dry hop nose is better but still vastly below what I was expecting. I could crack a can of 1 month old IPA in the fridge and get far more hop character.
It's definitely drinkable, and even tasty. 2 of my other batches were drain pours.
I'm still not giving up. My next batch will be the Kermode west coast IPA - people are raving about this recipe whereas the deaf turtle is getting meh reviews. Also, with the Kermode I am going to dry hop into the serving keg.
Will let you know in another 2 weeks....
The results are certainly better than before, but still not great - I still have some of the same exact off flavor I've had on every beer so far. The dry hop nose is better but still vastly below what I was expecting. I could crack a can of 1 month old IPA in the fridge and get far more hop character.
It's definitely drinkable, and even tasty. 2 of my other batches were drain pours.
I'm still not giving up. My next batch will be the Kermode west coast IPA - people are raving about this recipe whereas the deaf turtle is getting meh reviews. Also, with the Kermode I am going to dry hop into the serving keg.
Will let you know in another 2 weeks....
What do you mean by new filter pouches. I know the off flavor your referring to, I only get it when using the us-05 yeast. My liquid yeast batches have been much cleaner, not that the flavors produced by 05 are bad, still very drinkable. Sounds like your on the right track.
I mean how they changed the filter paper recently on the new dry hop pouches. This is from the new stock.
I was wondering if it had to do with the yeast. I ordered liquid yeast a couple of weeks ago but didn't realize the shelf life was only 7 days refrigerated. I'll try this next one with dry yeast again and re-evaluate from there.
I was wondering if it had to do with the yeast. I ordered liquid yeast a couple of weeks ago but didn't realize the shelf life was only 7 days refrigerated. I'll try this next one with dry yeast again and re-evaluate from there.
