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I did a bunch of research on taps last year and the conclusion I came to is that perlick taps start to leak over time and intertaps are amazing. Here's a good review I came across (and if you've never heard of brulosophy, you'll find a ton of other info worth reading on the site):

http://brulosophy.com/2017/01/12/intertap-forward-sealing-faucets-product-review/

Wally
 
I'm drinking one now. Pitched a full smack pack of Wyeast 1450, three days at 63, four days at 69, three days at 34 and kegged. Pretty good results.
 
mwills said:
I'm drinking one now. Pitched a full smack pack of Wyeast 1450, three days at 63, four days at 69, three days at 34 and kegged. Pretty good results.
Click to expand...

My local shop only carries white labs

The Cali strain is always solid I guess
 
Denny has recommended his wyeast "dennys favorite" before in this thread. I've never used it personally don't know the number off top of my head.
 
Yeah but I have to order WYest which with shipping in the summer is almost as much as another Pico Pak. Looking for a close fit from White labs. That's what my local store carries
 
Denny, what's your recommended ferment temp for that yeast? Do you ramp it up at the end? If so, to what? Thanks!
 
Denny said:
I pitch and do 4 days or so at 63. Then I bump it up to 70F for maybe 3 days before crashing to 33F for 3-5 days.
Click to expand...

In the pico batches, do you split your vials in two, or pitch in the full content?
Of course if you rinse and reuse, you can just choose how much you put in. But for a new vial?

Thanks,
 
Lbarouf said:
In the pico batches, do you split your vials in two, or pitch in the full content?
Of course if you rinse and reuse, you can just choose how much you put in. But for a new vial?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

Well, Wyeast comes in a pouch, not a vial, but yeah I use the whole thing. You can save the rest and I don't want to toss it.
 
Denny have used your yeast a bunch. Highly recommend it. its one of my favorites. Great job.
 
Question - with Belle of the Ball, should I cold crash before racking to the serving keg? Or is it more desirable to keep it a bit cloudier?
 
I don't have a hydrometer, but the consensus seems to be that the pico isn't hittin OG (at least for pico-brand beers that list the target OG and FG) and I started to wonder if this isn't down to the design of the packs themselves. I have been baking with the used grains immediately after brewing and am finding in nearly every case the material near the corners of the pack is untouched, bone-dry at the end of the brew. The wort cycles down from the center creating a cone of sparging, but without any mechanical mixing of the grain this doesn't spread evenly. On the few times my stepfilter has partially clogged the wort level rose near to the top of the pack early on and everything gets soaked - including the hops. My first Atomic Amber was so, with a slight tear in the back corner, but the beer turned out delicious. I am bottle conditioning the second (flawless) attempt right now, and anticipate an interesting vertical tasting :)
 
I use a tilt hydrometer in every batch, and I hit gravity close enough to say my Pico hits OG just fine, no issue here. The dry corners is a non issue according to Picobrew, it has been addressed multiple times that I have seen.
 
Just realized I had the white keg adapter in for the fast ferment of the half squeezed. lol.

It's been a month since I brewed it (2 weeks 'fermenting', 1 week dry hop, 5 days carbing). Pulled a small glass last night and it was very cloudy. Toss?

Didn't taste very good, but since it wasn't really carbonated, I didn't drink much.

I guess I should start looking for that second job so I can afford a Tilt... :confused:
 
You had the standard gray keg pressure adapter in for fermentation? That releases at 60psi. If it never BLEW on you, then it is very likely you did not have fermentation. The high pressure killed it. The FF adapter releases at 3-5 psi.
 
jrb03 said:
You had the standard gray keg pressure adapter in for fermentation? That releases at 60psi. If it never BLEW on you, then it is very likely you did not have fermentation. The high pressure killed it. The FF adapter releases at 3-5 psi.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I did pull it a couple of times at the end of the 2nd week to see if fermentation was complete, lol. Lesson learned.

The tilt would have shown me there was a problem, correct? Whether I would have been smart enough to figure it out is another story.
 
The high pressure created might of destroyed the tilt lol, but ya if it was working it would definitely show you there was a problem.
 
Tapped my Belle of the Ball and dragonstooth stout tonight.

The stout is flawless - definitely the best pak I have brewed so far. I used one tsp of the included US-05 with no off flavor so this yeast is still well adapted for some beers (maybe it's just hoppy pales where it stands out poorly)

The Belle of the Ball is quite tasty as well but I think it leans more towards a wit than a saison. My batch still needs a bit more carb time though. There's a bit of harshness on the finish but otherwise very very good.
 
jrb03 said:
I use a tilt hydrometer in every batch, and I hit gravity close enough to say my Pico hits OG just fine, no issue here. The dry corners is a non issue according to Picobrew, it has been addressed multiple times that I have seen.
Click to expand...


I would be interested a more fulsome explanation from Pico. Perhaps they oversize the paks assuming some will not get wetted but it seems a difficult thing to predict.

That being said, qualitatively I don't feel any beer I have brewed has been under ABV - to the contrary, they usually hit me a little more than I would expect! :)
 
bobbob911 said:
I would be interested a more fulsome explanation from Pico. Perhaps they oversize the paks assuming some will not get wetted but it seems a difficult thing to predict.

That being said, qualitatively I don't feel any beer I have brewed has been under ABV - to the contrary, they usually hit me a little more than I would expect! :)
Click to expand...

Are you concerned by the waste or something else? I noticed the same as well, and also use the spent to bake (mainly bread and cookies). How do you dry your spent?

The pack design is not optimal in that optic... but results are repeatable, which is important for me. plug, in terms of weight of grains, it seems a little high to me. I deduct that they compensate for that fact.
 
Anyone else noticed that we now own (well, those of us in this channel should be the "original" kickstarter owners) the Pico Pro? It also looks like they have learned from the "serving keg" mistake. The pro now comes with 2 "brewing" corny kegs. No darn serving kegs. What bites me, is they want $150 to "upgrade" to the Pro kit. $150 extra for another kit, ok. But for the backers? Feels like a grab.

What do the others think? Or is it just me....
 
Lbarouf said:
Anyone else noticed that we now own (well, those of us in this channel should be the "original" kickstarter owners) the Pico Pro? It also looks like they have learned from the "serving keg" mistake. The pro now comes with 2 "brewing" corny kegs. No darn serving kegs. What bites me, is they want $150 to "upgrade" to the Pro kit. $150 extra for another kit, ok. But for the backers? Feels like a grab.

What do the others think? Or is it just me....
Click to expand...

We own the now legacy Pico-S. All new Picos are now Pico-Pro, until the Pico-C comes out at the end of the year. Product upgrades are inevitable, and the Pro is a great package that makes the Pico-C less interesting to me. The Pro upgrade for current Pico-S owners is a great deal at $150 and if I used the serving kegs I would be all over a package or two.
 
jrb03 said:
We own the now legacy Pico-S. All new Picos are now Pico-Pro, until the Pico-C comes out at the end of the year. Product upgrades are inevitable, and the Pro is a great package that makes the Pico-C less interesting to me. The Pro upgrade for current Pico-S owners is a great deal at $150 and if I used the serving kegs I would be all over a package or two.
Click to expand...

I'm either missing something, or bitter about the price. In my eyes, the serving kegs are a disaster. By modifying and calling it the Pro, to me it's a silent admission of the failure as the S is no longer sold up until recently. So, I would have given S owners an upgrade discount. Adding more at $150 is fine for someone who wants to get more, but for those who received more serving kegs with their pledge, I feel I got screwed on that part alone.

Might be just me. For sure, the Pro is a much better deal for me as well, with what I know about the pico today. While I don't regret getting a Pico (then a Pico S) I feel sour about how the serving keg thing was handled. Maybe I should get a gueuze with this. Alas, I don't see any gueuze pack.
 
I too must be missing something. Is the "Pico Pro" just a Pico S with an extra keg?
 
brew-in said:
I too must be missing something. Is the "Pico Pro" just a Pico S with an extra keg?
Click to expand...

From what I see, it's 2 corny kegs, 1 for brewing/fermenting and 1 for serving. The racking tubes for that setup (instead of the old racking tube) and a picnic tap.

Same price as the S as well. (post kickstarter of course)

From their site-
Pico Includes:
The Pico brewing machine
Step filter and step filter lid
Hops Pak cradle
Two (2) 1.75G brewing kegs, metal keg lids, red fast fermentation adapters, and fermentation temperature decals
Keg seal and stopper
Keg cozy for maintaining brewing temperature
Ball-lock CO₂ regulator (with 5/8" thread adapter)
3/8” threaded adapter for CO2 regulator
Party tap
Sous vide adapter
Transfer tube
Airlock
Two (2) black keg wands for system cleaning
Dip tube brush
Keg brush
Cleaning tab for deep cleaning
Quick Start Guide
74 gram food-grade CO2 cartridges not included in box. Pressurized CO2 cannot ship to some locations, register your Pico and check online to see if your location is supported.
 
brew-in said:
I too must be missing something. Is the "Pico Pro" just a Pico S with an extra keg?
Click to expand...

Not an extra keg per se. It's a second ball lock keg with appropriate adapters for serving rather than the current 5L mini keg.
 
Always figured, with my Pico C I would buy a couple ball lock kegs for serving. Seems like a Pico c and a nice 3 gallon keg draft system ( these can be had for about $200) would be a better way to go vice a pico pro... Unless I am missing something.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/homebrew-draft-system-25-gal-ball-lock-keg.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwpdnJBRC4hcTFtc6fwEkSJABwupNiWVkqkgyGdUz9etq4zBoUHEY23OXTPrYCmE_cntV9PxoCGcXw_wcB

or even

https://www.morebeer.com/products/25-gallon-keg-party-pack.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwpdnJBRC4hcTFtc6fwEkSJABwupNiAIfbFY71mb7Gq-WwpE4LYOfUMuk4d3s9Q_qiQnPhVBoCZNjw_wcB
 
brew-in said:
Always figured, with my Pico C I would buy a couple ball lock kegs for serving. Seems like a Pico c and a nice 3 gallon keg draft system ( these can be had for about $200) would be a better way to go vice a pico pro... Unless I am missing something.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/homebrew-draft-system-25-gal-ball-lock-keg.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwpdnJBRC4hcTFtc6fwEkSJABwupNiWVkqkgyGdUz9etq4zBoUHEY23OXTPrYCmE_cntV9PxoCGcXw_wcB

or even

https://www.morebeer.com/products/25-gallon-keg-party-pack.html?gclid=CjwKEAjwpdnJBRC4hcTFtc6fwEkSJABwupNiAIfbFY71mb7Gq-WwpE4LYOfUMuk4d3s9Q_qiQnPhVBoCZNjw_wcB
Click to expand...

They plan on selling the C for $550, while the Pro is $800. The C is in plastic, and has 1 special keg that may sell around for less. So the $250 difference will give you stainless case and 2 corny kegs that we know are $100 each. But yes, you can add those kegs to either really. If the C end up being just as good as the S, it would be a great deal at the campaign price. I took wish I had more space and were making more than 1.5Gal at a time. I do like my now defunct S.
 
At retail price the Pico-pro is much more interesting to me and the way I would go. If you were able to get in on the early bird Pico-C pricing I may go that way, but then you have to wait till end of year or longer to get it.
 
jrb03 said:
At retail price the Pico-pro is much more interesting to me and the way I would go. If you were able to get in on the early bird Pico-C pricing I may go that way, but then you have to wait till end of year or longer to get it.
Click to expand...

I did get the Pico C for $279 + Shipping during the Kickstarter so adding the 2.5 Gallon Keg works for me.

Plus I got the Pico Ferm and 3 brew packs as stretch goals.
 
A question from the paranoid part of my brain: Has anyone heard of anyone reselling a Pico that they bought from the kickstarter?
I only ask because since an individual Pico machine is associated with a Pico account...this could theoretically prevent it from working for the new owner...since it's still associated with the old owner's account.
I'm not saying that they would do this, just that they could. Something to think about I suppose.
 
Yes, plenty of Zymatics and Picos have been resold no issue. You can handle the registration of the machine in your account profile.
 

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