Picobrew Z

[Mike Howard]

Cynical posts are usally made from direct interaction.... But I'm glad your first session went great. No one ever said it wasn't going to be an upgrade from the Zymatic. The jury is still out on the longevity of the product or whether they actually solved the issues with the Zymatic, though. My first brew session on the Zymatic was flawless as well and I hit all my numbers and brewed a really great beer. I am waiting to see what happens in six months....that's likely when we will start to see issues pop up and what the big hitters are.

Plus, weren't you complaining about "remote monitoring"? You know PB does that. They have a database full of everyones data and even if you delete data from your profile...they still keep it (as was told to me by Doug at picobrew). And since you signed their service agreement by purchasing the product they have every right to sell that data for whatever they can get.

 

[losman26]

Finally got my Z2 this week (14 month wait). Ran my first brew yesterday. It went flawlessly. Loved the process, the technology, the software (a little quirky), and being able to get some real work done in my office while brewing in the man-room. Only issue was the gravity came out on the low side. Based on some other zymatic forums it's likely due to me using pre-crushed grains from MoreBeer. Guess I'm buying a crusher.

I'm posting this mainly because I'm tired of reading all the cynical posts on this thread, especially from people that haven't even used a Z. Sure, the Zymatic may have had issues (gen 1 after all), but my out-of-the-box and first brew experience with the Z has been great. I choose to be an optimist.

Call me a fanboy (I am so far) but I'd urge those waiting on the fence to jump in.

Did you do 5 gallon batch or two different 2.5 gallon batches? I agree with you. The system is awesome

 

[Brewfreedom]

Finally got my Z2 this week (14 month wait). Ran my first brew yesterday. It went flawlessly. Loved the process, the technology, the software (a little quirky), and being able to get some real work done in my office while brewing in the man-room. Only issue was the gravity came out on the low side. Based on some other zymatic forums it's likely due to me using pre-crushed grains from MoreBeer. Guess I'm buying a crusher.

I'm posting this mainly because I'm tired of reading all the cynical posts on this thread, especially from people that haven't even used a Z. Sure, the Zymatic may have had issues (gen 1 after all), but my out-of-the-box and first brew experience with the Z has been great. I choose to be an optimist.

Call me a fanboy (I am so far) but I'd urge those waiting on the fence to jump in.

Most of the cynicism is from dealing with them post sale and 50 to 100 brews in. A whole lot of other issues but thankfully they let people bail from the kick starter.

 

[Trevor Mack]

I'd be curious to see how many brews Ron and other early "alpha" unit customers have done on their Z1 setups and any and all constructive feedback they have provided. Where either Picobrew changed something or even if they haven't.

 

[PFinn]

After fermentation is done, are y'all racking it into a clean keg and storing longer?

Has anyone tried hooking the CO2 straight up to the keg you just did fermentation in?

 

[macgyuver]

I'd be curious to see how many brews Ron and other early "alpha" unit customers have done on their Z1 setups and any and all constructive feedback they have provided. Where either Picobrew changed something or even if they haven't.

I have ran a couple brews through my Z2 with no issues. From what Ron as said on the Picobrewers Facebook group he has done like 60+ brews with no issues now.

 

[doublea]

Based on some other zymatic forums it's likely due to me using pre-crushed grains from MoreBeer. Guess I'm buying a crusher.

Can you say more (or link to details)? I also am hitting low but buy pre-crushed grain from MoreBeer.

 

[Mutant]

Not an 'alpha', but I have 21 brewings on Z1 since 3/23/19.

 

[Trevor Mack]

@Mutant and what would be your "constructive comments/criticism?"

 

[Mutant]

@Mutant and what would be your "constructive comments/criticism?"

So far the only issue I've had has been that a hose was misrouted and would collapse. So maybe a couple of those batches were actually failures from the hose not being installed correctly. I have noticed that my OG from Zymatic recipes would come out a bit higher on the Z1 than was expected. What I really don't like is the seemingly hundred times you have to acknowledge this and that to run a recipe or clean or whatever - I love to be able to turn off all those extra acknowledgements that I never read but have to waste my time.

 

[Mike Howard]

Because this system was built for people who have no clue about brewing...maybe they need an advanced mode of operation. But's that automation for you.

 

[macgyuver]

I do agree with all the acknowledgements that are required. I get sick of clicking yes all the time.

 

[alestateyall]

I do agree with all the acknowledgements that are required. I get sick of clicking yes all the time.

Does this mean you have to babysit the Z for the entire brewing process just to click yes periodically?

 

[losman26]

Does this mean you have to babysit the Z for the entire brewing process just to click yes periodically?

Only to start the brewing process. I’m curious what it’s like for a delayed start.

 

[Goblism]

Does this mean you have to babysit the Z for the entire brewing process just to click yes periodically?

You can also have it set to click to start the cooling process, so it can essentially pause at the end of the brewing cycle and press the button once you want the device to recirculate.

 

[petebrewman]

Doing my second batch on my new Z2 so pulled up this thread again. A few responses - sorry for the delay:

Plus, weren't you complaining about "remote monitoring"? You know PB does that. They have a database full of everyones data and even if you delete data from your profile...they still keep it (as was told to me by Doug at picobrew). And since you signed their service agreement by purchasing the product they have every right to sell that data for whatever they can get.

Wasn't me complaining about "remote monitoring". In general it doesn't bother me (yet).

Did you do 5 gallon batch or two different 2.5 gallon batches? I agree with you. The system is awesome

I started with just one 2.5 gallon batch and doing the same today. So crazy simple do get a batch up and running (<30 minutes). I'm not really monitoring this one other than pulling up the real-time report while getting some real work done in my office. Here's the report:

 

[petebrewman]

Can you say more (or link to details)? I also am hitting low but buy pre-crushed grain from MoreBeer.

I saw a post on another Zymatic forum where someone posted that his low g was related to MoreBeer's crappy crushing. I just did a quick search and couldn't find it - sorry. My next batch will be crushed by me so I'll post with the results. Hopefully that's the issue.

 

[cheesemonster]

As far as gravity.... Yes if you have grain that is crushed too finely you will get lower gravity. One sure sign is between steps there is a drain process. If the grain does not fully drain during that you know it is not porous enough and not letting enough water through. I believe the drain steps are 8 mins. I try to get it where it is drained in 5 mins.

Also another thing is that the water amount needs to be very precise. If you are 5% too much water which isn't much in a 2.5 gal brew, you will be 5% low on OG. So even 1 pint of water off makes a pretty big difference where it wouldn't in a 5-10G batch.

I find that if when I measure after mash that it is trending low, I remove the keg seal to let steam off when it is "boiling". This concentrates the remaining liquid a bit more and raises gravity. It isn't going to fix 10 points but will when you are a few down. After the heat break at 175 or so, I find I don't have to worry about it foaming over.

MoreBeer premilled stuff is crushed pretty fine, and then crushed even more when stacked up and shipped. so also perhaps some rice hulls in there would help.

 

[cheesemonster]

After fermentation is done, are y'all racking it into a clean keg and storing longer?

Has anyone tried hooking the CO2 straight up to the keg you just did fermentation in?

I wouldn't do that because the trub and also junk from the mash/boil are in there. Under pressure and after a while that is going to give the beer a soapy taste. I usually put the lid on it, and use CO2 along with the bridging tube they give us to have it rack into another keg if I ferment in the keg. Usually I prefer to have the wort go one pass through counterflow chiller into a conical fermentor and rack into serving keg from there.

 

[Mutant]

I wouldn't do that because the trub and also junk from the mash/boil are in there. Under pressure and after a while that is going to give the beer a soapy taste. I usually put the lid on it, and use CO2 along with the bridging tube they give us to have it rack into another keg if I ferment in the keg. Usually I prefer to have the wort go one pass through counterflow chiller into a conical fermentor and rack into serving keg from there.

What I do is brew two 2.25g batches (1st one in sometimes just a 3g keg as it will hold over 3g of water to start with), then push that into the 2nd batch that uses a 5g keg. Once fermentation is done of the ~4.5g in the 5g keg, I filter through either a 5 micron (or sometimes 1 micron) filter to a final keg.

 

[losman26]

So yesterday’s brew session did not go well. I either have a clogged pump or a malfunctioning one.

I changed my mill settings to around .046, and mash was totally dry except for the middle. Then hooked up my corny pillar chiller, after 2 minutes nothing was recirculating. Tried doing a rinse, recirculation. Nothing. Only thing that works is a drain process if I fill the empty step filter with water.

 

[user 190343]

So yesterday’s brew session did not go well. I either have a clogged pump or a malfunctioning one.

I changed my mill settings to around .046, and mash was totally dry except for the middle. Then hooked up my corny pillar chiller, after 2 minutes nothing was recirculating. Tried doing a rinse, recirculation. Nothing. Only thing that works is a drain process if I fill the empty step filter with water.

If you already tried this, sorry.

1. Clean out the inline filter(black mini-canister like thing) coming off of the black side. The blue cylinder filter can get really clogged up with grain, hops and protein globs.
2. Use a slotted head screwdriver to unscrew the top, remove and clean both the grey and black ball lock connectors, especially the springs. I've gotten grain bits and hops stuck in those springs many times.

If those don't work, send an email to [email protected].

Good luck.

 

[Mike Howard]

If you already tried this, sorry.

1. Clean out the inline filter(black mini-canister like thing) coming off of the black side. The blue cylinder filter can get really clogged up with grain, hops and protein globs.
2. Use a slotted head screwdriver to unscrew the top, remove and clean both the grey and black ball lock connectors, especially the springs. I've gotten grain bits and hops stuck in those springs many times.

#1 - I would suspect you'd most likely get a fatal error if you didn't have flow.
#2 - is preventable...remove all the springs and poppet valves in both the Z and the Keg you use to brew...makes cleaning your Z a lot easier and allows a full drain of the system. Although it would be rare to see the "Out" side of the keg and connections clogged with grain...

Try running a batch of water....make sure your step filter fills up during the mash step...should probably at least go halfway up.

 

[losman26]

I did notice some serious cold break when using this chiller for the first time.

 

[losman26]

Inline filter was clogged.

 

[Mutant]

I had a similar issue. They shipped a unit that had major hoses crossed so one would collapse. They can tell you how to resolve that. It was a pain to get them to acknowledge the issue.

 

[Trevor Mack]

There was a marketing campaign today I referenced on Facebook to get more Z purchase conversion of existing customers (Pico or Zymatic owners) and what was also sent seemingly to previous backers of the Pico Z* campaign, but decided to cancel early. Though now looking at the online email campaign there are no marketing campaigns listed... Likely someone figured out all their emails were visible publicly due to a misconfiguration in the email vendor platform.

Not promising that first wave GA orders were at a massive price deduction (lower than some that backed the preorder campaign)... Likely reason they took it down! Not cool not cool at all.

 

[Anyhowe]

There was a marketing campaign today I referenced on Facebook to get more Z purchase conversion of existing customers (Pico or Zymatic owners) and what was also sent seemingly to previous backers of the Pico Z* campaign, but decided to cancel early. Though now looking at the online email campaign there are no marketing campaigns listed... Likely someone figured out all their emails were visible publicly due to a misconfiguration in the email vendor platform.

Not promising that first wave GA orders were at a massive price deduction (lower than some that backed the preorder campaign)... Likely reason they took it down! Not cool not cool at all.

I have no idea what you just said.

 

[losman26]

I did a cleaning cycle, now there’s a leak in the sample port that wasn’t there before. I have tightened it, loosened it, and it leaks no matter what. I’m guessing a crack in the clear part. Should I seal it with food grade silicone glue?

 

[Trevor Mack]

I have no idea what you just said.

This doesn't contain any email campaigns anymore. https://us11.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=007d0e755e5300f5291fa2a6e&id=7d69801238