Picobrew Z

[Mutant]

Hmmm. It has to get out of the screens of the step filter, not get sent to th in-line screen, pass through a couple sets of ball locks and then a tap. Can’t say I have.

Ditto. But, I also filter from the primary to secondary using 4 to 5 micron filters.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

They were small, possibly from a too fine of a milling. It wasn’t bad just first 3 pints had one or two specs but are now pouring clear.

 

[Trevor Mack]

Only time I had an issue with foam was with a continual circulate over a long period of time (typically chill cycle or long boil for large quantities of coffee). Since I've just done the leave it over night (typically I do delay brews to time the chill time for when I'm available to move it). Now in winter I just throw it in the storm entrance (uninsulated so sits around 35-48 degrees) and that works perfectly for both chilling and storage of finished kegs waiting to be tapped.

As for draining nope my premilled has been "fine" though a bit low on extraction... On my list this year is a cerealcrusher to get a bit better crush and larger quantities of 2-row and non specialty malts.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Has anyone tried doing a back to back brew session on the Z? I have grains for 5 gallon batch I am debating splitting into 2 on the Z but was wondering if anyone has tried this and found you need to do a full rinse / clean or can you just dump the new ones in and go?

 

[Anyhowe]

Has anyone tried doing a back to back brew session on the Z? I have grains for 5 gallon batch I am debating splitting into 2 on the Z but was wondering if anyone has tried this and found you need to do a full rinse / clean or can you just dump the new ones in and go?

Of the beers is dramatically different I would do a quick rinse.

Has anyone tried doing a back to back brew session on the Z? I have grains for 5 gallon batch I am debating splitting into 2 on the Z but was wondering if anyone has tried this and found you need to do a full rinse / clean or can you just dump the new ones in and go?

same beer? No need to even rinse.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Same beer just a double batch!

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

So 5 batches under the belt and some things worth noting:

- Via Brewers Friend using 62% efficiency I have hit my OG every time

- my SRM is always 1-2 darker than predicted (any advice)? Not bad on high SRM beers but when a 3 becomes a 5 or a 4 a 6 it can throw you off a little bit

- First wort hops and Whirlpool seem to be working great I did a Mosaic whirlpool hop beer and it was exploding with aroma and flavor.

 

[alestateyall]

So 5 batches under the belt and some things worth noting:

- Via Brewers Friend using 62% efficiency I have hit my OG every time

- my SRM is always 1-2 darker than predicted (any advice)? Not bad on high SRM beers but when a 3 becomes a 5 or a 4 a 6 it can throw you off a little bit

- First wort hops and Whirlpool seem to be working great I did a Mosaic whirlpool hop beer and it was exploding with aroma and flavor.

You might try a clean cycle for the darkness issue. My last clean cycle was after brewing an Amber Ale and I was surprised how much dark color liquid was in the dump bucket after. Apparently, the clean cycle is much more thorough than a rinse.

The color of my beers seems about right.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Thanks, I just ran one before this last batch, will see how the final product looks!

 

[Buck*49]

Thanks, I just ran one before this last batch, will see how the final product looks!

There is some discussion of this issue on PicoBrew forum that may have some helpful info.
You will have to sign in to PicoBrew to access.
Topic: Wort coming out much darker than expected
Link to topic:
https://www.picobrew.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=3609

 

[alestateyall]

What gap is everyone using for their mill? I have recently tried 0.040, 0.035, and 0.031”. All have led to efficiency in the 56-58% range. The crush is getting quite powdery at 0.031” but the recirculation seems fine.

I am not sure if I should keep going down to 0.029” or I should look for other culprits to raise my efficiency.

I use the HEMS mash profile exclusively. Beers are in the SG 1047-1056 range.

I recently bought a new scale and switched to using it to measure my liquid volumes. Previously, I thought my efficiency was better, but, it turns out I wasn’t getting the volumes I thought I was getting.

The Picobrew recipe crafter predicts much higher efficiency than I am getting. It would be nice to get the efficiencies the Picobrew crafter predicts and then use that system to plan my recipes. Alternatively, with accurate volume and SG measurements I can build a more accurate BeerSmith profile and get predictability that way. I am getting closer on the BeerSmith path but want to use the Picobrew crafter so I can only type recipes once.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

There is some discussion of this issue on PicoBrew forum that may have some helpful info.
You will have to sign in to PicoBrew to access.
Topic: Wort coming out much darker than expected
Link to topic:
https://www.picobrew.com/forum/messages.aspx?TopicID=3609

I’ve been following that thread only issue I’m having is I don’t see an option to do bypass instead of pass through.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

What gap is everyone using for their mill? I have recently tried 0.040, 0.035, and 0.031”. All have led to efficiency in the 56-58% range. The crush is getting quite powdery at 0.031” but the recirculation seems fine.

I am not sure if I should keep going down to 0.029” or I should look for other culprits to raise my efficiency.

I use the HEMS mash profile exclusively. Beers are in the SG 1047-1056 range.

I recently bought a new scale and switched to using it to measure my liquid volumes. Previously, I thought my efficiency was better, but, it turns out I wasn’t getting the volumes I thought I was getting.

The Picobrew recipe crafter predicts much higher efficiency than I am getting. It would be nice to get the efficiencies the Picobrew crafter predicts and then use that system to plan my recipes. Alternatively, with accurate volume and SG measurements I can build a more accurate BeerSmith profile and get predictability that way. I am getting closer on the BeerSmith path but want to use the Picobrew crafter so I can only type recipes once.

For water amounts I’ve been doing (0.125 x grain weight) + intended batch size

I’ll have to ask my LHBS what crush they are using

 

[Buck*49]

I’ve been following that thread only issue I’m having is I don’t see an option to do bypass instead of pass through.

I believe you have to go into advanced editor to make changes. After creating recipe, at very bottom you have a choice to edit machine steps. Once selected, you can edit existing steps, add or delete steps.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

So I wasn't aware that the Brew Crafter and Pro Crafter were separate - the Pro Crafter has way less options available.

On a side note has anyone tried a reiterated mash on the Z? It seems like a great way to get up to 3.5 gallons of a high gravity beer out of the Pico. I am looking to try this out sometimes this month and will post an update but it seems like it would work really with the Z setup. I did a double back recently and changing and cooling two kegs definitely added an extra hour.

Additionally - does anyone brew in a bag in the step filter? that would also make doing a reiterated mash very easy to do, pull one bag out drop in the other.

 

[user 190343]

So I wasn't aware that the Brew Crafter and Pro Crafter were separate - the Pro Crafter has way less options available.

On a side note has anyone tried a reiterated mash on the Z? It seems like a great way to get up to 3.5 gallons of a high gravity beer out of the Pico. I am looking to try this out sometimes this month and will post an update but it seems like it would work really with the Z setup. I did a double back recently and changing and cooling two kegs definitely added an extra hour.

Additionally - does anyone brew in a bag in the step filter? that would also make doing a reiterated mash very easy to do, pull one bag out drop in the other.

I was able to get a 12.08% beer out of the Pico Z.

If I understand you correctly, I did what I would call a double-mash last month with the Picobrew Z. I was aiming for a BCBS-ish stout and I used the wort from the 1st mash(with DME) as the water for the 2nd mash. My gravity going into the 2nd mash was 1.079 and the I ended up with 1.122 OG post boil. I oxygenated and used 2 packs of a US-05 starter to start and did another 1 pack of US-05 starter about 16 hours after first yeast pitch. It finished fermenting within about 10 days down to 1.030, so an ABV of 12.08% of 2.5gal. Now it's aging in a 2.5gal keg but so far it tastes great.

I found a public recipe set from Fred Bonjour for Malted Bliss, which is a barleywine. Basically, for your first recipe, do a mash only, the for the second, do a normal recipe with boil with the wort from the first recipe.

Attached is a pic of it fermenting in a 6gal fermenter. There was at least as much krausen as wort, so A LOT of headspace is needed.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Thats exactly what I was thinking! I'm glad to hear you had success with it, looks good!

 

[alestateyall]

This is interesting. You could use this reiterated mash technique to make larger batches also. Make 2.5 gallons of high gravity wort and then dilute in the fermenter.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

This is interesting. You could use this reiterated mash technique to make larger batches also. Make 2.5 gallons of high gravity wort and then dilute in the fermenter.

Was thinking that as well is there a good dilution calculator out there?

 

[alestateyall]

Was thinking that as well is there a good dilution calculator out there?

Brewer’s Friend has one.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/dilution-and-boiloff-gravity-calculator/

 

[TallDan]

This is interesting. You could use this reiterated mash technique to make larger batches also. Make 2.5 gallons of high gravity wort and then dilute in the fermenter.

I can’t think of any good reason to do that.

Efficiency would be better to just make two 2.5g batches.

 

[alestateyall]

I recently bought a scale to measure water. My main goal in buying this scale was speeding up the brew setup process by weighing a single volume of brewing water. I think that speed up is definitely worthwhile. I also weigh the final wort and calculate that volume. Measuring volumes after the brew is a nice to have but not crucial.

The weighing surface dimensions of the scale I picked are 9.45”x11”. That allows me to place the empty keg on the scale and measure out brewing water. Weighing the brewing water as it is added to the keg is way faster than weighing one gallon at a time. I think it is also more accurate that using a graduated container (measuring cup) to measure water.

The second way I use the scale is after the brew I place my empty fermenter on the scale and press tare. I then pour the wort into the fermenter and get an accurate weight of the wort. I then use BeerSmith’s weight to volume tool to convert to volume. That tool takes specific gravity into account. I think this is a very accurate way to measure volumes.

I bought this scale ($38.99):
Accuteck A-BC200 200LB x 0.2 OZ: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076ZWTW7M

I wanted to estimate the accuracy of the scale. These are not perfect tests but they give me a warm fuzzy. I weighed two things on this scale and a smaller kitchen scale I use to weigh grain and hops.

First, I weighed a 500 gram calibration weight. Both scales read exactly 500 grams.

Second, I weighed a one gallon bottle (milk jug) empty and full on both scales.

Accuteck A-BC200 scale
Empty bottle: 0.14 lbs, 65g
Full bottle 8.44 lbs, 3830g,
(8.44-0.14) / 8.34 => 0.995 gallons

Kitchen scale (Ozeri ZK240)
Empty bottle: 0.16 lbs, 71g
Full bottle: 8.43 lbs, 3822g
(8.43-0.16) / 8.34 => 0.992 gallons

The weights for PicoBrew Z1 batches are in the range of 35-40 lbs (keg plus brew water) depending on the amount of water. So the above tests are helpful but not perfect.

 

[macgyuver]

Has Everyone seen this, if not I will just leave it here for digestion.

Picobrew Up for Sale!


GeekWire Article

 

[Brewfreedom]

Wonder when the lights go dark? Did a anyone ever wireshark the z? I assumed they did https on it. One of the many reasons i bailed since i couldn't get a straight answer. Or a delivery date.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

I'd hope before that ever happened we'd get an offline patch of some sorts.

 

[macgyuver]

Kevin posted on the official PicoBrew forums. Quoted below..


As you may have heard, we are currently in the process of being sold through the WA State Receivership process. The party of investors who have been funding the operation of our company over the last year have submitted a bid and plans to continue its support during this process. We anticipate no interruption of sales or support to our valued customers during this period.

 

[Mutant]

Kevin posted on the official PicoBrew forums. Quoted below..


As you may have heard, we are currently in the process of being sold through the WA State Receivership process. The party of investors who have been funding the operation of our company over the last year have submitted a bid and plans to continue its support during this process. We anticipate no interruption of sales or support to our valued customers during this period.

That's a major concern.

 

[jcaiola]

So - as a Brewie (and Z2) owner who saw the lights go dark with Brewie, I think it would be to our benefit to insist that they create an offline capability as soon as possible. At least with Brewie, despite the company going belly-up with no communication at all before or after, the unit still functions without their being whole.

In the case of Brewie users, many of us banded together after the fact (too late) and are supporting one another with parts, concepts, ideas, etc.

In Picos case, if they are to go under - we should establish all of this up front. Also, we should collectively push hard on them for a post-Pico solution NOW.

 

[jcaiola]

So - as a Brewie (and Z2) owner who saw the lights go dark with Brewie, I think it would be to our benefit to insist that they create an offline capability as soon as possible. At least with Brewie, despite the company going belly-up with no communication at all before or after, the unit still functions without their being whole.

In the case of Brewie users, many of us banded together after the fact (too late) and are supporting one another with parts, concepts, ideas, etc.

In Picos case, if they are to go under - we should establish all of this up front. Also, we should collectively push hard on them for a post-Pico solution NOW.

 

[Mutant]

So - as a Brewie (and Z2) owner who saw the lights go dark with Brewie, I think it would be to our benefit to insist that they create an offline capability as soon as possible. At least with Brewie, despite the company going belly-up with no communication at all before or after, the unit still functions without their being whole.

In the case of Brewie users, many of us banded together after the fact (too late) and are supporting one another with parts, concepts, ideas, etc.

In Picos case, if they are to go under - we should establish all of this up front. Also, we should collectively push hard on them for a post-Pico solution NOW.

If in the judge's hands, then PicoBrew doesn't have lots of power to do anything.