- Joined
- Mar 23, 2018
- Messages
- 290
- Reaction score
- 178
No update again last week....
PicoBrew Zymatic
- Thread starter anthropod
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Regular updates...no good deed goes unpunished.
Picobrew doesn't know what a "regular" update looks like. I'm sure they will say they were at GABF and couldn't respond...as if every single employee went to GABF....bah
When I was having my custom brewhouse built, I received weekly updates (with photos) and updated estimated delivery dates. They made sure to point out when things didn't go as planned and what they were doing about it. I think they could be a bit more proactive wrt these types of updates and they wouldn't have to be so elaborate. Just "hey everyone, this is where we are...blah blah blah...expected shipping date is now...blah...stay tuned next week".
But yea, they have built up such a bad rep that if they don't give an update they get blasted and when they do give an update they get blasted...but hey, they brought that upon themselves...suck it up buttercup, that's business.
When I was having my custom brewhouse built, I received weekly updates (with photos) and updated estimated delivery dates. They made sure to point out when things didn't go as planned and what they were doing about it. I think they could be a bit more proactive wrt these types of updates and they wouldn't have to be so elaborate. Just "hey everyone, this is where we are...blah blah blah...expected shipping date is now...blah...stay tuned next week".
But yea, they have built up such a bad rep that if they don't give an update they get blasted and when they do give an update they get blasted...but hey, they brought that upon themselves...suck it up buttercup, that's business.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2018
- Messages
- 290
- Reaction score
- 178
I guess I should apologize for trying to take a company that is sitting on $2500 of my money at their word. That word is, specifically:
It's not really that hard. You commit to providing updates on a schedule, and then you provide updates on said schedule. Millions of individuals and tens or hundreds of thousands of businesses are perfectly capable of doing so.
This becomes more critical when the updates are about progress on a product with a committed ship date that is two months in the past.
I'm excited about the Z. If I wasn't, they wouldn't be holding my hard-earned dollars for going on 10 months now, with no end in the foreseeable future. And I get that hardware is hard. I'm not angry that they missed their July date. But when you do miss a delivery date, good communication becomes critical to avoid loss of trust. My trust is starting to waver.
From the insight I gained from another email with support is that the marketing / email team is much more "optimistic than [the support team]" (direct quite from support though referenced "than us".
This is just part for the course it seems like from my exposure to Picobrew. Though I bet I got a support individual that would also give me part numbers instead of the response "send it in for repairs" that is so typical.
This is just part for the course it seems like from my exposure to Picobrew. Though I bet I got a support individual that would also give me part numbers instead of the response "send it in for repairs" that is so typical.
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
Setting a date without clear ability to hit it is the kiss of death for credibility. Original "give us your cash" campaign said July. But they didn't say what year.
Available before July... Well they are still within that range right? Haha
I met with both the PicoBrew and Grainfather staff at GABF... and ended up ordering a Grainfather /w the micro pipework. It will be here next week.
Still have the preorder in for the Z1, I’ll be curious to see if the Grainfather is enough to cancel it.
Still have the preorder in for the Z1, I’ll be curious to see if the Grainfather is enough to cancel it.
Would love to hear what you think after you have put a few brews thought it.
Brewie has been a bigger $hit show than even Pico and their practices border on fraud. As much as I like to hate on Pico they do (eventually) deliver a decent (overpriced) product. Pico's issues are the guys developing the product don't seem to be communicating with the marketing idiots and the marketing idiots seem to also be the customer service staff which is not a good combination/strategy. The fact that they seem to be responding to message board threads after the fact should tell you they don't have their $hit together. The grumblings are starting to get louder over on the facebook side. Folks that I would consider fanboys are questioning the wisdom of forking over $2K for vaporware.
My experience the former is definitely true, but the later isn't. Though par for the course varies a lot based on who gets allocated to your initial support request. I've had people that respond with the typical marketing mumbo-jumbo, but also have gotten detailed status reports with obviously more information than posted in public forums from a select few support individuals (don't want to call them out by name... As I think they are doing amazing and should be their standard but afraid they might be silenced if called out)
Fatal Error Code #17
If you have ever gotten the Fatal Error #17, that's because you have a big air bubble in your HEX Loop. Sometimes you can hear the HEX loop pump cavitate, usually right after you power on your Zymatic. You have also probably been getting a whole slew of Fatal Error Code #1's and these usually present themselves in the early stages of your brewing session before it reaches 102F degrees.
I have heard of this problem from numerous other Zymatic owners and if the bubble is small, you can just burp it out. However, if it is bigger, you'll need to top it off with food safe propylene glycol in a 33% mixture.
Here is a small bubble that can be burped, but before you think its just a small bubble, tip the Zymatic to the left 90 degrees up onto its side and massage the lower tube on the HEX side and the lower tube on the "T" where the sensor is and see if you can get the air to go up into the tubing.
Here, I have massaged the aforementioned tubes until all of the air is now in the tube and the HEX and the Heat Chamber are full. Notice the fluid at the HEX side, right at the connector and the fluid at the left side of the "T", in the below image. That's a lot of air and with no reservoir you are stuck topping this off yourself.
Now you just have to remove the sensor connectors and fill the tubing up with the glycol mixture and get back to brewing. It's really not that hard to get into the Zymatic and perform this procedure and I'll be drafting a step by step soon.
If you have ever gotten the Fatal Error #17, that's because you have a big air bubble in your HEX Loop. Sometimes you can hear the HEX loop pump cavitate, usually right after you power on your Zymatic. You have also probably been getting a whole slew of Fatal Error Code #1's and these usually present themselves in the early stages of your brewing session before it reaches 102F degrees.
I have heard of this problem from numerous other Zymatic owners and if the bubble is small, you can just burp it out. However, if it is bigger, you'll need to top it off with food safe propylene glycol in a 33% mixture.
Here is a small bubble that can be burped, but before you think its just a small bubble, tip the Zymatic to the left 90 degrees up onto its side and massage the lower tube on the HEX side and the lower tube on the "T" where the sensor is and see if you can get the air to go up into the tubing.
Here, I have massaged the aforementioned tubes until all of the air is now in the tube and the HEX and the Heat Chamber are full. Notice the fluid at the HEX side, right at the connector and the fluid at the left side of the "T", in the below image. That's a lot of air and with no reservoir you are stuck topping this off yourself.
Now you just have to remove the sensor connectors and fill the tubing up with the glycol mixture and get back to brewing. It's really not that hard to get into the Zymatic and perform this procedure and I'll be drafting a step by step soon.
By the way, the Glycol Loop pump, as seen below, is not supposed to run dry so if you hear cavitation you might not want to continue to limp along. Probably not going to cause a pump failure, but depending upon the size of the bubble I'm sure it can't be good.
Follow up from glycol topoff
Here is the data from my pre and post glycol topoff in the HEX loop. Chart 1 is before I added the glycol and just prior to getting the Fatal Error #17. It starts at the Heat to 90 step due to several Fatal Error #1's and me having to stop and restart and skip steps. You can see that the difference between the two data lines is quite large at times and the peaks are nearly 30 degrees apart.
Chart 2 is after I added nearly 1/2 cup glycol mixture. I added about 1/3 of a cup, then ran the glycol pump for about 5 minutes and then repeated my procedure for getting all of the air into the tube between the sensor and the HEX. While the glycol pump is running, I listen for air bubbles and pump cavitation, letting me know it needs more glycol. Total liquid added was just shy of 1/2 cup.
Here my peak temps are only about 5 - 10 degrees apart and the recipe started and finished without error. Temps were much more stable and there weren't any erratic behaviors that I observed.
I use this Heat Cycle recipe I created, originally for testing, but now for two reasons.
First, I continue to use this recipe to check the state of my HEX loop. I download the raw data and have been inputting it into my analysis software to track things like peak temps, time to reach temps, total time for recipe, etc...I've been trying to build a MTBF for the HEX loop and general HEX issues and just alert me to times like this when I need to perform maintenance. I don't have enough data right now to tell me that an error is imminent, but now that I have topped off, the data I collect will show me the degradation ramp and hopefully I can publish a MTBF at that time.
Secondly, I use this recipe to cut off about 30 minutes from my brew day. The first thing I do on my brew day is measure out my water, get it into the keg and start the Heat Cycle recipe. While the Zymatic is heating the water to temp, I grind my grains and measure my hops and perform whatever random tasks I need to. When the recipe alerts me, I add my loaded step filter into the Zymatic and run my brew recipe. Since the water is already around 102F, it goes into "Dough In" almost right away.
Here is the Advanced Editor grab if anyone is interested. Would be interesting to see some folks take this recipe and run it so we can compare behaviors. Heck, it may even help you to understand if you have a HEX issue that might be getting ready to spoil your brew day. If you do want to run this and compare, I use a 5 gallon plastic bucket filled with 34 lbs of tap water. My tap water here in Texas is around 68F - 70F degrees this time of year. If you use any other container or any other amount, your results may be different from what I get. I perform this test in my brewhouse which is usually kept at 68F degrees.
It's been my experience that the Heat Loop and Wort temps should track fairly well and be within 10 degrees of each other. Of course, that is just for this test recipe, that data will differ depending upon the target temp and liquid. Besides, in any test you want to control as many variables as you can and why this recipe is important as a verification. Feel free to add a few 5F degree steps before step 0 depending upon what your starting water temp is. The idea is to keep the Zymatic within 5F degrees so the steps are even and consistent.
If you aren't going to brew after this recipe runs, I typically go into Help and run the Circulate for about 10 minutes to let the Zymatic cool down just a bit.
If you have any questions about getting to your HEX loop, let me know through PM and I'll try to help you.
Here is the data from my pre and post glycol topoff in the HEX loop. Chart 1 is before I added the glycol and just prior to getting the Fatal Error #17. It starts at the Heat to 90 step due to several Fatal Error #1's and me having to stop and restart and skip steps. You can see that the difference between the two data lines is quite large at times and the peaks are nearly 30 degrees apart.
Chart 2 is after I added nearly 1/2 cup glycol mixture. I added about 1/3 of a cup, then ran the glycol pump for about 5 minutes and then repeated my procedure for getting all of the air into the tube between the sensor and the HEX. While the glycol pump is running, I listen for air bubbles and pump cavitation, letting me know it needs more glycol. Total liquid added was just shy of 1/2 cup.
Here my peak temps are only about 5 - 10 degrees apart and the recipe started and finished without error. Temps were much more stable and there weren't any erratic behaviors that I observed.
I use this Heat Cycle recipe I created, originally for testing, but now for two reasons.
First, I continue to use this recipe to check the state of my HEX loop. I download the raw data and have been inputting it into my analysis software to track things like peak temps, time to reach temps, total time for recipe, etc...I've been trying to build a MTBF for the HEX loop and general HEX issues and just alert me to times like this when I need to perform maintenance. I don't have enough data right now to tell me that an error is imminent, but now that I have topped off, the data I collect will show me the degradation ramp and hopefully I can publish a MTBF at that time.
Secondly, I use this recipe to cut off about 30 minutes from my brew day. The first thing I do on my brew day is measure out my water, get it into the keg and start the Heat Cycle recipe. While the Zymatic is heating the water to temp, I grind my grains and measure my hops and perform whatever random tasks I need to. When the recipe alerts me, I add my loaded step filter into the Zymatic and run my brew recipe. Since the water is already around 102F, it goes into "Dough In" almost right away.
Here is the Advanced Editor grab if anyone is interested. Would be interesting to see some folks take this recipe and run it so we can compare behaviors. Heck, it may even help you to understand if you have a HEX issue that might be getting ready to spoil your brew day. If you do want to run this and compare, I use a 5 gallon plastic bucket filled with 34 lbs of tap water. My tap water here in Texas is around 68F - 70F degrees this time of year. If you use any other container or any other amount, your results may be different from what I get. I perform this test in my brewhouse which is usually kept at 68F degrees.
It's been my experience that the Heat Loop and Wort temps should track fairly well and be within 10 degrees of each other. Of course, that is just for this test recipe, that data will differ depending upon the target temp and liquid. Besides, in any test you want to control as many variables as you can and why this recipe is important as a verification. Feel free to add a few 5F degree steps before step 0 depending upon what your starting water temp is. The idea is to keep the Zymatic within 5F degrees so the steps are even and consistent.
If you aren't going to brew after this recipe runs, I typically go into Help and run the Circulate for about 10 minutes to let the Zymatic cool down just a bit.
If you have any questions about getting to your HEX loop, let me know through PM and I'll try to help you.
So I got the u-channel seals from McMasterCarr and put them on all the screens to prevent grains and husks from clogging up the in-line filter and just keep the wort a lot more clear. What I have learned is that sometimes, the seals work too good.
Since the screens are so fine, air pressure tends to build up between the two screens and surface tension literally causes the wort to just roll off the top screen and into the overflow. I also observed that air pressure below the bottom screen prevented wort from seeping through and into the bottom of the step filter.
After some experimentation and fiddling around, I was able to solve the problem for the lower step filter screen and the adjunct compartment screen and really should have seen that from the beginning as there are pressure slots built into the screens. If you add these seals, you need to cut the holes out for the slots to allow the trapped air a chance to escape and equalize the pressures between the grains and the step filter.
Still working on a solution for the upper screen, but for now, I just removed one of the screen seals so that trapped air had an exit path. That still allows me to avoid using the keg o-rings to hold the upper screen in place and with three seals on the screen still prevented floating grain husks from going into the overflow.
QoB
Well-Known Member
All Zymatic machines were hand-built. Most of the Z will be hand built. Parts of it can be assembled by parts manufacturers' - we will be assembling them at our facility in Renton, WA. Cheers!
QoB
Well-Known Member
That's nice - the new Z screens a somewhat similar - but the shape is different as the StepFilter is very different. I'll try and post some pictures for you peeps!
QoB
Well-Known Member
You have some bad information - and no one wants your recipes! No one wants mine, either, but if they do, I'm happy to share. Herbfarm is a member of the PBN - the program I run. All PBN members have a seperate signed license agreement with PicoBrew - recipes are proprietary to the Brewer/Brewery/Homebrewer and not shared with anyone outside of the company. Internally, the recipe is scaled for the Pico machines by the Lab Team.
If you as a homebrewer would like to join the PBN and sell your beer as a PicoPak, then please email us and we can sign you up. You can go through the process yourself and then make a dertermination if it's worth it - but to spread bad or misinformation is wrong.
Cheers!
QoB
Well-Known Member
Another falsehood. Zx Ventures is a minority debt holder. PicoBrew itself is majority owned by the employees of the company.
Cheers!
QoB
Well-Known Member
I'm brewing on the Z and noting the signifigant differences between it and the Zymatic. I have rought 700 Zymatic batches on the books. I'm really liking what's happening so far. It's a bit faster and quieter - the pumps are different and footed. The wort redirects with a tentacle pump - much better than the swing arm. All the guts are moved to the top of the machine. The StepFilter redsign is very cools and you can brew PicoPaks and run the Still.
What I don't like is that it is taking longer then expected to deliver it to the public.
If any of you are local and would like to visit PicoBrew - send me a note and I'd be happy to give you a tour and let you see what's happening here. We have beer on tap!
Cheers
If you also have specific engineering questions I can pass those along to the Eng Team or put you in touch with someone who can answer the question best.
So we finally have someone from Picobrew commenting in this thread (and not a mole)....sanctioned by Picobrew...or just commenting as a homebrewer? (EDIT: Apparently QoB has been around awhile. I just went back and read alot of the posts from earlier.) Are the posts going to be biased towards the company or will they actually be honest and valuable? It'd be great if they were honest, as we have been needing that in here. Not asking you to slam the company you work for, just wanting to avoid any fan boy posts.
Obviously none of us work at Picobrew (well, no one admitted to it), so our info is based on personal interactions with the company, Picobrew's own updates, or just stuff we "heard" in various forums.
If you are going to take info back to the Engineering team and get a real response, I'd like to know what model of SeaFlo pumps you are using and if they are specifically made for Picobrew to handle the high temp wort or are you getting them off the shelf?
Also, what kind of "tentacle" pump are you using to deliver the wort to the various positions. I'd be concerned that this might be a weak point in the system and would love to have my mind put at ease by having access to the specs.
To one of my posts you said:
Exactly what was bad? I personally know several microbreweries using a Zymatic for pilot brews in Washington, Idaho, Utah and Texas. Also, as a user, I didn't sign an NDA, so anything in the DB would technically be available to Picobrew (whether they wanted it or not was not in question). Doug personally told me that he had access to anything in the database, even stuff I had deleted. I wasn't talking about a PBN member, but the DB would still be open to Picobrew even so. Please help me to understand exactly what was bad information so we can make sure we don't spread any BS and we are all on the same page.
Obviously none of us work at Picobrew (well, no one admitted to it), so our info is based on personal interactions with the company, Picobrew's own updates, or just stuff we "heard" in various forums.
If you are going to take info back to the Engineering team and get a real response, I'd like to know what model of SeaFlo pumps you are using and if they are specifically made for Picobrew to handle the high temp wort or are you getting them off the shelf?
Also, what kind of "tentacle" pump are you using to deliver the wort to the various positions. I'd be concerned that this might be a weak point in the system and would love to have my mind put at ease by having access to the specs.
To one of my posts you said:
Exactly what was bad? I personally know several microbreweries using a Zymatic for pilot brews in Washington, Idaho, Utah and Texas. Also, as a user, I didn't sign an NDA, so anything in the DB would technically be available to Picobrew (whether they wanted it or not was not in question). Doug personally told me that he had access to anything in the database, even stuff I had deleted. I wasn't talking about a PBN member, but the DB would still be open to Picobrew even so. Please help me to understand exactly what was bad information so we can make sure we don't spread any BS and we are all on the same page.
Last edited:
I guess we stirred the waters somewhere with our questioning and discussions around "beta vs production" and the like.
What a breath of fresh air, though time will tell what stands behind words and pictures!
The latest update and some of the language (of what might be an insider or early beta delivery customer?) Is starting to carry some additional weight and I like that.
What a breath of fresh air, though time will tell what stands behind words and pictures!
The latest update and some of the language (of what might be an insider or early beta delivery customer?) Is starting to carry some additional weight and I like that.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2018
- Messages
- 290
- Reaction score
- 178
QoB, last week I asked a question about the best way to protect a Z2 in a garage brew station, which sometimes gets below freezing. Do you have any insights on that?
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
In their earlier emails there was mention of doing away with the glycol in the hex loop. Wondering what the impact that would have on folks who brew in garages where it can get cold in the winter. I get the bulk of my error 1s during the winter.
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
Qob why have we never seen an offline mode for the Zymatic and will that be in consideration for the Z? There is absolutely no good reason to have a brew day @%@$ itself because of a lack of internet access as can be the case in garages where these inevitably end up after an overflow. The entire recipe fits into a tiny string. I don't give a @%@# if your brew log/db server misses a temp reading. Also while on the subject why are you not sending compliant http headers? Many web servers do care about this so it can be hit or miss creating a man in the middle on the zymatic to get around the phone home. At what point can we expect a firmware update on these older systems to correct the bug backlog? its been a few years.
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
Does the Z force us into online only via ssl? In effect causing us to not really own these units and instead we are brewing as a service?
I certainly hope QoB is on the up and up, would be great to get some real info as we are sometimes only guessing on the new Z specs.
However, when I went back and read this thread from, oh around page 20 or so, I read some disturbing information. Thorrak was around this thread back then and very active as was QoB, Denny and a guy named Baja_Brewer....if you have some time to kill and you are newer to this thread, go back and read some of the posts...seems nothing has changed and we are only complaining about stuff that has been going on for over 2 years....you'll find the typical fan-boy posts with nothing but good things to say about Picobrew, but if you wade through all of that, you'll find some good info...time will tell, but it seems quelling discussion was the mission back then, as it is now.
Hopefully we can get some decent info on the new Z and we will see if information flows out of Picobrew that is worth anything or is it all marketing fluff...quite a few of us have money on the line so I think those concerns are very important.
However, when I went back and read this thread from, oh around page 20 or so, I read some disturbing information. Thorrak was around this thread back then and very active as was QoB, Denny and a guy named Baja_Brewer....if you have some time to kill and you are newer to this thread, go back and read some of the posts...seems nothing has changed and we are only complaining about stuff that has been going on for over 2 years....you'll find the typical fan-boy posts with nothing but good things to say about Picobrew, but if you wade through all of that, you'll find some good info...time will tell, but it seems quelling discussion was the mission back then, as it is now.
Hopefully we can get some decent info on the new Z and we will see if information flows out of Picobrew that is worth anything or is it all marketing fluff...quite a few of us have money on the line so I think those concerns are very important.
LeeH
Well-Known Member
And ridiculous...
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
This is all that is needed in memory on the device to brew a recipe. Returns from SyncUser
exampe:
#Two row hefe/94E907436B98396BC1BF1730D0769543/Heat to Temp,102,0,0,0/Dough In,102,20,1,8/Heat to Mash,152,0,0,0/Mash 1,152,30,1,0/Mash 2,154,60,1,8/Heat to MO,175,0,0,0/Mash Out,175,10,1,6/Heat to Boil,207,0,0,0/Boil Adjunct 1,207,60,2,5/Connect Chiller,0,0,6,0/Chill,74,10,0,10/|#
All of the other API calls besides the firmware check are:
LogSession - obvious what that does
CheckSync - pointless. Its just a ping back to picobrew
RecoverSession - for when the zymatic bricks because the other two calls fail or the crappy wifi implementation causes it to reboot mid brew.
exampe:
#Two row hefe/94E907436B98396BC1BF1730D0769543/Heat to Temp,102,0,0,0/Dough In,102,20,1,8/Heat to Mash,152,0,0,0/Mash 1,152,30,1,0/Mash 2,154,60,1,8/Heat to MO,175,0,0,0/Mash Out,175,10,1,6/Heat to Boil,207,0,0,0/Boil Adjunct 1,207,60,2,5/Connect Chiller,0,0,6,0/Chill,74,10,0,10/|#
All of the other API calls besides the firmware check are:
LogSession - obvious what that does
CheckSync - pointless. Its just a ping back to picobrew
RecoverSession - for when the zymatic bricks because the other two calls fail or the crappy wifi implementation causes it to reboot mid brew.
Obviously all the LogSession data could just be built up in memory (or written to a disk) during brewing that upon completion could be uploaded to the "home base" with no loss of data to PicoBrew and just a lack of visibility for us brewers.
If I were to build this machine or work on the firmware this is exactly what I'd do...
If I were to build this machine or work on the firmware this is exactly what I'd do...
Friday update has landed (but I haven't received the email yet) find the text content below.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Happy Friday, Z customers!
October is in full swing, and so is our Z Quality Control (QC) and assembly process! Here are the latest updates from our headquarters:
IS THAT YOUR Z IN THE QC?
To guarantee the utmost quality, all PicoBrew appliances undergo a complete QC process before shipping. Our assembly partners do this following our engineers’ guidelines, which they create during product development.
Your PicoBrew Z is no exception to this rule—and since it’s a newly designed product, the QC process is even more stringent. Every Z sub-assembly (e.g., hex loop, rotary valve, circuit boards) is bench-tested. Once assembled, the complete unit is put through its paces by running a water-only “test brew." The engineers collect a complete brewing-cycle’s worth of data, which is compared to their design specifications. If it doesn’t pass, it doesn’t ship!
We know what you’re thinking. That’s quite a bit of time and effort to dedicate to each system. You’re correct—but ensuring these early systems work flawlessly allows us to ship a top-notch, reliable product.
As we continue with rollout, QC becomes more automated and less intense. We promise, it will be worth the wait!
YOUR FAVORITE BREWERIES COME TO YOUR Z
Did you know that you can brew PicoPaks in your Z? These handy, pre-assembled packages contain everything you need to brew the beers you love from your favorite breweries—anytime you want, right in your own home.
With the help of our 238 brewery partners (and counting), we’ve created over 173 PicoPaks, featuring both crowd-pleasing favorites and innovative new brews. Take a look on BrewMarketplace—we're sure to have something you'll love.
Today, we're excited to announce our two newest brewery partners:
Alechemist, which is our first-ever Taiwanese brewery partner! Working with local farmers, they produce their own ingredients to create beer with an authentic Taiwanese flavor.
Low Tide Brewing, based in Johns Island, South Carolina, focuses on beers that pair well with food. They work directly with restauranteurs, chefs and bartenders from the booming Charleston food scene to create unique and complimentary beverages.
Have a good weekend! We’ll be back in your inbox next week with an introduction to one of our on-staff engineers.
Cheers,
The PicoBrew Team
-----------------------------------------------------------
Happy Friday, Z customers!
October is in full swing, and so is our Z Quality Control (QC) and assembly process! Here are the latest updates from our headquarters:
IS THAT YOUR Z IN THE QC?
To guarantee the utmost quality, all PicoBrew appliances undergo a complete QC process before shipping. Our assembly partners do this following our engineers’ guidelines, which they create during product development.
Your PicoBrew Z is no exception to this rule—and since it’s a newly designed product, the QC process is even more stringent. Every Z sub-assembly (e.g., hex loop, rotary valve, circuit boards) is bench-tested. Once assembled, the complete unit is put through its paces by running a water-only “test brew." The engineers collect a complete brewing-cycle’s worth of data, which is compared to their design specifications. If it doesn’t pass, it doesn’t ship!
We know what you’re thinking. That’s quite a bit of time and effort to dedicate to each system. You’re correct—but ensuring these early systems work flawlessly allows us to ship a top-notch, reliable product.
As we continue with rollout, QC becomes more automated and less intense. We promise, it will be worth the wait!
YOUR FAVORITE BREWERIES COME TO YOUR Z
Did you know that you can brew PicoPaks in your Z? These handy, pre-assembled packages contain everything you need to brew the beers you love from your favorite breweries—anytime you want, right in your own home.
With the help of our 238 brewery partners (and counting), we’ve created over 173 PicoPaks, featuring both crowd-pleasing favorites and innovative new brews. Take a look on BrewMarketplace—we're sure to have something you'll love.
Today, we're excited to announce our two newest brewery partners:
Alechemist, which is our first-ever Taiwanese brewery partner! Working with local farmers, they produce their own ingredients to create beer with an authentic Taiwanese flavor.
Low Tide Brewing, based in Johns Island, South Carolina, focuses on beers that pair well with food. They work directly with restauranteurs, chefs and bartenders from the booming Charleston food scene to create unique and complimentary beverages.
Have a good weekend! We’ll be back in your inbox next week with an introduction to one of our on-staff engineers.
Cheers,
The PicoBrew Team
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
Yeah. Or just have an option - ignore connectivity failures. Because ultimately what does it matter if I miss 10 seconds of temp data? Have never gotten a good answer from pico as to why they went down that path with the design or not implemented the offline brewing feature which has been asked about since the first Zymatic shipped. Maybe Qob can chime in here? I see no response other than the sync user and recover session calsl dealing with recipe data. No timing control. Just logging. Why is logging so important that you will allow the brew to fail and even crash the zymatic causing a reboot?
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
^ BTW asking questions like that will get you banned by Pico.
Doubt it. But being a belligerent bully or cursing and swearing at customer service reps will.
Mike got banned for way less than that.
Brewfreedom
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2018
- Messages
- 155
- Reaction score
- 62
It's their sandbox. His posts were pretty innocent though. Not something I'd blow up over. Even if he called Kevin a doody head in email. You should see the things I've had customers send/say. I always diffuse it, move on and in the end respond with a smile. Even when Im being abused by an idiot posting 1 star reviews. In the case of someone who has spent thousands of dollars on your barely supported product + wants to continue to send you thousands of dollars in an interest free loan you should probably put on your big boy pants and take it with a smile.
Similar threads
- Locked
