Great News! Our Z PicoPak adapter started shipping late last week with all new orders, is currently being packaged with Perks and for anyone in between they will be receiving a digital coupon.
Yes. Using another recipe tool is advisable IMHO.With the gravity misses is it due to the machine or recipe crafter? I am wondering if it would be better to decide on amounts in brewers friend and ignore the pico crafter outside of setting up steps? I am asking from a place ignorance. Still haven't unpack my Z1 yet.
My neighbour just got his Z2 and we are planning the first brew. Here are some silly questions:
- to brew 20L of the same recipe, you set up 10L recipe in one, and it becomes head unit to control the other one?
- do you end up with two kegs with 10L in each? Can the picobrew then pump one into the other?
- any tips on “no chilling” in keg?
- any tips on fermenting in keg? I have done that myself but would only put 15L beer into a 20L keg due to headspace.
- I can’t work out how to access the picobrew recipe tool. I have created an account but only see a very limited freestyle PicoPak recipe builder tool.
- any tips on using beersmith - what do you use for grain absorption, “boil-off”, other water,volume losses?
Thanks so much!
B
Thanks, for some reason I don’t have permission to view those, even though signed in.
Strangely neither to I?!
Trying again.
Batch 3 in the Z1 now: Extra Pale Ale w/ Mosaic. Today I will use my Jaded Corny Pillar for the first time.
Edit:
1. Corny Pillar worked well.
2. Huge gravity miss. Picobrew recipe crafter predicted 1055. Actual 1048.
Strangely neither to I?!
Trying again.
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Are the screenshots your using from Pico or from Beersmith (Brewer's Friend user over here)? So your starting volume of water is 5 gal then assuming 3.5 gal roughly for the boil to yield 2.8ish gal in the end. Am I reading that correctly?
Thanks that’s helpful, brewers friend does hop utilizations % manually if you want as well but it also adjusts for time boiled. Are you doing 75% for all additions (even 10, 5, and 0 min)? Also I am assuming no sparge?
I'm going to start off with my standard NEIPA just to see how it does. If it works, want to follow up with a blonde that I can use to top off our 12g sour barrel. Do y'all order the washer packs from Pico or do you have any easy substitute?
I too have noticed the finished wort coming out much darker than expected. Have followed all instructions, doing the initial pre-rinse before the first brew followed by the hot water rinse post brew after each batch. Each of the beers I have done have only consisted of 2 Row/Pilsener, wheat, and oats with the calculated SRM of each beer not being over 3. The first beer came out as expected, but noticed on the 2nd beer the final wort was darker than anticipated. Then when I did my 3rd beer, the wort came out what I consider extremely dark,considering the calculated SRM was only supposed to be 3. Below is a link to the picture of the transferred wort. I double checked the malt bill and everything was accurate. I purchase my malt in 50lb sacks and have used the same sacks previously on my full 10gal system without issue. I have begun doing deep cleans between each batch, but the still getting the dark color.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8nS1bxsvqY4VDg1YVV6LWN1RDZQcERFTjFNUlVaekx2dG1r/view?usp=sharing
Batch size: 2.75G
I notice your batch size is higher than picobrew’s advertising of 2.5g batches? Can you set the recipe batch size higher than 2.5?
You don’t use a single infusion mash?
I was helping my neighbour with his first recipe. He used a preset recipe from the site. It said batch size 2.5g and 3.3g of water for 5.5lb grain. So guess it calculated .8g lost to grain absorption, and what’s left in machine after draining. To get accuracy on my neighbours profile will require a few test runs ton dial in grain absorption according to his crush perhaps.
The recipe crafter will tell you the limits, which I think are 4.25gal of water or ~9lbs of grain. Within these limits you can brew whatever you want. I typically brew a ~3-3.25 gallon batch.
Yep, I did that in my current setup on big topcroppers when using my Better Bottle fermenters.You could make a blowoff tube with a ball lock connector on the out post and a tube running into a jar or bucket.
Z1 on the way to me now. A few questions - but most important first:How tall is the corny when used as fermentation vessel - total height with airlock? A ball lock keg is 25 inches tall. What airlock is supplied? [There is a nice fermentation chamber at a good price in my town. Interior height is only 26 inches, which I think will be too short. My current ferm chamber is too short for a corny - fits my Better Bottles great.]
Z1 on the way to me now. A few questions - but most important first:I usually use Brewer's Friend for my recipe creation, etc. Will I need to stop using that software when I brew on the Z? I hear they have a recipe crafter? Do some of y'all use Brewers Friend - how do you "translate" to the Z?
I do exactly what swimIan suggested (because my fermentor height is similar -- use a blow off tube from my corny. The keg is a standard ball lock keg and the airlock is a standard 3 piece clear airlock e.g. like this https://www.amazon.com/GLIDESTORE-F...=brew+airlock&qid=1565648211&s=gateway&sr=8-6
I also invested in a SS brewtech mini which works great for ~3 gallon batches if you want a more conical like fermentor.
I use beersmith to craft the recipe with the efficiency set to what I expect and then just move it over to the recipe crafter when i'm done tweaking. When you turn on the machine, it will download your available recipes and then use them for the machine instructions (how long to keep at what temperature). The recipe crafter takes just a few minutes to setup per beer. It also tells you how much water to add (and the weight) which is pretty handy.
Thanks doublea! I'm relieved that I can still use Brewers Friend. I've been doing BIAB no sparge for a long time and I typically had my efficiency at about 65% - would that be a decent starting point for the Z? Thanks again
Thank you! CheersYeah it seems like 60-65% is about right for Z. Make sure to set it to "high efficiency mash" (you'll see a dropdown in the recipe crafter).
So I am still working on dialing things in --- using the BIAB calculator to the amount of water needed and for a 3 gallon batch with 6.5 lbs of grain I am coming out to needing 4.79 gallons of water when the pico will only do 4.25 gallons. Is there a something else I am not accounting for? This is assuming 60 minute boil as well.
Perks are shipping now, several people have gotten theirs. I have tracking number for mine, should be here next week.Is anyone else here concerned that we still haven't received our perks package OR Zymatic rebate? It has been 1.5 years since we shelled out our money and the deal is STILL not finalized. I always get the answer that they are just finalizing these details bla bla but it is now mid August 2019! We really need to start demanding answers and get the deal we paid for.
My BeerSmith profile suggests 3.71 gallons water for your parameters. The Picobrew crafter recommends 3.84 gallons.
I am guessing you entered the boil off rate or some other parameter incorrectly.
In equipment profile:
Batch size: 3 gallons
Fermenter loss: 0.25 gallons
Boil off: 0.05 gallons
Lauter deadspace: 0.06 gallons
Trub chiller loss: 0
Top up water: 0
In mash profile:
Force full boil (BIAB) mash: yes
Batch sparge: no
Advanced Options:
BIAB Grain Absorb: 0.5860
Is anyone else here concerned that we still haven't received our perks package OR Zymatic rebate? It has been 1.5 years since we shelled out our money and the deal is STILL not finalized. I always get the answer that they are just finalizing these details bla bla but it is now mid August 2019! We really need to start demanding answers and get the deal we paid for.
Thanks thats helpful, yea I assumed a much higher boil off!
I lucked out, I canceled my original Z2 pre-order then got that sorry we F***ed up email heres a close to pre-order price and decided to go just with a Z1. When I did that I asked if they would still do the rebate on my PicoPro and they gave me $100 off and said keep the machine so I was pleasantly surprised there.
I learned from the Pico forums is removing everything from the keg out and in post along with the grey and black connectors for optimum flow.
What do you mean about removing thing from the keg posts?
This is exactly what I mean......take the poppets and springs out of both the in and out post....then using a screwdriver take the grey ball lock and black ball lock apart.....remove everything. Make sure you put the caps back on the grey and black ball lock. This allows for much better flow and will more than likely eliminate any overheating messages that occur. Pico should also design another step filter that eliminates the use of the black grommet that goes in the hole.I believe he means remove the poppet from the keg post and the spring and post inside the quick disconnect. You would still be able to connect with good deal but there would be less blockage of flow.
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