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Lbarouf
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Went to clean kegs tonight and realized I had a pint and half of my red left, lucky me! I guess kegsmarts was a little off it's starting volume. This is a really great beer. Little beer porn, been a while in this thread.
Which picopack is this from jrb03?
Lbarouf
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I do 1Gal batches on my stove as well (Brooklyn Brew Shop mainly) and i always pitch fully my yeast without off taste. Why would it affect the pico but not regular manual all grain recipes? I'm not doing BIIB, i strain in a large colander.
That's great news, but I wonder if that's also an admission that the dry hopping has not been going well?
That's exactly what it is.
I haven't messed with it, but yes upping the bitterness will increase the boil time for hop additions.
Central Valley Red Ale.
I don't know what yeast is included or how many grams with your kits. The simple fact is the yeast included in a Pico pack is 4 times more than needed. It has been verified by MANY people getting better results with half or less yeast. Even Picobrew recommends using one tsp (I don't care what their support person with a manual in hand says). Do yourself a favor and use less.
I have done this a few times on packs that support it and I still have not had a good hoppy taste or aroma from any of my finished IPAs. Beer is very drinkable but it does not have that nice hop attribute that I enjoy
Lbarouf
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Don't get me wrong, with the Pico for sure I will use a quarter of the pouch. With the BBS kits, that's the issue, everything is white labelled BBS, so you don't know. At least the hops you know the kind, like Chinook, Cascade, Citra, etc... but the grains, or yeast... is it 2 row? Is that safale? It's a rebranded popular brand for sure, with the standard weight inside. So I can bet it's meant for 5 gal. I am asking more in a scientific way. Why would it work with these and not in a Pico. Is it really the yeast strain?
As for the red ale, it does look good. I gather you would recommend it?
As for the red ale, it does look good. I gather you would recommend it?
Adjusting the bitterness won't get you any aroma. Hopefully you've seen the posted timeline to get the most from your IPA. And the coming change to hop filter paper is supposed to improve results as well.
Again sorry I don't know anything about the BBS kits or what they use. Over pitching yeast can cause a stagnant fermentation at the end, and I personally tasted an unpleasant something on my two full yeast batches, something I haven't tasted since. Especially with an IPA you want the cleanest fermentation possible, any off taste or yeastyness will mask the delicate hop aroma.
And yes I highly recommend that Red Ale, best brew of my 10 so far, but I did use my own liquid yeast rather than the included dry......
Hey guys. Got my Pico in Dec and just cracked the keg on my first IPA. Thought I would give some
Feedback.
First, I have decent hop aroma and taste. I do have a slight off flavor which I would describe as cereal-like. I attribute this to pitching a full pack of yeast as I hadn't come across this thread when I brewed it. There is a strong citrus finish but I assume from the label and name this is intended. (Half-Squeezed)
But other than that minor flaw, this beer tastes and smells like a commercial IPA. I think with a half pack of yeast it would have been perfect.
My method:
Fast Ferment valve was used but my temps were around 70 so I used a normal ferment timeline. At 1 week, I dry hopped. Two day cold crash prior to kegging. At 14 days , I kegged. Transfer was done with CO2. Forced Carb for 3 days.
Feedback.
First, I have decent hop aroma and taste. I do have a slight off flavor which I would describe as cereal-like. I attribute this to pitching a full pack of yeast as I hadn't come across this thread when I brewed it. There is a strong citrus finish but I assume from the label and name this is intended. (Half-Squeezed)
But other than that minor flaw, this beer tastes and smells like a commercial IPA. I think with a half pack of yeast it would have been perfect.
My method:
Fast Ferment valve was used but my temps were around 70 so I used a normal ferment timeline. At 1 week, I dry hopped. Two day cold crash prior to kegging. At 14 days , I kegged. Transfer was done with CO2. Forced Carb for 3 days.
I'm completely new to this stuff and I'm reading up before I get my pico brew so pardon me if this is a dumb question but how much of a storage life do one of these cannonball systems have. How long can I keep the beer in my fridge before the C02 cartridge runs out.
Great job using the longer time line and waiting longer than recommended to dry hop, as you will see a little patience goes a long way. Welcome to the users club, it's nice to see good results!
Here is another valuable post from Annie I thought you guys would be interested in.
FF with the red adpater works fine - as does it with higher temps. I think the issue lies with how much yeast you pitch and how much O2 you're getting into the wort prior. The cooling of the wort overnight causes a vacuum and sucks all the oxygen out of the wort. The yeast need that deperatley to reproduce. It's really important you whisk that wort for at least 30 seconds - even a minute is fine. Then pitch your teaspon of yeast. Be sure to get that into solution. From there you can pop on the KegSeal with the airlock or use the adapter. If you want to ferment at a higher temp, put on the KegParka. The yeast is going to change the temp anyway from their reproductivity (as much as 5 degrees). I find that with this smaller volume that the difference between FF and Standard is just a few days. I find that some esters are supressed at higher temps during FF. So remember this if you're brewing a beer with a lot of character like a Belgian. I think for lighter ales like blond ale and pils, go for it - they taste better with a clean yeast profile. Let me know if I can clarify more! Cheers!
FF with the red adpater works fine - as does it with higher temps. I think the issue lies with how much yeast you pitch and how much O2 you're getting into the wort prior. The cooling of the wort overnight causes a vacuum and sucks all the oxygen out of the wort. The yeast need that deperatley to reproduce. It's really important you whisk that wort for at least 30 seconds - even a minute is fine. Then pitch your teaspon of yeast. Be sure to get that into solution. From there you can pop on the KegSeal with the airlock or use the adapter. If you want to ferment at a higher temp, put on the KegParka. The yeast is going to change the temp anyway from their reproductivity (as much as 5 degrees). I find that with this smaller volume that the difference between FF and Standard is just a few days. I find that some esters are supressed at higher temps during FF. So remember this if you're brewing a beer with a lot of character like a Belgian. I think for lighter ales like blond ale and pils, go for it - they taste better with a clean yeast profile. Let me know if I can clarify more! Cheers!
Great that your posting these - I find it very difficult to navigate the Facebook threads.
She is stressing the same thing that the official support did to me - strongly aerating the wort is also key. I was always worried about stirring or shaking it too much.
She is stressing the same thing that the official support did to me - strongly aerating the wort is also key. I was always worried about stirring or shaking it too much.
finally a beer that's not my favorite but no off taste! Tweaties, very light, needs another day of carbing but I couldn't wait. The big difference, half yeast!!! Second big thing was fermenting a little longer. This had no added hops, the next one does so I hope it goes okay. Although I had some error codes during brewing. #5 They tell me to reboot the machine when that happens and it will clear. Well I sort of did that and I am keeping my fingers crossed.
The first 3 had the same after taste/finish taste, I think it was the yeast. I am not a pro brewer like a lot of you, I drank them! LOL
The first 3 had the same after taste/finish taste, I think it was the yeast. I am not a pro brewer like a lot of you, I drank them! LOL
Awesome, another success story using the "amended" instructions lol! I'm fermenting tweaties now, but wheats are one of my favorite so I'm excited.
I just did my second brew, Dead Guy Ale. Pitched 5g of yeast which is slightly less then half a pack last night. Bubble in the airlock today so we shall see. As I said my IPA wasnt awful but I do think the reduced yeast will help.
Im just annoyed that as someone who homebrewed their first batch in 1996 I didnt think about the yeast issue prior to my first batch. I think its because in my normal homebrews I am always making starters and trying to get as many active yeast as possible
Im just annoyed that as someone who homebrewed their first batch in 1996 I didnt think about the yeast issue prior to my first batch. I think its because in my normal homebrews I am always making starters and trying to get as many active yeast as possible
Awesome. I have dead guy fermenting now as well. I have a tilt hydrometer in this one, it took about 8 days to reach fg at room temp with FF valve. I'm gonna give it a few more days then rack, but I won't tap this one until super bowl. The wait is going to kill me and I'm usually very patient brewer. Love dead guy.
I'm patient out of necessity for the most part. I have two 5 gallon batches waiting to be kegged already at this point and one in the kegerator. Im actually not a huge Dead Guy fan but I think it will be nice to have a contrast for all the IPA's I have on hand. One of the main reasons I got the Pico was because I thought it would let me have other styles on tap for a change of pace that I wouldnt necessarily want 5 or 10 gallons of
I bought it while waiting for the pico to arrive, total impulse buy. I'm actually a pretty lazy brewer and quite taking gravity readings long back, other than an occasional sg reading to see if my e-biab rig was hitting targets. I'm more of a let it go a couple/few weeks and rack when I have a chance, but with the big system I was never in a hurry because I always have something on tap. I finally broke out the tilt on this batch for the first time with all the talk of fast fermentation times and how long does it really take. It was a little eye opening because I thought it would be done much quicker than 8 days at these temps. It did come in handy, the temp showed that during peak activity the temp reached 77'. My house is 73' and the sticker on the side never read higher than about 74'. Shows that without forced temp control the temp will rise during fermentation, something guys not using the FF adapter and on the edge of standard fermentation temps might want to consider.
Back to your question, after one use I am happy so far. It did what it says it will. Seems accurate enough but I didn't check against a hydrometer, again I'm lazy lol. I did throw it in a bucket of water and verified 1.000 and the temp against my thermopen. The charting and trending is handy, even if not fully accurate you can see when fermentation is complete. My dead guy went from 1.056 to 1.012. Here is a chart. The keg is sitting on my kegerator, so every time the compressor kicks on the tilt drifts around a bit.
Pretty cool. Yeah Im a lazy brewer as well. I think thats part of the reason I was able to let my first Pico batch go for two weeks without getting impatient. I rarely check final gravity any more because most of my brews are going direct to my keg from my primary around 3-4 weeks in and I rarely do lagers or ultra high gravity stuff
Awesome, another success story using the "amended" instructions lol! I'm fermenting tweaties now, but wheats are one of my favorite so I'm excited.
Let me know what you think of it is as a wheat. I do drink Weihenstephan, Hefe-Weissbier when I can get it. Hard to find stores around here that are willing to order me a couple of cases. I am a hops person, the more hops the better!
I use distilled because it's cheap and readily available in pre measured gallons. I don't see why RO wouldn't work, but you may want to ask [email protected].
7rebun
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I am going to use RO because it costs the same as distilled in Japan (as far as I have found), so I ordered 40L for my first several batches.
BTW thanks to all the helpful posters in this thread guys. With this advice I can avoid screwing up too much when I start next week!
Is it possible to use the Pico to rack to bottles? IE, is it possible to turn on/off the flow quickly, or would I be better off racking to the serving keg and using the spigot to fill one at a time? I was thinking I might bottle condition some notyetIE since I don't see myself finishing 5L of a Russian Imperial Stout in short order.
VagueSkunk
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The instructions state that RO water is fine to use.
Slightly off-topic...anyone heard when the sous vide adapter is going to ship?
Slightly off-topic...anyone heard when the sous vide adapter is going to ship?
Got this just a few days ago:
Kevin (PicoBrew Inc.)
Jan 16, 16:44 PST
Hi Ken!
They've been shipping them out little by little, I've been assured that the last of them are being shipped out this week.
Cheers!
-Kevin
Kevin (PicoBrew Inc.)
Jan 16, 16:44 PST
Hi Ken!
They've been shipping them out little by little, I've been assured that the last of them are being shipped out this week.
Cheers!
-Kevin
I haven't got a shipping notification yet.
I'm still waiting on my Pico warming jacket for kegsmarts fermentation, and the sous vide adapter, both of which I have been told are shipping this week a few weeks now... People are receiving both, it looks like they have a very small shipping setup or are trickling out for some other reason. We will get them, eventually lol.
they said RO is fine, even in the reservoir. I have my own RO system for my coffee and a bunch of other stuff because of the high lime content of my water. I might still stick with distilled in the reservoir and RO in the keg. Thinking that the only water that gets steamed is the reservoir water.
Lbarouf
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The wife filters water like crazy, we are looking at getting a reverse osmosis system from Costco. There's a 5 stages ones where the filters are not so expensive. Overall, I believe it's more expensive then going to buy the big 5Gal at the grocery store, but for the amount of water we use, it is a convenience for sure. It's nice to have an extra tap for fresh clean water... next to the boiling hot tap the wife wanted for her tea.
Lbarouf
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Serving Kegs
Are we supposed to change the plugs on the serving kegs after each use?!?
Serving Keg Plug Pack
Here's from PicoBrew's site:
Dispensing Bung Plugs and Carbonation Adapter for Pico Serving Keg
The Dispensing Bung Plug is used on your Serving Keg while serving or keg conditioning. It has two positions for when you are serving your beer and for when not in use. Single time use. This package contains 3 Dispensing Bung Plugs.
Are we supposed to change the plugs on the serving kegs after each use?!?
Serving Keg Plug Pack
Here's from PicoBrew's site:
Dispensing Bung Plugs and Carbonation Adapter for Pico Serving Keg
The Dispensing Bung Plug is used on your Serving Keg while serving or keg conditioning. It has two positions for when you are serving your beer and for when not in use. Single time use. This package contains 3 Dispensing Bung Plugs.
If you can get it out without destroying it of course you can reuse. They are a pain and a lot of people can't seem to get them out without breaking.
VagueSkunk
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Do yourself a favor and invest in a real kegging system. Those serving kegs are a pain in the arse.
Kegerator was best investment I ever made in brewing, would of quit the hobby long ago without it. Those serving kegs are truly a pain, bought a few years ago and after one use went back to bottling, and bottling sucks too lol.
I got my Pico in December and it came with the adapter.
Yep. I honestly never even considered dry hopping at day 3 as the manual says. But I does beg the question who wrote this manual? I'm a hobby homebrewer and I knew enough to disregard this advice right away. You would think with professional brewmasters on staff this wouldn't get out the door in this form
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