Ok, first Zbrew for me. A little long for a post, but I suspect people are hungry for a little info.
Turn it on:
Can I have a HELL YES for the automatic update right off the bat. I really did not like having to do that manually with my Mac.
Very nice and much improved PICOesc OLD screen. Quick and direct connection to WIFI; big improvement here. Walks you through ALL the steps of adding screens, grains etc. Not sure if it will do this every time or if this is a first time only.
Whole new water pick-up and distribution and plumbing system inside the step filter and frame; No more 'arm' or motor to mess up. Quite unique actually. No real place for leakage to occur, in fact it no longer has a moat to pick up leakage. The rubber internals of the lower frame make for a very nice snug step filter fit. No little valve on the end to push it onto or to get fouled. Has some definite PICO sounds. Looks like that little box was a good proving ground for many things Z.
Step filter basically works the same but has new top side water connection that fits snugly when the filter is applied. And a unique water management system within the filter itself. I'll get back to that in a moment.
Start the brew and first off it tells you how long it will take. In my case about 3 hrs 20 minutes if I recall. The screen scrolls though time remaining, temperature, beer brewing, and remaining time of the step, or something like that. informative, nice and easy to read.
Possibly some of these items can be adjusted in Utilities function. Easy scroll on the dial, just have not done it yet.
Mash and Boil:
Damn the recirculation pump really cranks. I could hear it splashing inside the keg. Hmmm, after about 20 minutes I was getting concerned that the grain bed was not submerged in wort. No more worries about overflow! But is the pump too strong? Should I not have put in my typical few handfuls of rice hulls.... Email to Kevin confirmed that I did not insert the plug into the key-hole in the back of the mash compartment. He said not to worry. I didn't and I hit gravity spot on; better than ever actually. What they have done is provide a keyhole that is likely perfect for other application like SV and future Pico Packs with lots of flow. For a typical beer they suggest putting the plug in and it will reduce the flow from the mash unit and keep it submerged. Nice to know it worked without anyway. It was in the instructions, but I could not find the place to put it. Didn't say I was smart, I just like beer.
The online graphics show a VERY tight correlation between wort and heat temps all through mash and boil. Crazy close actually. They did something very special to the heating loop.
RINSE and Wash:
Rinsing seems more elaborate (read better) than the Zymatic. More PICO like with rinsing several pumps and internals several times. No 5 minute drain on the end, thank you! Just pull the step filter out and dump when done. Screens now have rubber along all edges that provide an excellent seal. The top has a lip to hold it down as well. They are also way more robust than the Zymatic. A nice aside is that I can dump it out and not have to worry about the screens falling out too; the little things that make me happy.
Everything in my opinion is a big step up from an already damn fine first run Zymatic. A new name was clearly a good choice as this is far more than a modest upgrade.
