I think they said that they have sold over 1000-1200 Zymatics in the 2.5-3 years that the Zymatic has been the market.
I believe they announced the 1000th unit sold in April.
I think they said that they have sold over 1000-1200 Zymatics in the 2.5-3 years that the Zymatic has been the market.
Ok,
So I am brand new to this system and a couple things have come up that I am hoping experienced users can help with....
1) The first rinse seems really, well underwhelming. What else to clean?
- I ran the first rinse cycle and it was, well confusing. First, the instructions are extremely unclear, attach the grey end to the keg or attach it to a wand in a bucket? What the heck?
- Then, the rinse cycle never really filled up the container. How the heck is that going to rinse anything??
2) Anyone else get a really strong industrial oil smell out of the screens and parts?
- Even after the plain hot water rinse, the screens all smelled like industrial knife sharpening oils. (Well that is my only reference point on the smell.)
- I finally took everything, screens and that clear bucket up to sink and used dish soap on everything. That has cut the industrial odor down a lot, but not completely gone.
3) When a cycle is done, does it always continue to spit water out the stepper tube?
- The screen said that the rinse was over. I even let it sit for a moment, but since the insides were fogged up I couldn't see that liquid was still coming out.
- When I wen to pull that clear basket out, there was still lots of water flowing and it went everywhere. There was also water all over the top and in the drip tray and everywhere. Is this normal?
Actually I think Facebook is a great way to connect with others, share information/photos quick, and get feedback faster than any other medium. There is a search function that works easily. I was skeptical at first, but I joined a few other brewing groups and it demonstrated just how many people get involved very easily. It may not be for everyone, up to you.
I guess I will have to find the facebook page, but FB is a HORRIBLE place for information on how to's because you cannot search through posts. If it was posted in the past new users will not be able to see it.
The FB group is pretty active and Annie Johnson monitors it as well as some very frequent users. Often times questions are answered within minutes when they popup.
Sigh. Trying the first brew, pale ale today, and I have a leak. Seems a couple posts on the pico forum about it. Seems my machine wants to leak. Grrrr. Since a holiday weekend, probably no one to take my ticket.
Will finish the brew. Right now I have an aluminum foil damn to redirect the leak from left corner into a bucket on floor. Guess I will see how much beer I actually end up with.
Sablesurfer,
I had the same problem with my first two brews, it ended up my zymatic was just a LITTLE bit out of level (I had leveled it off of the top of the unit) and it ended up leaking from the bottom corner of the unit. I shimmed my unit so that the floor of the step filter area was dead level left to right and front to back. In my last 6 brews I haven't had any leakage issues that the drip tray couldn't handle.
-Josh
So, I went out and liked the page. I can only assume you mean that people 'message' the page and get answers? From what I see, the page is not set up as a repository of knowledge at all. It is only a company advertising site. No problem with that, but not what I was looking for.
Edit, reposting with less holiday family interaction angst.
Where was your leak coming from? The interior compartment was dry the whole time. I didn't see any leakage out of the step filter basket, and the drip tray didn't fill up this time. The liquid appeared to be completely sourced inside the machine somehow.
Not the advertising page. Make sure you search for Picobrewers and not Picobrew. You will need to request permission to access the page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/picrobrewers/1666129783666009/?notif_t=group_activity
This link should take you there.
Does your problem only happen during the mash?
I had a problem like that and it turned out to be cracks in my step filter. It happened a second time as well and it turned out to be the little rubber plugs for the step filter were poorly designed and they sent me replacements.
When the leak was very small it definitely appeared to be coming from inside the machine but it was just a small amount of liquid from the step filter compartment finding its way through the silicone seals.
Has anyone received their Zymatic from Kickstarter. No info at all from picobrew
I've joined the brewmarketplace and have an account set up with them. No info on shipping over here, but then again, I'm up in Canada so it will probably be after all the domestics shipped.
No shipping data yet, but my pledge was in the low 900's so it may be a while. I have not received credentials for the brewmarketplace either. I was presuming that I would receive that when I receive shipping info. Has everyone else already obtained the credentials?
Still researching this unit to purchase. Final concern is over chilling wort. End of the day I want to use an immersion chiller.
My thoughts are to purchase a modular keg in place of the pico provided one. Would that work? I'm assuming dimensions would be similar. When i transfer to keg. I could take top section off, put an immersion chiller in and cover with tin foil. Once cooled, put lid back on, pitch yeast and put in ferm chamber. Thoughts?
I've tried to think of all kinds of methods for effectively cooling the wort and I think the best is to get an immersion chiller small enough to fit down a corny keg. I think you could get Jaded Brewing to make you one. I've seen a small one here: http://imgur.com/a/vwX5L
After doing multiple batches, its hard to beat putting the keg in a cold bucket and just waiting 20 minutes. Zero concerns about sanitation or extra equipment. Since its only 2.5 gallons, it cools down pretty quickly.
Getting a modular keg would work. All you need is a vessel (preferably insulated) with fittings you can attach tubing to. I was also thinking about getting an insulated mash tun and using that instead of a keg.
What happened with the Zymatic is that you received forum credentials when they started building your machine.
After doing multiple batches, its hard to beat putting the keg in a cold bucket and just waiting 20 minutes. Zero concerns about sanitation or extra equipment. Since its only 2.5 gallons, it cools down pretty quickly.
Anyone getting any beer stone build up in the adjunct screens? One of mine, almost a whole bottom square has brown build up. This is after multiple washes and an oxiclean soak.
I'm not too worried about a little discoloration though.
Then you drink the beer and make pee, which costs 2.5 gallons/flush.
So say 20 glasses of finished beer/batch, which would make you pee like 10 times. So you likely waste more water drinking it than making it.
Funny discussions - but true. And if you use RO water, a lot of waste water gets dumped, something like 4:1 waste:usable.
I would hope people are only using RO for the actual brew water, and not for cleaning!
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