Juicy IPA and a Dead Guy

In the last two weeks I knocked out a couple of batches on my machines. On August 5th I brewed the Rogue Dead Guy Ale clone on the Pico C and I did the Juicy Bits clone on the Zymatic August 12th. This was the first brew on the Zymatic since I received a replacement step filter from Picobrew. Both brews went as planned barring one small issue on the Zymatic. When it was time to rack to the fermenter the pump wouldn't prime. The flow was so slow that it would have taken hours to pull the wort out and fill the fermenter. I ended up just using a siphon and filling the fermenter that way. In looking more into the pump issue I found that the dip tube may have been clogged. I took a pipe cleaner that I use for dip tubes and tried to push the clog out. It ended up working so I went on and ran a few rinses and they went well.

The issue with the Zymatic brings up a point about these machines. They do have issues from time to time. If you expect that you'll just set it and forget it, you're going to be in for a bad day. It still requires you to look from time to time to make sure the pumps and working, make sure that it doesn't overflow, or that it doesn't lose wifi connectivity. There are posts on Facebook and in the Pico forums where people complain that they have to babysit the unit. Here's a newsflash: professional brewers babysit their gear constantly. It's rare to see a pro brewery set something, walk away and never look at it again until they think it's finished. I expect to have to monitor the brew during the cycle. It still beats the constant watching of the boil/mash/checking temps that I used to have to do with my larger all grain setup. My last Pico batch I think I ended up taking a nap while it was brewing. I seem to not have problems with the Pico C (fingers crossed, knock on wood) but the Zymatic is a little more finicky.

Both brews have been fermenting away nicely. Had a bit of a yeast issue with the Juicy Bits beer as you can see below. I added dry hops to that on Thursday and have another batch I may throw in on Monday. Should be ready for consumption on Labor Day weekend. That was the goal anyway. The plan is to try to keg up the Dead Guy ale on Monday or Tuesday and get that carbonated for next weekend.

This is the Juicy Bits clone after a day or two. Should have rigged a blowoff!

There are three more kits that I have for the Pico C from the order I placed back in May. The next brew I will do on the C I think is going to be the Brew Free or Die clone. I have an Oatmeal Stout and an Imperial Porter but I think I want to wait on those so they can be drinkable when the weather breaks and gets cooler. Not sure I want to be drinking an imperial porter when it's 95 degrees out. In looking at the Brew Marketplace that the Pico team has put together I see a lot of beers that I want to try. There are a couple of Juicy IPA's there that I may order to sneak in here for the first few weeks of football season.