It's been a year since my last post on my brewing adventures so I figure I might as well update the blog. It's been a good year of brewing. I have been using the Pico C almost exclusively and since they now have manual brew options I am able to get more creative again and get back to brewing my own recipes.
The Pico C has had some issues this year where I've had to have replacement units. The first was last fall after my last blog post. I brewed the Denny Conn Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter. somewhere during the mash the machine clogged up and something broke (I honestly can't remember what at this point it was). Pico sent me several replacement units as all of them had one issue or another. I was down until Christmas time brewing. Once those issues were straightened out, i got back to brewing kits and really had some great success. Some of the kits I made were the best I've ever made since I've been brewing.
Pico introduced a way to finally do manual brews along with the ability to cold brew coffee. Pretty slick! I made a batch of coffee which turned out great. I then went on to make some manual brews. One turned out really well, the other had something wrong with it. I don't think it was an infection but it had the sour apple taste so i am assuming I left it too long on the yeast or transferred some of the yeast into the keg when i kegged it. I ended up dumping that batch totally. I made a batch the same day as the cold brew and had continued problems. The Pico C ended up blowing some sort of part inside which caused a loud pop and for water to go everywhere. All the troubleshooting narrowed it down to a pump issue so Pico thankfully and generously issued a replacement. The replacement unit had some sort of leak issue also. Pico walked me through several different things to try and one of them finally worked. Seems there was some grain clogging one of the lines. Once that cleared, I have been able to make brews without issue on this particular unit.
I have 4 more kit beers to get through and then I will start working on a Juicy IPA house recipe using the manual brew method. It's my favorite style but i haven't had much success in trying to brew a good one. I can seem to make IPA's just fine, but the juicy ones are escaping me in process. More research is needed on the steps, when to hop, and best types of hops to use. I have been focused on Citra and El Dorado but need to branch out and try some others.
Here are some of the kits I have brewed this year:
Denny Conn Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter (double batch)
Pico Anniversary Double IPA
Ubahdank IPA
Harlem 125 IPA
The Red Queen
Hop Bang Boom Imperial IPA
Hop of The Walk IPA
Hop Session
Upslope Brown Ale
'Murica - American Pale Ale
Lid Ripper - Hazy IPA
Amber Waves - 100 mile beer
Otis Oatmeal Stout
Belgium is a Country IPA
Habitus Double IPA
Monday, October 7, 2019
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Updates On New Brews
I've been making beers every other week for the most part for the last month. One mishap occurred when I ended up siphoning off half a batch of 21.3 IPA onto the floor of the brew shop. I have been using a racking cane to rack into a Torpedo keg and when I lifted it up to get the siphon moving the end of the hose jumped out of the keg. Took me a minute to realize what happened but by that point alcohol abuse was in full swing all over the floor. The good news is that the beer that made it into the keg and later carbonated turned out really well. I was impressed with what was produced in that batch and I will order that Pico pak again and give it another try. It may have been good enough to try to knock out a double batch in one day in order to get a bigger keg. I also brewed Stargazer IPA a week or so ago and dry hopped it this week. That one should get kegged up on Saturday if there is a free keg available.
Next thing I plan to work on is a recipe for the Zymatic as I feel I have been neglecting that machine as of late with the ease of use of the C. With the Pico C I can start a brew, go do other things for a couple hours, and come back to completed wort. The Zymatic is similar but with the step filter issues and cracks, I do feel like I shouldn't just leave it for hours and walk away. I tend to check on it every half hour during the brew process. There are a couple of batches that I have on hand that haven't been brewed just yet. There is a BVIP (Denny!) that I think I may brew up this weekend and I think I have an IPA still to brew that takes some maple syrup which should be an interesting beer to try. There are a lot of interesting new beers on the marketplace that I want to try - Bad Jimmy's Imperial IPA, Sluggy Buggy Oatmeal Stout, and Belgium is a Country by Stickman.
Next thing I plan to work on is a recipe for the Zymatic as I feel I have been neglecting that machine as of late with the ease of use of the C. With the Pico C I can start a brew, go do other things for a couple hours, and come back to completed wort. The Zymatic is similar but with the step filter issues and cracks, I do feel like I shouldn't just leave it for hours and walk away. I tend to check on it every half hour during the brew process. There are a couple of batches that I have on hand that haven't been brewed just yet. There is a BVIP (Denny!) that I think I may brew up this weekend and I think I have an IPA still to brew that takes some maple syrup which should be an interesting beer to try. There are a lot of interesting new beers on the marketplace that I want to try - Bad Jimmy's Imperial IPA, Sluggy Buggy Oatmeal Stout, and Belgium is a Country by Stickman.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
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.
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.
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Picobrew C thoughts and Observations
I've had this little Pico C unit now since May 2018. Since then I have brewed 5 packs on it plus a 6th one that I am brewing today. I have done Little RIPA, CO Brew Mosaic IPA, Black IPA, Jack's Ass English IPA, Stingray IPA, and now Rogue Dead Guy Ale. I have a few more packs to brew from a special that Pico ran a few months ago on a 6 pack of beers but since they are an Imperial Porter and an Imperial Oatmeal Stout I'll wait till the cooler weather starts to get here before brewing those up.
When researching the Pico C I saw a lot of posts on the Internet about problems either with the process or the machine itself. On the Internet you mostly just see people complain, not many people hit a forum when things are going well. They go there for help on a specific issue or something they aren't clear on or just to bitch about something. It's the nature of the Internet. I am one of the examples where I haven't had any machine problems or issues with any of the brews. Sure, I forgot to add dry hops to both the Black EYE PA and the Mosaic beer, but both still turned out very well. The machine itself has ben nothing short of stellar and everything I do on it works as designed. I have fermented in the brew keg, I have also fermented in better bottles. From now on I will be fermenting in the better bottles so I can brew a second or third batch while the first is fermenting. I also want to pick up a few more Torpedo kegs as having to finish one off before racking a new beer on top seems excessive when you have a triple tap kegerator.
One of the weaknesses I see with the Pico C over the Pico Pro is the serving keg. The one provided is difficult to clean, doesn't maintain carbonation well, and needs new plastic tops every batch or two. The Pro model uses a real keg for serving. Cost-wise though I think it's better to get a C and the torpedo kegs. If you have quick disconnects on your kegerator, that is the way to go.
I have enjoyed every brew that I have made on the Pico C. I haven't had any off flavors in any of the beers, the equipment is simple to clean. All of the instructions are built into the software on the display so it's hard not to get it right. A lot of people complain about the packs breaking. The first batch I did the pack broke slightly but still produced good beer. Haven't had a pack issue since the first either so maybe they are getting better with materials and design so they don't break. The other thing I really like abut this unit is that I can set it up in the basement in my workshop and plug it in and it just goes form there. I don't need to drag it to the kitchen or waste counter space on it.
What about the Zymatic? I've been brewing on the C because the brew day can be done with very little interaction or actual work. Pop a pack in, add water, go. The Zymatic that I have is now back up to speed thanks to the good folks at Pico. I had a cracked step filter that needed replacing and they sent me a new one within about a week. I went yesterday and bought ingredients for a NEIPA that I want to make, so that will be my next brew. This is a recipe created by someone else but tweaked a little by me to my liking. I still plan to brew on the Zymatic as long as the machine holds up. Look for an update on the NEIPA maybe next weekend when I get to brewing it.
I've been working on a logo for my brewery for a long time on and off. I need to find someone who can take my crayon drawing and make a digital piece of artwork that I can then use to be able to print it up on things. If anyone knows someone who can do this on the cheap, I am all ears. I don't believe it to be a complicated logo but then again I know nothing about graphic design.
When researching the Pico C I saw a lot of posts on the Internet about problems either with the process or the machine itself. On the Internet you mostly just see people complain, not many people hit a forum when things are going well. They go there for help on a specific issue or something they aren't clear on or just to bitch about something. It's the nature of the Internet. I am one of the examples where I haven't had any machine problems or issues with any of the brews. Sure, I forgot to add dry hops to both the Black EYE PA and the Mosaic beer, but both still turned out very well. The machine itself has ben nothing short of stellar and everything I do on it works as designed. I have fermented in the brew keg, I have also fermented in better bottles. From now on I will be fermenting in the better bottles so I can brew a second or third batch while the first is fermenting. I also want to pick up a few more Torpedo kegs as having to finish one off before racking a new beer on top seems excessive when you have a triple tap kegerator.
One of the weaknesses I see with the Pico C over the Pico Pro is the serving keg. The one provided is difficult to clean, doesn't maintain carbonation well, and needs new plastic tops every batch or two. The Pro model uses a real keg for serving. Cost-wise though I think it's better to get a C and the torpedo kegs. If you have quick disconnects on your kegerator, that is the way to go.
I have enjoyed every brew that I have made on the Pico C. I haven't had any off flavors in any of the beers, the equipment is simple to clean. All of the instructions are built into the software on the display so it's hard not to get it right. A lot of people complain about the packs breaking. The first batch I did the pack broke slightly but still produced good beer. Haven't had a pack issue since the first either so maybe they are getting better with materials and design so they don't break. The other thing I really like abut this unit is that I can set it up in the basement in my workshop and plug it in and it just goes form there. I don't need to drag it to the kitchen or waste counter space on it.
What about the Zymatic? I've been brewing on the C because the brew day can be done with very little interaction or actual work. Pop a pack in, add water, go. The Zymatic that I have is now back up to speed thanks to the good folks at Pico. I had a cracked step filter that needed replacing and they sent me a new one within about a week. I went yesterday and bought ingredients for a NEIPA that I want to make, so that will be my next brew. This is a recipe created by someone else but tweaked a little by me to my liking. I still plan to brew on the Zymatic as long as the machine holds up. Look for an update on the NEIPA maybe next weekend when I get to brewing it.
I've been working on a logo for my brewery for a long time on and off. I need to find someone who can take my crayon drawing and make a digital piece of artwork that I can then use to be able to print it up on things. If anyone knows someone who can do this on the cheap, I am all ears. I don't believe it to be a complicated logo but then again I know nothing about graphic design.
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