Looks like they are making a smaller version. One thing I found interesting is the idea that they are going to try to secure recipes from craft brewers and pay a commission back to the brewers on the sale of “Pico packs”
It uses 5L mini kegs, which scare me. Could always use the little ball locks that Williams sells.
that is pretty cool, i would love to get a pico but they are so expensive. hopefully this could be a great way to get into it with out spending an arm and a leg.
It’s already at $33k
After reading a few articles, I can’t determine if the “Pico packs” are required. The unit does use some form of pack recognition. Denny is in the launch video, maybe he can elaborate.
I’m looking pretty hard at this for small batch brewing and experimenting if I can create my own “packs”.
The Pico sounds like the Keurig of the brewing world.
It appears that the boys at PicoBrew applied for and were granted patents on most of its design. I am certain that a patent attorney could find loopholes, but it looks like they own this market for the foreseeable future. These patents are very broad. I have not found the patent number for the last patent application.
Automated beer brewing system with vessel for brewing and fermenting
Patent number: 9109192
Abstract: A beer making system may use a detachable vessel to contain liquid during the mashing and boiling steps, and may also be used during the fermentation steps of beer making. The beer making system may recirculate liquid through the vessel, then select between several flow paths during the beer making process. A removable reservoir system having a grain reservoir and several hops or adjunct reservoirs may be selected as a flow path, as well as a bypass flow path. A programmable controller may cause liquid to recirculate through a heater and one of the various flow paths, the sequence, timing, and temperature profile of which are defined in a recipe for a particular beer.
Type: Grant
Filed: March 13, 2015
Issued: August 18, 2015
Assignee: PicoBrew, Inc.
Inventors: William H. Mitchell, James B. Mitchell, Avi R. Geiger
Multiple flow path recirculating brewing system with removable reservoirs
Patent number: 9102908
Abstract: A beer making device may have removable reservoirs through which brewing ingredients may be added. The removable reservoir may include a grain steeping reservoir and one or more adjunct or hops steeping reservoirs. A removable tub may contain the various reservoirs, and some or all of the various ingredient reservoirs may be removable from the reservoir tub. For example, a set of hops reservoirs may be manufactured as a single joined unit, and may be removable from the reservoir tub. The removable reservoirs may include a check valve which may shut off flow when the reservoir may be removed or dislodged, thereby minimizing leakage, and a beer making device may further sense such a situation and cause operations to cease.
Type: Grant
Filed: March 13, 2015
Issued: August 11, 2015
Assignee: PicoBrew, Inc.
Inventors: William H. Mitchell, James B. Mitchell, Avi R. Geiger
Cascading Hops Reservoirs for Recirculating Brewing System
Application number: 20150000532
Abstract: A cascading hops reservoir may have a series of hops or adjunct reservoirs, each having a drain and an overflow. The series of reservoirs may be used by causing flow through a first reservoir, which may cause liquid to flow through the reservoir and through the drain, as well as past an overflow. When a second set of hops or adjuncts may be added, the flow may be introduced to a second reservoir, which may flow through a drain and also overflow into the first reservoir. A series of multiple reservoirs may thus be used to introduce hops or other adjuncts into a brewing cycle in stages, with each additional stage including previous stages in the recirculating flow during the brewing cycle.
Type: Application
Filed: September 12, 2014
Issued: January 1, 2015
Inventors: William H. Mitchell, James B. Mitchell, Avi R. Geiger
Exactly. I would only consider plopping down the money on one if there was a “My K-Cup” solution for it.
And that’s exactly what it is and what it’s intended to be. I was up there last week and saw it and tasted some beers from it. If you watch the kickstarter video you can see my reaction.
They’ll have 4 of my recipes as kits…
I’m an email away from purchasing a Zymatic. These guys have been great as far as customer service goes - and I don’t even own one yet! Not something I’m used to. I’ve been pestering them with tons of questions for a while now, and it’s about an hour until Kevin responds. I’m happy to see that they are expanding their lineup, which should mean that the company isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
My take is that company is extremely stable. Keep in mind they have a worldwide market so that’s a lot of amortization! Tell Kevin you;re my friend and I said to give you a discount!
Isn’t it already a “My K-Cup” solution? You load the grain and hops and program the recipe, right?
If there was a 5 gal version (and I had the money), I’d be all over one of these. Wort production is a chore.
In the Zymatic, yes. In the Pico (the new one), the ingredients come premeasured in sealed ingredient packs. Like a Keurig. You put in the pack and it has instructions for the Pico on mash steps, etc. The only control you have is a bit of temp control for body. Keep in mind that the market for the Pico is not necessarily homebrewers. it’s craft beer lovers who don’t have access to good beer, or don’t have the time or space to make it otherwise.
Will beer fermented on the kitchen counter be good? My kitchen is 78-80F in the summer. Not that much cooler in the winter. Maybe 70F.
[quote]Users then add yeast and refrigerate the brew to let it ferment.
The 5-liter kegs that the Pico produces can fit on a standard refrigerator shelf, another thing customers asked for.
[/quote]
Presumably it will be temperature-controlled with a heating element.
Presumably it will be temperature-controlled with a heating element.
[/quote]
If they temp control the ferment they will really have something. At that point it will be hard for a newbie to screw up.
The Zymatic is closer to that, but for a ~2.5-3 gallon batch size, it’s way expensive. $500 for something that does a ~1.25 gallon batch size is much more reasonable, and I would be thinking more along the lines of pilot testing recipes before going to my bigger system. Another use would be for competitions.
There are already similar products being developed.
Brewie: Brewie: World's first fully automated home-brewery | Indiegogo
MiniBrew: MiniBrew: Brew fresh craft beer anytime anywhere | Indiegogo
Minibrew is $2k. Dutch engineering has a premium I guess.
Not after these ventures get a visit from PicoBrew’s legal team! It pays to perform a patent search before attempting to enter another company’s market.