PicoBrew Zymatic

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I have a friend who is forced to downsize and is looking to offload an original Zymatic (pre- Z series).  I’ve been brewing 10 gallon all-grain batches for over 20 years.  Lately my beer consumption has decreased but I am still very interested in experimenting with smaller batches and trying out new ingredients.

Is the Zymatic still a relevant and viable product.  Understanding this is a departure from how most of us brew, will these things still operate into the future or will they fall victim to viability and support of the parent company?

2

These can be relevant. A few things to know:

  1. PicoBrew corporate seems to be closing down. They were sold to an early investor who seems to be shutting the business down. The Picobrew website is rumored to only be available until end of this year.  No one knows for sure because there is zero communication from corporate. There is no support.

  2. An internet connection to the Picobrew.com website is needed to brew. There is a open source alternative to replace the Picobrew website. You need a Raspberry Pi OW. The software and instructions are here: Release Buster Lite Image Targeting Raspberry Pis · chiefwigms/picobrew_pico · GitHub

  3. There is a guy Mike Howard that has reverse engineered the Zymatic and knows how to repair most problems. You can find him here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/picobrew-zymatic.434787/

  4. Mike Howard and the guys who developed the software in #2 above are in a Facebook in a group called Picobrewers. If you join that you can get support.

PS. I have a Zseries and love it. Although I wonder how long it will last. I think I can get a few more years out of it.  By then I will probably be ready to move on anyway.  I have brewed many ways over the years. Zseries is more hands off than most systems but you have complete control of the recipe, water, and fermentation. So, you can make any beer anyone else can. I even make one 5 gallon recipe in the Zseries (3.5 gallons before topping up.) Most of my brews are 2.5 gallons.

3

Excellent information.  This gives me a lot to consider and research.  Thank your for taking the time to respond.

5

I know you’re probably trying to help your friend out by buying his zymatic but I wouldn’t race to buy a piece of equipment that relies on manufacturer support or the goodwill of users keeping it functional.

There’s already a lot of the all in one systems pouring into used markets that require less fuss that you could probably buy for the same or a little more money.