New Homebrew system kickstarter

[Name Redacted]

I'm usually pretty skeptical about these kind of things, but this one has some pretty serious backing and has some pretty cool features. All grain brewing, no extracts, uses real hops, and logs info directly to your computer. This could even be a good pilot system for bigger breweries.



https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...brewing-applia

[freebeerisgood]

I think it would take away some of the satisfaction I get from creating my own brew. Some people like the hard work and attention to detail required to create a great tasting brew at home.
That being said I think its a pretty fantastic contraption they have created, I like the computer integration. I'd be interested in putting my hands on one.

[sb]

Interdasting, $1699 price tag.

Not sure I want to give up all my control to a machine.

Kind of like buying a device to ski for you cause you are too lazy to actually do it.

It would be nice for pilot brews for consistency sake.

Cheaper than a SABCO. For me the big advantage would be ability to brew inside during bad weather.

If they could speed up the fermenting process that would be an innovation!

http://www.picobrew.com/shop

[Vt-Freeheel]

Jebus 1700 clams to autobrew beer ala Ron Popeil "set it and forget it". What's next? "Irishman in a box" to drink it.
Might just as well buy beer from the store.

[Tippster]

Wow, they blew their $150k goal out of the water!

"Just add water, grain, and hops..."

No yeast?

Why the fuck did an ex-Microsoft VP need to raise $150k?

[Name Redacted]

Wow, they blew their $15k goal out of the water!

$150K, but yeah, over quadrupled.

I think that it'd definitely be cool to experiment with different recipes so easily, without having to put in the elbow grease. There's still plenty of work to be done with recipe formulation.

[Captain Awesome]

No yeast?

It's primarily focused on making lambics.

[systemoverblow'd]

Why the fuck did an ex-Microsoft VP need to raise $150k?

You always concentrate on spending other peoples money before your own.

[sb]

No yeast?

You add it to keg after it refills with wort.
My buddy called it a bread maker for beer.
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[Name Redacted]

My buddy called it a bread maker for beer.

That's pretty accurate.

Wonder if it's got a heat exchanger built in too. Pretty crazy to fit all that in the little box.

[sb]

It has to have one to mash and boil but none for cooling. They suggest the keg be placed in a cold water bath bee4 pitching yeast.

Lame.

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[Ksyrium]

It has to have one to mash and boil but none for cooling. They suggest the keg be placed in a cold water bath bee4 pitching yeast.

Lame.

So it is for making lambics

[bean]

Looks cool and would make brew days SO much easier but damn, way too expensive.

And LOL at thinking it's fine to ferment 5 gallons in a 5gal keg with a simple airlock. I recently had a 5gal batch launch a blowoff cap in to the ceiling off of a 6gal carboy.

Edit: Looks like it only makes 2.5gal batches. LOL.

[sb]

As to the expense, you can spend more and you can spend less on beer making or any hobby. I probably have spent more than $1700 on my beer gear.

On the webpage they seem to have a 3 gal system and a 5 gal system. It looks well made and R&D seems to have been up to standard.

Time will tell if it sells, seems to be targeted at rich folks who want to make beer with out actually having to do it. One still has to chill the wort, pitch yeast, rack to bottles or kegs, plus all the post brew clean up.

[Name Redacted]

and is it really that bad for rich people to want to easily brew their own beer?

You could also do multiple brews over a few days into a larger fermenter like a 1/2 bbl keg fermenter.

Considering they have guys from White Labs and other pro brewers endorsing it, I'm guessing they have systems for chilling the wort and monitoring fermenter temps ect.

As expensive as it may seem, it's still much cheaper than many of the brewmagic systems and much less hands on, which I feel is overrated after a while.

I'd play with one.

[Hugh Conway]

Considering they have guys from White Labs and other pro brewers endorsing it, I'm guessing they have systems for chilling the wort

< shrug > apparently not, it's just a wort maker. whatever, you dig this, I guess if you don't have the space or something, but if you are at all handy you can put together a system for well less than $1700. and computer instrumentation isn't that hard or expensive.


the points so TGR though; deliveries should be soon and people can report whether it works, or not, and how well it works < shrug >

[Name Redacted]

< shrug > apparently not, it's just a wort maker. whatever, you dig this, I guess if you don't have the space or something, but if you are at all handy you can put together a system for well less than $1700. and computer instrumentation isn't that hard or expensive.


the points so TGR though; deliveries should be soon and people can report whether it works, or not, and how well it works < shrug >

As a pilot brew system, which at least some of the people in the video act like this is, you need tight controls on many aspects of the process like mash temp.. If this system offers that, it could be very helpful and actually cheaper than a lot of systems that you could build yourself that would accomplish this task.

For instance, the RIMS Wizard from SABCO is what a homebrewer or pilot brewer who wanted to do a highly controlled batch would use. This item alone, without mash tun, kettle, and fermenter, costs almost exactly the same amount as a Pico Brew.


Now I'm not saying that the two are the same, or that the Pico does everything the RIMS does, but if it is able to offer certain controls for pilot brewing, it could be a useful tool.
Washington Beer Blog: http://www.washingtonbeerblog.com/se...tion-picobrew/

Surprisingly for me, according to co-founder, president and CEO, Bill Mitchell, their target buyer isn’t a well-to-do homebrewer. The initial target is actually pro brewers who can use the PicoBrew to work with new grains and hops, and do nano-sized test batches before scaling recipes up to the full system. While the PicoBrew will cost in the neighborhood of $1500, for pro breweries that’s still less expensive than messing around with test recipes on a seven-barrel system.

And Seattle times article: http://seattletimes.com/html/busines...lumn30xml.html
Also pretty cool:

PicoBrew’s software dashboard is used to concoct recipes and adjust brewing cycles. Users can share recipes through the service and monitor the brewing process remotely on their smartphone.

[Hugh Conway]

So they've sold it to 20% of the breweries in the US? Whatever sales monkey. I can read a spec sheet(oops, there isn't really one) and a sale pitch just as good as you; like I said above the question is how it actually works. Shit's supposed to have been delivered already.

[shirk]

When it's 100% self cleaning and bottling then they'll be onto something.

I hate the cleaning part of homebrewing.

Standing around stiring the wort on the burner while drinking beer is so bad.

[Name Redacted]

Sooo what's your point Hugh?

[Hugh Conway]

Sooo what's your point Hugh?

other than waving your dick, what's yours? I'd like to see what kind of beer it produces and how reproducible it is before jizzing my pants about how cool some kickshitter thing that isn't delivered yet is. But, the other one was simply if it's only meant to be a "pilot brew" system for breweries, that's a tiny addressable market

[Name Redacted]

other than waving your dick, what's yours? I'd like to see what kind of beer it produces and how reproducible it is before jizzing my pants about how cool some kickshitter thing that isn't delivered yet is. But, the other one was simply if it's only meant to be a "pilot brew" system for breweries, that's a tiny addressable market

So you have no point. As always, douching for the point of douching. Ramble of Hugh.

My point was that it isn't just a fancy espresso machine for beer, but a tool that can possibly be used by breweries and homebrewers to produce highly controlled batches. Seems like that could be beneficial.

Over 2500 breweries in the US and growing and that's a small market.

[abraham]

< shrug > apparently not, it's just a wort maker. whatever, you dig this, I guess if you don't have the space or something, but if you are at all handy you can put together a system for well less than $1700. and computer instrumentation isn't that hard or expensive.


the points so TGR though; deliveries should be soon and people can report whether it works, or not, and how well it works < shrug >

Yeah you can if you know enough or have the inclination to tinker. Especially with things like beagleboards so cheap. Unfortunately I suspect this is aimed at people who like the idea of home brewing more than the process and tinkering.

My friend's dad decided to start the automation process with the fermenters. He has 6 individually controlled fermenting spaces in a large freezer. Now he's melting something like this for holding writer at set temps. Eventual goal is an electric automated brewery because he had some joint issues. Of course the tinkering and programming is part of the fun for him and the beer is a nice byproduct.

[shirk]

Of course the tinkering and programming is part of the fun for him and the beer is a nice byproduct.

Isn't that the point of homebrewing? I know that is why I like it and many of the other hobbies I do in the garage.

[abraham]

Well whenever I visit he's working on the computer more than brewing but yeah it is the point. He also does 2.5 gallon batches to test little ingredient changes.

I lent my brewing gear to a friend a few years ago when it was obvious I didn't have the time or space for it. Just got it all back together and am looking forward to starting the process again soon.