Customer Ratings & Reviews

I joined the Pico C Kickstarter campaign as a “Super Early Bird.” I'd been interested in a PicoBrew for quite a while, but with the announcement of the more affordable Pico C I knew that the time was right. I'd know of the solid reputation of PicoBrew products and I had confidence that the Kickstarter would reach their goals. The goals where reached quickly (I pounced on the Pico C as an early bird, which allowed for me to be one of the first Pico C recipients), and I received my unit in late September. The Pico C arrived with nearly everything required to complete a start-to-finished product. In advance, I made sure I had a few gallons of distilled water (reverse-osmosis works, too) and plenty of StarSan to keep things clean. I also bought a PicoPak of Half Squeezed IPA because I wanted my first batch to be an ale (the unit shipped with a PicoPak of Helles Lager). After the initial rinse I loaded the vessels with distilled water, attached the Pico C to my wireless network, loaded up the PicoPak, and watched everything happen. It takes about two hours and it makes whatever room in which you're brewing smell great (or terrible if you're like my kids and don't know any better). I let the wort cool for 24 hours, then added the yeast, and waited about a week for the brew to ferment. I tossed in the provided hop packets for the dry hopping about 3 days before chilling the brew in the refrigerator overnight to crash the yeast. After a full day in the refrigerator I racked the beer from the fermenting keg into the serving keg. The Pico C ships with what is required to do natural carbonation (adding sugar to the serving keg to allow for natural carbonation), but I was anxious to try it so I invested in a CO2 kit and food-grade CO2 cannisters so that I could be ready to try it in 36 hours instead of the extended time required for natural carbonation. I followed the directions (from the Pico Pro manual) to carbonate with CO2 and everything worked perfectly. Great, fresh beer carbonated just right. I've heard the comparisons between brewing with the Pico C and making coffee with a K-Cups. There are some comparisons for sure, but there is enough interaction (in other words, lots of stuff to wash and keep clean) in the Pico brewing that I would classify as real brewing. You experience all of the stages of the brew process and all of the great aromas along the way. I would love for there to be a way to mix up my own ingredients at home and create my own kits, but for now this can only be done by Pico as a service they provide for those of us who want to create their own recipes. So Pico-packed PicoPaks are the only way to go. They're great, but it would be great to get more creative with my own. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the Pico C. I've only made beer so far. I will make some Kambucha tea at some point. The device also supports Sous Vide cooking, but I haven't tried that yet. I look forward to buying more kegs (when they are available) so that I'm not limited to one batch at a time. I've pre-ordered the PicoStill add-on, too. I guess one could say that I'm in it for the long haul. I hope this baby holds up because it will be really put to the test at my house...

The Picobrew Model C is an amazing product that allows anyone to brew their own beer quickly and easily with a lot less mess than a typical home brew sessions. The pico pacs cover a wide variety of styles and flavors that are easily inserted into the machine and can even be put on the compost pile when finished. Each facet of the brewing process is explained on the machine in detail with each step needing to be completed before moving on. The cleanup is easy and the beer is amazing, every time I brew one batch I'm immediately thinking of what my next will be. So far the best pico pacs I've had are the Helles Lager and Buffalo Sweat porter though I can't wait to try the fall spiced beer. I would recommend this product to anyone who loves beer. Worth the price and a great product for any home bar.

I just got into homebrewing a few months ago and I received the PicoBrew Model C as a gift. At first I wasn’t sure if I would use it as I’ve got all the equipment to brew 10 gallon all grain batches. But, as soon as I started my first brew I fell in love. I’ll be brewing my 7th batch today, so, needless to say, I’m hooked. Synopsis: - PicoBrew automates the wort making process, making it super easy to brew beer - Both experienced and inexperienced homebrewers will love how fun and easy it is to brew small batches of YOUR own beer - If you are wanting to get into homebrewing, don’t hesitate to buy this, you’ll love it, it inspired a new hobby for me Pros: - Easy to clean, automated brewing - Monitoring the brewing process via the website on your phone is just plain cool! - Still get that great grain and hops brewing smell (If you like beer, you’ll fall in love with the smell of brewing) - Beers come out consistently good Cons: - Small batches (this can actually be a pro in some cases) - Limited ability to customize your brews - PicoPaks can be hard to find and a bit expensive (Pro tip: You can get them at your local Best Buy) - No PicoPak in the box (order one with your Pico or you’ll be disappointed if you want to brew the same day you setup your Pico) Details: I love the PicoBrew as it lets me easily experiment with different styles of beer as well as getting to try beers from breweries I wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to try. I have to admit I was a little skeptical about the latter, as I really didn’t think that I, or this machine, could brew a beer like the big guys. I was wrong, with the PicoBrew, you really can. If you’ve ever homebrewed, you know that it basically consists of watching water boil and sanitizing. It’s a multi-hour process, and while rewarding in the end, is really time consuming. It requires constant monitoring, I have 2 kids and I have to have my wife watch them while I brew on the 10 gallon setup. The PicoBrew automates the wort making process. You don’t have to constantly monitor temperatures and the open flames of the burner, etc. You don’t even have to be there while it’s brewing, you can monitor progress on your phone or PC via their website (which is one of the coolest things about it). No babysitter needed when brewing with the Pico! As I mentioned above, once you smell the grains and hops boiling, you’ll love it. Though, if you or your house mates don’t like that smell, put it in the garage and avoid conflict. I mention above that one of the cons is limited ability to customize your brews. If you’ve never brewed beer, that’s probably not a big deal to you. If you have, you’ll feel a bit limited. However, one of the most delightful things is that you can customize your own PicoPaks online, from the grains, to the hops, to the yeast. Once you get a little more experienced, I highly recommend making your own PicoPak. I was amazed that they took the time to etch the name of the beer I made into the PicoPak! See the pics in this review for examples. PicoPaks can be hard to find and they are expensive. Watch for sales on their website. I looked forever to find them locally, turns out you can get them at Best Buy of all places. At this point I’ve always got a batch of PicoBrew beer and my own homebrew on draft. If you’ve got a kegerator, invest in one of the Pico Pro kegs (or buy a 1.75 gallon ball lock keg). In my opinion, kegging beer and carbonating with CO2 makes a better brew and it’s much faster from ferment to drinking. Even if you don’t, just using the included keg is fine. You might also considering the bottling kit, makes it much easier to share your brews, which is one of the most fun parts about home brewing. For me, I got so into it, that I ended up buying a kegerator so I could more quickly enjoy my own brews. I’m actually homebrewing more on my 10 gallon setup as a result of trying new things on the Pico. I love having the easy quick batches from the Pico to compliment my big batches. If you are thinking about buying the PicoBrew, just do it, you’ll love it, and maybe you’ll have a new hobby as well.

I had been mulling over buying the Pico S model for close to a year. Well, just by luck, patience paid off and I was one of the first that had made a pledge to their PICO C Kickstarter campaign. When people ask me what a Picobrew is, I explain to them that it's like a Keurig for beer, but with a longer wait time. I am by no means a home brewer. I love beer & would love to be a home brewer. I just don't have the time to do the research and educate myself the process for brewing beer from scratch. This is why the Pico C is great for someone like myself. It's completely fool proof and extremely easy to use. I have brewed an IPA, Double IPA and a Lager. Each beer has turned out great. I would highly recommend the Pico C for anyone that loves beer!!! Not to mention the impeccable service I have received from Picobrew! Cheers!!!!

We just finished our first homebrewed beer! It was super easy with the PicoC, we followed the instructions and out came the beer :D There was some question as to how long to ferment, but once the PicoFerm gets here that will be a non-issue. Here was our first brew:: Helles Lager by Lucky Envelope Brewing We really enjoyed this one, it had none of the bitter taste of an IPA and all the body of a lager. It carbonated very well with the sugar packet, gave a nice head. The taste was on the bready side, but we really enjoyed that. We will be ordering this one again. Cooled 24 hours before pitching the yeast Fast Fermented 8 days Chilled 24 hours Sugar Carbonated 7.5 days Total days from brew to serve: 18 days

I just brewed my first batch last week. The manual says from brew to pint in 7 - 10 days. It does not tell you that you have to purchase other things like a C02 regulator to carbonate the beer faster or wait an additional period of time before you can drink it. Other than that, I am pretty happy by how easy everything was...

To start with, I want to address one of the most frequent criticisms I see with this machine: it takes all of the craft out of brewing, and doesn't teach you anything about the process. I'm going to wholeheartedly disagree with this. I compare the Picos to my slow cooker. The difference between the recipes I put in the slow cooker and when I cook stovetop are miniscule, just sometimes I really do not have the smallest desire to monitor what I'm making as it cooks, and frankly that's my least favorite part of cooking. I like playing with ingredients and proportions, and honestly I love cleaning less junk. The Pico is perfect for all of that. The short of it is that the machine delivers exactly as promised: you insert the pack and water, you press go, out comes your wort. Cool however you prefer, pitch your yeast, and ferment. The provided decal to monitor fermentation temperature has worked well for me to keep my beer in range during the process and seems reasonably accurate to my thermometer readings as well. Racking is, again, absolute cake, and cask conditioning is no problem. The quality of beer I've produced so far has been exactly what I expected. It tastes good and fresh, I've had no off flavors, and the batch size is absolutely perfect for our consumption at home. To boot, if you buy two packs at once, shipping is free, so the pricing does not work out badly at all! I've read some horror stories on the homebrew forums on off flavors that crop up during fermentation, but from my experience alone I can't say I've had this happen. Of course, in the few steps you do need to be involved in (sanitizing, temperature monitoring for pitching and fermentation, even crashing) there is a lot of room for user error if you don't pay attention. But being that I wanted my first solo home brews to be perfect, I was probably overzealous in these stages, and mine turned out without a hitch. My second beer was a custom pack that I designed on my own, which is my absolute dream. No painstaking measurements, no traveling to multiple stores to find the ingredients I want, just write it up and it shows up at your door. Here's the kicker though. If you want it to taste how you want, you still have to learn how styles work, how fermentation temperature can affect the other flavors you may want (I, for example, had to fine tune my temperature for some ester production that I actually needed to occur), and you better be careful with those hands on steps I mentioned above. Still as easy as advertised in regards to the process of brewing itself, but now I got to put my flair into it. Best part? Still mostly hands off, right down to the clean-up. The machine definitely could use some add-ons, which is where my one star knock down comes from. If you don't want to rack into the mini keg, the machine won't help you out. I would love to see an update to the current program and a bottle-filler add-on to the fermentation keg that allows me to bottle as well. I know that this is about fresh brew, but sometimes storing and transporting a bottle is just plain easier. I would also love to see an option for a "re-usable" pico pack, or a filter insert that allows you to put your own grain and hops into the machine. Pico's selection of ingredients is very satisfying for now, and since I first joined their website they have already added more options, so I am not so much worried about variety, but proportions for custom packs are somewhat limiting. The smallest proportion of barley allowed by their production right now is still mountains more than I need to attempt to clone one of my favorite beers from afar, Four Peak's Kilt Lifter. Plus, as people get more and more into brewing with these machines, I think a lot of folks like myself may really want to get into the nitty gritty of measuring themselves, and I am hopeful that this will eventually be added on by the time I'm adventurous enough to want this. In summary, she performs as advertised. It's easy to use, easy to clean, and makes good quality beer if you put in your part of the work. Maybe some new things could be added down the line to make it even better, but for now I'm absolutely thrilled to have gotten in on the product.

I’ve been a home brewer for about 10 years and have experienced varying degrees of success. I’ve made some really good beers and some really bad ones, but most have fallen into the middle ground of “Meh”. The #1 reason for the failures and the “Meh” is lack of attention to detail. Basically, if you want to make good beer you must make the time to ensure that not only does brew day go as planned but that every subsequent step is done correctly and in the right time. Life seems to constantly interrupt me when the beer needs me most (ex. Going out of town unexpectedly when the beer is ready to be kegged) so I’ve been interested in solutions that automate at least some of the brewing process. Automated beer making solutions are becoming more prevalent but until the Pico C came along they all have exceeded my budget. I was very excited when news of the Kickstarter campaign for the Pico C came out because finally there was an automated process that I could afford! I signed up early enough to get significant discounts and anxiously followed the updates until I received my Pico C in October. A quick word about the Kickstarter campaign: Crowd funded businesses are rife with stories about overpromising and underdelivering products. Or businesses disappearing before a single product is delivered. Pico did an outstanding job of setting realistic expectations and then managing to them. In short, PicoBrew did everything well and if that same degree of care continues they’ll be around for a long time. Delivery day finally came, and I took possession of my Pico C, along with a Helles Lager brewpack. The unit was well-packaged and all pieces were present and accounted for. I was somewhat disappointed that the instructions are only available through a downloadable PDF file. I understand that the printed page is obsolete as soon as it is published but for something that requires step-by-step instructions to assemble and use I would prefer a pre-printed manual over an online version (or printing it myself with too much white space and superfluous graphics). Gripes about the manual aside, the Pico C looks like a well-engineered machine and I think it looks better in black than its stainless sibling. Setup was easy. I chose not to use it in my kitchen because my family hates the smell of brewing beer, but the footprint is small enough to where a workbench in a garage (or the top of a keezer) is plenty big. The initial cleaning was easy; I just set it up and walked away while the Pico C did its thing. The control panel is very easy to use and once one is familiar with the steps it provides sufficient instructions that it can replace the manual. The unit is a bit noisy in operation. Not garbage disposal loud but enough to where a housemate who is not a beer lover may find it reason enough to banish the brewer to a different part of the house. Brewing was a breeze. Once sanitation and setup are done it really is as simple as pushing a button and letting the Pico C do its things. Post-brewing cleanup is also very easy in comparison to doing everything by hand. The brew keg is well designed, and I love the fact that the whole process minimizes exposure to taste altering elements. Fermentation is when we get to the part where the brewer must be diligent. Leave the beer too long in the keg and it will develop off tastes. Take it out too soon and it may not finish fermenting. In other words, you can’t brew and set the keg aside for a few weeks, you must stay on top of it. That’s no different than any brewing process, of course. Now we get to the good part – the taste test! I did not use the supplied dispensing keg but instead used a small ball lock keg that I hooked up to my keezer. The verdict: This is good beer! It tasted clean and fresh, unlike so many of my efforts in the past that suffered from burned pots, contamination, fermentation accidents (it’s amazing how high a carboy can shoot your wort when there’s too much pressure built up!), etc. I really enjoyed the PicoBrew beer making process and the result. Here are some suggestions and deciding factors before you buy: An absolute beginner needs to be sure that he or she will stay interested in making beer before investing this kind of money. I’d start out with a small batch system before spending the money on a Pico C if you aren’t sure you will stick with it. If you’re already brewing and happy with your results (especially if you do all-grain) then the limited options and small amount of beer per batch probably don’t make the investment worth your while. Speaking of small amounts of beer, the output is sufficient for the hobbyist, but you aren’t going to keep a large crowd happy unless you make several kegs. Do not try to convince yourself or others (especially significant others) that it’s cheaper to make your own beer with the Pico C. I’d argue that no home brewing system is cheaper than buying commercial beer simply because one is always buying new, cool equipment! That said, the cost per ounce of beer is higher with the Pico C than some other brewing methods. The standard size of the brew pack likely means that Imperial-style beers (or any high gravity beverage) are out of range for the Pico C. There simply isn’t room for all the grain that’s needed to get the ABV up in the higher ranges. Perhaps PicoBrew will find ways to supplement the packs but if you’re a fan of high gravity Belgian ales you may want to shop around. I caution beginners to be very conscious of brewing temperatures. By far the hardest variable for me to control has been temperature. I live in a very hot region and the year-round temps of my house are at the upper limits of most beer styles. The Pico C actually helps me in that regard because the smaller keg size fits easily in a swamp cooler (I use a tub of water with a towel wrapped around the keg) or, even better, a mini-fridge with a temperature regulator set to the ideal brew temp. The instructions provided with the Pico C don’t cater to specific styles of beer so I urge the buyer to learn about optimal temperatures for styles and types of yeast. A few nits aside, I am very pleased with my Pico C. I just racked my second batch (which also tastes good) and I look forward to a steady schedule of brewing. I am quite sure that the creative folks at Pico will find new ways to get me to invest in them!

Got this as a gift for my boyfriend and i am extremely pleased with the durability of it and how nice it looks on the counter top

I love the Ring Doorbell. I feel secure and it has so many options.

I received my Pico Brew C a few weeks ago and have already brewed a few batches of fantastic beer. I have been brewing beer for almost a decade and have used a variety of home brew setups from 1 to 5 gallons. With that in mind, I knew the video made it seem a lot easier than it probably was but I was willing to give it a shot. I am very glad that I did. Overall I am very happy with the build quality and operation of the device. The instructions were clear and I think anyone without experience would likely brew great tasting beer with little hassle. I highly recommend this to anyone who is serious about brewing a variety of small batches on a regular basis. The Great. *The beer is excellent with just a little extra effort and that is the most important part. *The cleaning routines do a great job cleaning the machine and hoses. *Racking is easy and I now dread bottling when I brew beer any other way. *The instructions on the machine are clear and you will only need to read the instructions once or twice. *The Pico C is reasonably sized and looks good on the counter. The Other. *It definitely isn’t as quick and easy as it is in the video. You need to really focus on cleaning the components that are removable. *You will likely need two different storage locations. One for fermentation and another cooler one for storage during carbonation. *I really don’t like the cooling instructions. I modified my wort chiller to cool water in a 10 gallon pot where I just drop the keg in but that could certainly be improved. Leaving your keg out for 24 hours seems a bit risky and the keg is extremely hot with the wort in it. *I am not a huge fan of the brew keg and would have preferred the ball lock style of the other pico brews but I understand why they chose this route and it seems to work well. *Cleaning the serving keg is kind of a pain if you don’t clean it out immediately so always do that.

Setup was easy, first brew is now fermenting. Everything works great and the unit seems well made and well thought out.

Product reviews are not a specialty of mine, so please, bear with me as I try to make my review as beneficial as possible. I did not purchase the unit through Amazon, rather I was an early backer during Pico’s most recent Kickstarter campaign earlier this year (2017). I received the Pico C in October, and was pleasantly surprised at just how truly easy it was to not only setup, but to use as well. I am an experienced home-brewer, so the science/art of brewing was not new to me, though I was slightly skeptical of the automated approach to creating the wort. (I love technology, but I also do not put blind faith in it.) After the first brew process was complete, which I watched like a hawk, I was hooked. Everything the literature claimed would happen did, and all of the claims Pico made were true. This is truly a hands-off approach to brewing, at least in regard to the creation of the wort, and freed up a lot of time. (Clean up time has been reduced, significantly, thank goodness! I love the fact that most pieces are dishwasher safe.) I love to brew, though trying to allocate the necessary amount of time for a traditional all grain batch, was just becoming too difficult with all of the obstacles life has been throwing at me. Granted, the batch size with the Pico is smaller than I am used to, but because of the time it frees up, I am able to brew on a much more frequent basis. (There are a lot of PicoPaks to choose from as well, which is another bonus. I even created my own Freestyle Pak, based upon a previous recipe.) One thing that I feel is very important to point out, is that while the Pico is a great machine, and lives up to the marketing claims, it still requires some user input. I have a history with brewing, as stated previously, so some tasks/requirements have become second nature. While the Pico makes incredible wort, the user must still pay close attention to the fermentation process. I strongly suggest to anyone that wishes to have the best beer possible, to pay close attention to fermentation recommendations. Temperature control is a must! Even though the fast fermentation adapter technically allows for the fermentation to be conducted at higher temperatures, I still recommend fermenting as close as possible to the range in which the yeast will best thrive. The last thing anyone wants, is to have a less than stellar beer, especially after putting time and energy into making it yourself. On another note, I will gladly admit that Pico has the best customer support that I have encountered in a really long time. I have had a few instances where I had to reach out to them, and their replies were not only prompt, but incredibly helpful. Every time I have contacted them, an issue has been resolved in about an hour, which is simply incredible. They stand by their products, which is huge, and are more than happy to help answer even the simplest of questions. All in all, I am certainly happy that I took the plunge and picked up a Pico C. It has made brewing fun again, which is what brewing should be about. I will definitely recommend the Pico to any individual that is wanting to start home brewing, or to any individual that, like me, has limited time to brew the traditional way.

Have you ever wanted to brew your own beer but didn't want the hassle or commitment to all the stuff to be a home brewer? The PicoBrew is you answer! Instead of having to go outside with an open flame and try to make 5 gallons of something you may not like, PicoBrew has made brewing beer almost as easy as making a pot of coffee. The PicoBrew is self contained and easily fits on your counter. It automatically detects the beer type from the Pico Pak and you can adjust the subtle flavor of the beer. From brewing that takes around 3 hours, to fermenting (1 to 2 weeks) and then adding CO2 (like the ones for paint guns), you will have your own brewed beer. There is a large variety of flavors of beers through the pico brew.com site. You can even create your own recipe. I have been brewing for many years and there are times in which you want to do something easy & quick. That is the perfect time for Pico Brew C. I have been using my Pico brew since it was launched via the Kickstarter. I love the ease and the quick clean up. You make your beer cheaper than the craft 4 pack in the stores at 10 or 12 bucks. I love darker beers and the ones from the PicoPaks are very tasty!

I received the Pico C at the start of October and have already brewed 3 beers and cooked with the Sous Vide functionality. First and foremost, this unit is easy to use. Brewing is simple and does not take a lot of your hands-on time. The biggest misconception I have seen with others about my machine is the fact that the beer still takes time to ferment and carbonate. The 2 or so hours to brew is just the first component. Expect another week or two before the beer is ready for you to share with friends. Depending on the beer you can have a timetable going where one beer is fermenting in the brew keg while the previous beer is finishing carbonation and being served. Make sure you have replacement serving keg plugs, however as these are one-time use. Cleaning between brews, whether it is the quick or deep clean, is simple and straightforward. The machine walks you through almost all steps on the display for whatever operation you are performing. While this is nice I still find myself looking at the manual, which is only available online, for some of the charts and timing information. Cooking with the Sous vide functionality is an added benefit. While other products utilize something attached to the size of a container to Sous Vide there are multiple discussions about having to add balls to the water or lids with custom holes to reduce the evaporation. The Pico C takes care of this by utilizing the step filter container to perform the cook. The only possible issue with this is that the size of the step filter cannot increase for larger cooks. I was able to cook 4 125ml jars with eggs in them without issue but adding more might pose issues.

Great way to get into the brewing process! A must for all aspiring future brewmasters.

Waiting on the finished product but so far so good and have tried beer from a friend's pico and it was yummy!

Just set up my man cave and this was a welcome addition. Looking forward to brewing with my friends! Ordered some pics packs for some different flavors so once they are received will try some new flavors. Loving it so far!

A Kreug for my alcoholism. What better way to start the morning by putting in the pod of hops and brew a mini keg for my drive to work.

I am thrilled so far with my Pico C. Thus far, I’ve made a lager and am fermenting a mosaic IPA that looks to be very promising. The lager (Helles Lager) was quite impressive and even my wife, who is a non-beer person, went back for many refills. The brewing process had an easy to follow guide and even included a few videos published on Picobrew’s website to help prepare for what seems to be a daunting task. My Experience: The brewing process was very easy to follow. I expected a mess to cleanup but really it was self-contained and not as bad as I had imagined. Fermentation was quick, but carbonation took twice the time for fermentation (took 10 - 12 days to naturally carbonate with sugar). There are options for expediting that but requires additional BrewGear to do so. Everything was simple, from pairing to wifi, selecting the pack, filling with required amounts of reverse osmosis water, and even sanitizing using star-san….nothing was that complicated other than understanding how to do something the first time. Sanitizing was another understanding entirely to get the ratio correct, how much would be needed, and how long to let it dry but after some quick research it was more than I made it out to be. At the end of the process, I shared some with friends and family and everyone enjoyed it. I have been browsing around the BrewMarketplace and am anticipating even more variety beyond the 100 that are in there. Other thoughts: The smell of cooking beer wort is a little powerful, but it is easily controllable by moving the machine near a kitchen exhaust fan. To be able to cook this inside is more of a plus to other homebrewers. If you ever want to pressurize and serve directly from the fermenting keg (like in a kegerator), then opt for a different model.