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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

PicoBrew Z

PicoBrew Ships Z Series, A Modular Brewing System for Aspiring Craft Brewing Pros

PicoBrew announced this week that the first Picobrew Z1 has rolled off the production line and made its way to the customer, local food pioneer Ron Zimmerman of the Herbfarm.

As you might recall, the Picobrew Z series is PicoBrew’s attempt to fill the gap between the home and pro markets with a modular brewing system that allows aspiring brewing pros (or really heavy drinking home brewers) to scale up to 10 gallons per brew.

Here’s how PicoBrew CEO Bill Mitchell described the Z series in February:

We’re introducing the PicoBrew Z Series, our first professional-grade, all-grain brewing appliance line. While we have been very successful with 2 generations of consumer Pico machines, we have not yet addressed the needs of the prosumer and professional audience since the launch of our original Zymatic…until now! Reap the benefits of larger batch sizes from 1 to 10 gallons, rugged, maintainable, industrial grade components designed for professional use and more with the new PicoBrew Z Series.

As a pioneer in the local food movement,  one might wonder why Herbfarm founder Ron Zimmerman would embrace a beer brewing robot. As it turns out, he’s been using the original Zymatic for years to brew his own locally sourced recipes:

Ron’s a long-time beer brewer who learned the craft using a traditional gas-fired setup. Several years ago, he discovered the magic of the PicoBrew Zymatic™ and he was hooked!  The proud owner of several Pico™ units as well, Ron recently acquired a second Zymatic to help him brew over 30 batches of his own Amber Waves recipe for his famous 100-mile dinner, and also to test, refine, and publish his Amber Waves PicoPak on BrewMarketplace.

Shipping the Z1 is an important milestone for PicoBrew, which experienced a setback in June when it decided to cancel the Kickstarter campaign for the Pico U. At the time, Mitchell said the company had a “lot on our plates right now” and pointed to the still-to-ship products in the PicoStill and Z series. With both now shipping, it will be interesting to see if the company relaunches its crowdfunding effort for the Pico U (which PicoBrew has indicated will still ship in the first half of 2019) later this fall.

Preorder Pricing For PicoBrew Z, PicoBrew’s Pro Brewing System, Starts At $1,499

Last week when the Spoon was the first to write about the PicoBrew Z,  I speculated about what the pricing would be for PicoBrew’s latest product line. I guessed the system, which is intended to fill the gap between home brew systems and commercial setups that typically start with a barrel (30 gallons) brewing capacity, would start below $10 thousand.

While I was right, I admittedly shot a bit high. The PicoBrew Z MSRP pricing ranges from $2,500 to $8,500 and is currently priced at up to a 50% discount for preorder customers.

Per the release:

  • Z1 produces up to 2.5 gallons per brew cycle (MSRP $2,500, Pre-Order for $1,499)
  • Z2 produces up to 5 gallons per brew cycle (MSRP $4,000, Pre-Order for $1,999)
  • Z3 produces up to 7.5 gallons per brew cycle (MSRP $6,000, Pre-Order for $2,999)
  • Z4 produces up to 10 gallons per brew cycle (MSRP $8,500, Pre-Order for $3,999)

Preorders can only be purchased through the PicoBrew website, which marks a departure for a company that has become something of a Kickstarter darling. According to CEO Bill Mitchell, they are modeling their latest effort after that of Glowforge, which had a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign in 2015 when it launched its 3D printer through its own website. Much like the Glowforge 3D printer, the new PicoBrew Z is a product targeted at the pro/semi-pro market.

For those who prefer buying gear through Kickstarter, don’t despair. For future consumer-centric products like that of the Pico, Mitchell said the company will continue to use Kickstarter.

PicoBrew Unveils Its ‘Beer Publishing System’ For Aspiring Beer Entrepreneurs

When Bill Mitchell spoke at last year’s Smart Kitchen Summit, he discussed his company’s vision of creating a publishing system for beer makers to allow them to monetize their creations through what he called an “app store for beer”. Today PicoBrew unveiled the platform for making this happen: the PicoBrew Network. The announcement was made in conjunction with the launch of the new PicoBrew Z modular beer brewing system I wrote about last week.

So how does PicoBrew’s new beer publishing system work?

Aspiring publishers will use the PicoBrew Z or the PicoBrew Zymatic (the first generation appliance from PicoBrew) to create beer recipes using loose grains and hops. Unlike traditional home beer brewing gear, the PicoBrew gear allows beer brewers to craft recipes using software that connects directly to the brewing appliance and allows for precise recipe tweaks.

Once a brewer fine-tunes a recipe they want to submit, they can upload it to the PicoBrew Network (PBN) portal. PicoBrew will review the recipe and if things looks good, will create a test PicoPak (the “brewing pods” used by the PicoBrew Pico, the lower-cost, more automated brewing appliances for home users) to send to the recipe creator to verify whether the PicoPak-brewed-beer tastes like they intended.

Once the brewer and PicoBrew find the right mix of grains and hops to replicate the brewer’s recipe, PicoBrew will manufacture PicoPaks with this recipe and make them available to other PicoBrew appliance owners via the company’s BrewMarketplace. For each PicoPak sold, the crafter of the recipe of gets a royalty payment.

What’s interesting about PicoBrew’s new beer publishing system is it essentially offers a new way to monetize beer brewing that separates itself from the actual physical production of beer in the long run, making them not unlike a book author publishing their creation through a publishing house or on the Kindle bookstore.

While I think it’s an interesting new way for small beer makers to make money from their creations, some brewing traditionalists may not feel this way. Over on Reddit, one commenter wrote, “Selling recipes? For real? That goes against the very spirit of our hobby but I guess making an appliance for people who can’t brew is how you capture people that are willing to pay for app storeified brewing.”

My guess is that while some old-schoolers who paid the price and learned how to brew in their garage and embrace the DIY culture of traditional homebrewing may eschew digital approaches, others may see a new pathway to monetizing their love of beer-making. According to PicoBrew, they already have 800 home beer brewers who have applied to be a part of the PBN.

Mitchell believes the strong early interest in their beer publishing platform is partly because it allows the aspiring beer entrepreneur to sidestep the traditional costs of starting a craft beer brewery. “While we have all probably dreamed of quitting our day jobs and opening a brewery, startup costs and a competitive landscape make this option unworkable for most homebrewers,” Mitchell said in the announcement. “The PicoBrew Network (PBN) gives homebrewers the opportunity to distribute the beers they create and earn royalties, while PicoBrew does all the work of marketing, manufacturing and fulfilling the Paks.”

Part of the reason PicoBrew is launching the PBN now is they finally have the hardware for aspiring recipe creators to do both recipe crafting and PicoPak testing within one appliance. The original Zymatic allowed brewers to craft recipes, but because the appliance predates the creation of the Pico and its PicoPak brewing pods, a Zymatic owner needed to buy a separate Pico to try their creations out. The PicoBrew Z can brew beer from both PicoPaks as well as from loose grains and hops.

PicoBrew Aims To Fill Gap Between Home & Pro Market With PicoBrew Z

Today PicoBrew teased the release of a new beer brewing appliance called the PicoBrew Z.

Unlike the Seattle startup’s last two crowdfunding campaigns which offered up new appliances for home beer brewing, the PicoBrew Z looks to be designed for the pro market. While the company is keeping most of the details of the new appliance under wraps until next week, the teaser site indicates that the new device will brew up to 10 gallons and is targeted at brewpubs, restaurateurs and home brewers looking to take their hobby to the next level.

Here’s how PicoBrew CEO Bill Mitchell described the PicoBrew Z in an email to potential backers:

Today is an exciting day for us: We’re introducing the PicoBrew Z Series, our first professional-grade, all-grain brewing appliance line. While we have been very successful with 2 generations of consumer Pico machines, we have not yet addressed the needs of the prosumer and professional audience since the launch of our original Zymatic…until now! Reap the benefits of larger batch sizes from 1 to 10 gallons, rugged, maintainable, industrial grade components designed for professional use and more with the new PicoBrew Z Series.

In some ways, the Z appears to be an evolutionary step forward from PicoBrew’s first device, the Zymatic. While the Zymatic was never pitched as professional grade equipment, about half of the roughly three thousand Zymatics ended up in craft or mass market breweries.

The reason brewmasters liked the Zymatic is it gave them a way to prototype new beers without spending thousands of dollars experimenting on big batches. However, some craft brewers wanted to go beyond prototyping and use the Zymatic to create small experimental batches to serve their customers. The problem with that idea is the Zymatic only brews 2.5 gallon batches, about half the size of a soda keg (a cornelius keg) and just a fraction of the standard beer keg (15 gallons or half a barrel).  The Z fills the gap between the Zymatic and smaller pro grade brewing equipment (which often start at half a barrel to a barrel of brew capacity) by brewing up to 10 gallon batches.

While PicoBrew has yet to release pricing on the Z, my guess is it will come in below $10 thousand. With the cost of entry for traditional microbrewery equipment often reaching $100 thousand or more, the PicoBrew Z could tap into an unmet demand by filling a substantial void between consumer and pro markets. The Z also looks like it will have some headroom to grow, as Mitchell describes the new line as a “series”, which sounds to me like it will have different SKUs with potentially different capacities.

In another departure from past product introductions, it looks like this time around PicoBrew isn’t headed to Kickstarter. In one way, they look to be taking a cue from Glowforge, a company which shattered all hardware crowdfunding campaigns in 2015 with its 3D printer.

Early indications are this was a good idea. In an emailed response to my inquiry about the PicoBrew Z, an exec said the PicoBrew Z is on a ‘GlowForge-like trajectory’ since unveiling this morning with “thousands of signups” in the first hour.

You can hear about PicoBrew Z in our daily spoon podcast.  You can also subscribe in Apple podcasts or through our Amazon Alexa skill.