PicoBrew introduces its professional Z Series craft beer brewing appliances

 

PicoBrew, experts of automated craft beer brewing appliances, recently launched the PicoBrew Z Series, its first professional-grade, all-grain brewing appliance line. The Z Series is targeted at restaurants, bars, brewpubs and craft breweries interested in producing small batches of custom craft beers and kombucha but is also perfect for avid homebrewers seeking greater precision and repeatability and larger batch sizes. The Z Series brewing appliances are available for pre-order today at picobrew.com/z at special discount pricing and will begin shipping in June 2018.

The new Z Series builds on the pioneering technology created in 2013 for the award-winning PicoBrew Zymatic, the world’s first all-grain brewing appliance, and extends it with a blend of unique, data-center-industry inspired functionality to produce a family of modular, scalable brewing appliances. The upgraded fluid distribution and heating components work together with the new modular, rackable and stackable chassis components to create truly scalable brewing solutions. The new Z Series features stainless-steel, heavy-duty components and was designed with simplified maintenance in mind. The Wi-Fi-connected appliances can be used to create recipes that run brewing cycles with precise control over temperature, fluid flow and timing, or brewers can download and run existing recipes from PicoBrew’s extensive recipe library.

The Z Series gives brewers the capability to produce between 1 to 10 gallons of beer at a time, with each model increasing the output by 2.5 gallons. Special pre-order pricing will be offered until March 15th:

• 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)

The pro-grade Z Series features upgraded components suitable for professional use in high-duty-cycle environments where up-time matters. Its modular design allows brewers to scale batch sizes to meet their needs, from small experimental batches to more cost-effective production quantities.

“I’m super excited about the Z Series. It has the flexibility to let me brew pilot batches up to 10 gallons with the potential to sell them in my tasting room,” said Barry Chan, co-founder and brewmaster at Seattle’s Lucky Envelope Brewing.

“We have heard the demand for larger brewing-volume solutions from our customers loud and clear,” said Dr. Bill Mitchell, CEO of PicoBrew. “After almost 2 years of experimentation and prototyping, we arrived at the Z Series: a modular solution that can meet the needs of advanced homebrewers, bar and restaurant owners and pro-brewers alike.”

In addition to brewing with loose grains and hops, the Z Series appliances can also brew PicoPaks, biodegradable recipe packs that come filled with the water amendments, grains and hops needed to brew craft beers from more than 200 breweries around the world.

PicoBrew network for homebrewers

PicoBrew also recently announced the launch of the PicoBrew Network (PBN) for Homebrewers.

“The PBN program together with PicoBrew’s BrewMarketplace enable essentially an app store for beer,” said Mitchell.

Brewers develop recipes on Z Series devices using their own loose ingredients, then follow the PBN portal process to create and publish PicoPaks which other Pico and Z-Series customers can brew. All PBN published brewers earn royalties on their BrewMarketplace sales and receive unique data insights on their customers. The new Homebrew Beers store on BrewMarketplace is set to explode as more than 800 homebrewers have already joined the PBN with the intent to publish.

“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,” said Mitchell. “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.”