Brewing Beer with the PicoBrew Pico: Set-Up and Fermentation

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Since we have a reverse osmosis filter installed at our kitchen sink, I was able to get started the same day I opened the box. We live in the country, as many of you know, so not having to run into town to pick up more supplies before brewing was a huge bonus. After checking to be sure that everything that was supposed to be present had arrived from PicoBrew, I was ready to start.

That’s not to say that everything went off without a hitch, however. At 16.5″ tall by 12.5″ wide by 14″ deep, the Pico was literally 1/2″ too tall to fit perfectly under our kitchen cabinets (so aggravating!). I was kind of sad that I couldn’t set the Pico up and keep it there, but it turned out to not be a big deal, as there was still enough counter space (without going under the cabinet) for the Pico to sit securely and do its work.

The Pico exterior is stainless steel, and to protect it there is a gray protective wrap that will need to removed along with some red tape that keeps the parts from moving during shipping.

The first thing to do after you’ve unwrapped the Pico is to plug it on and turn it on. Your Pico will wake up and ask you to enter your WiFi network information, then it will want your unique Pico user code. You’ll finish by creating an account at the Pico site, assuming that you haven’t already. While there isn’t a Pico app, you can do all of this from your mobile device, including watching your current brew’s progress later.

Now it’s time to clean your Pico. You’ll rinse the brewing keg, the black rubber keg seal (in the accessory box), and the large plastic bin inside the Pico and its lid (it’s called the step filter) with tap water. You’ll have to remove the metal lid from the brewing keg; it requires a bit of muscle the first time, but you can do it. Make sure you don’t leave its large rubber O-ring behind inside the brew keg.

Next, you’ll add 8 cups (1/2 gallon) distilled or RO water to the water reservoir in the top of the Pico. It’s important that you never put tap water in the reservoir — it’s a clean zone.

After putting the black rubber keg seal on top of the brew keg (and making sure that it is snapped into place), you’ll attach the black ball lock connector to the OUT post on the brew keg and the gray ball lock connector to the IN post.