PicoBrew Adds “Ultimate Food Appliance” Features to Pico Model C

PicoBrew announced today additional features for their Pico Model C craft brewing machine designed to cement its position as the ultimate kitchen appliance. PicoBrew’s Pico Model C Kickstarter campaign, which has raised more than $750,000 to date, is already ranked as one of the Top 10 most successful Kickstarter Food Project campaigns of all time. The machine was already capable of brewing and customizing award-winning craft beers from around the world, and last week PicoBrew announced a new sous-vide cooking feature, allowing the machine to be used for the gourmet preparation of meats and vegetables. Today PicoBrew added to that list the ability to brew kombucha and gluten-reduced beers, making the Model C a kitchen appliance tour-de-force.

PicoBrew’s three new kombucha PicoPaks will soon be available from BrewMarketplace, PicoBrew’s online marketplace for craft beer. The kombucha PicoPaks will come in three initial flavors: Classic Lemon, Ginger Malt and Lemon Malt. PicoBrew also announced a “stretch goal” for their Kickstarter campaign: a kombucha PicoPak for hitting the $1.4M pledge level. With PicoBrew pledges totaling more than $750,000 in the first week of the campaign, Kickstarter backers are likely to enjoy the earlier “stretch goal” bounty, a free IPA PicoPak and a kombucha PicoPak.

Kombucha, a fermented tea, is a popular beverage in the health and wellness community that is said to aid digestion and stimulate the immune system. Pico users may brew kombucha PicoPaks in their Picos like they brew craft beer: simply insert a PicoPak, load a keg and reservoir with water, and select “brew”. Once PicoPak kombucha is brewed users may add a SCOBY (the bacteria and yeast starter culture) to their fermenting keg and let it ferment for approximately 7 days (SCOBY which are reusable, are not included in each Pak).

“Brewing great craft beer requires quality ingredients, precision temperature and overall process control. Other gourmet food preparation techniques, such as sous-vide cooking and brewing kombucha, benefit from this same kitchen appliance quality and precision, so we decided to make Pico the ultimate kitchen appliance,” said Dr. Bill Mitchell, CEO, PicoBrew. “What other appliance in your kitchen can prepare amazing beverages and outstanding gourmet foods?”

PicoBrew also announced today that multiple award-winning Washington restaurant The Herbfarm is developing premium kombucha PicoPaks in conjunction with PicoBrew. The Herbfarm, ranked by Zagat as one of America’s Top 10 Restaurants, already uses PicoBrew Zymatic® and Pico equipment at their restaurant location in Woodinville, Washington. Now, using a Pico Model C, home gourmets can sous-vide meats, fish and eggs instead of purchasing separate and less precise sous-vide recirculating hardware that can cost more than $150.

“For years, a secret of the great restaurants of France was sous-vide cooking. Now that same cooking precision — which we use in our restaurant kitchen — is yours when you put a Pico on your counter,” said Ron Zimmerman, Owner of The Herbfarm. “The Pico is more than just a great craft beer machine!”

In addition to sous-vide cooking and kombucha brewing, PicoBrew also announced plans for a simple adjunct offering that allows the production of greatly gluten-reduced beers, making its craft beer catalog more accessible to all.

“We really take health and wellness seriously,” said Mitchell, “and we’ve been asked about ‘gluten-free’ beers for some time. Gluten-free beer recipes are often limited in terms of flavors and aromas, so the enzyme we’re introducing to reduce gluten actually works with all of our PicoPaks.”

The brewing enzyme Clarity Ferm helps to significantly reduce the gluten content in beers made with barley or wheat, making them more accessible to people with gluten sensitivities, while maintaining the full flavor and aroma of the beer.

About PicoBrew

PicoBrew was founded in Seattle in 2010 by brothers Bill and Jim Mitchell, a former Microsoft executive and food scientist, along with engineer Avi Geiger. Combining their food science and technology expertise with their passion for homebrewing, they set out to improve the craft beer brewing process for small producers and homebrewers. PicoBrew introduced its flagship product, the award-winning Zymatic® automatic beer-brewing appliance for beer brewing professionals and homebrewers, in 2013. The Pico™, designed for consumer craft beer enthusiasts, followed in 2016. Both machines are designed to improve the precision, repeatability and overall quality of the brewing process to create consistently delicious craft beer. For more information, visit www.picobrew.com