PicoBrew (PicoPaks)

Closed.The website no longer loads. Went into receivership in February 2020, its assets were sold to creditor PB Funding Group in April 2020, and it said it had closed for business by October 2020.

What's in the box: Each PicoPak held premeasured malt and hops for a single recipe, sized for a small batch brewed in a PicoBrew appliance.

PicoBrew is no longer operating. The company went into receivership in February 2020, its assets were sold to creditor PB Funding Group in April 2020, and it said it had closed for business by October 2020. Its website no longer loads, so there is nothing to order and no one to contact for support. When it ran, PicoBrew made countertop brewing appliances, such as the Pico and Zymatic, that automated much of the all grain brewing process. PicoPaks were its prepackaged ingredient kits. Each held measured malt and hops for one recipe, and many recipes were versions of beers from craft breweries. You loaded a pack into the machine and added water, and the appliance handled the mash and boil. The result was a small batch of wort, about five liters, that you then fermented at home. The appeal was convenience and consistent results without much equipment or brewing knowledge. The weakness was that everything depended on the company. Pico machines were built around PicoPaks and PicoBrew's online servers, so when it shut down, many owners were left with appliances that no longer worked as designed unless they used workarounds made by other owners. If you still have a machine, owner communities are a better place to turn than any official channel. If you want a home brewing ingredient service now, pick one that is still running.