Edme Brewcraft brew/beer keg--5 gallons

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BYO had an article where they made plastic kegs. I believe that they are for short term serving only. Maybe a month at the longest.

Wine Barrell Plus has them new and says they are for dark flat beers.
 
Throughout the 1980s I used Edme Kegs. No bottling. They were a fantastic way to have draught ales and lagers conveniently on tap.

I did not use them as the secondary fermenter; I used them exclusively as my final storage vessel, vis-a-vis: rack from secondary (i.e., carboy) to keg, add priming solution, purge keg with a layer of CO2, seal keg, let conditioning occur for two weeks. Then drink! CO2 cartridge kept a protective layer of CO2 and extra 'draught' pressure continuous at all times.

Contrary to what has been stated, Edme Kegs were not for short term serving only; as an experiment, I once kept a lager "on tap" for 4 months, which I sampled from regularly, and found no deterioration in flavour, no loss of carbonation, no oxidized taste over that time.

Nor are they only for "dark flat beers". I primed both ways, depending on my mood: either by using rehydrated boiled powdered malt extract as my priming solution, or by krausening, holding back a calculated portion of unfermented wort as gyle. In either case, I could control the level of carbonation I desired, germane to the given style of beer being made, no differently than if I had bottled. Bubbles were very small, with proper creamy mouth-feel, as you would expect from natural conditioning.

It was a brilliant, convenient way (I hated washing bottles) to have draught ales and lagers on tap. The kegs were easy to maintain, and easy to clean.

After a 20-year hiatus, I'm back to making homebrew again. I would love to get my hands on these Edme Kegs again. (I realize I still hate washing bottles.)
 
I just picked up one of these EDME Brewcraft Pressurized Barrels today, can't wait to try it. Looks way more fun than bottling!

Gonna be a month or so before my Hoegaarden clone is ready, I can't wait.

I can't buy Hoegaarden around here so I have to brew my own...lol
 
Throughout the 1980s I used Edme Kegs. No bottling. They were a fantastic way to have draught ales and lagers conveniently on tap.

I used them exclusively as my final storage vessel, vis-a-vis: rack from secondary (i.e., carboy) to keg, add priming solution, purge keg with a layer of CO2, seal keg, let conditioning occur for two weeks. Then drink! CO2 cartridge kept a protective layer of CO2 and extra 'draught' pressure continuous at all times.

I primed both ways, depending on my mood: either by using rehydrated boiled powdered malt extract as my priming solution, or by krausening, holding back a calculated portion of unfermented wort as gyle. In either case, I could control the level of carbonation I desired, germane to the given style of beer being made, no differently than if I had bottled. Bubbles were very small, with proper creamy mouth-feel, as you would expect from natural conditioning.

I just got back into home brewing after 20 year break too! Found a 10 liter Edme Brewcraft pressure barrel in my supplies. Just made a batch of strong Belgian ale in the "tripel" style. According to my local home brew shop, the barrel should be primed with 2 teaspoons of (prepared) priming sugar (instructions lost long ago). I hindsight, I think that is too little priming sugar, as her barrels were smaller and it just does not seem like enough.

Any comments/thoughts/old instructions would be appreciated!

Thanks
 
I know this is old, but 2 tsp is not enough priming sugar (usually malt extract) for the Edme Brewcraft. I have one I haven't used in some time, but I always had great luck with it. When I bottle, like most people I add enough priming sugar for the whole batch into a food-grade tub, mix the sugar and bottle. When using the Edme, I use the same amount of sugar, but then just dump it into the Edme. If you use too much sugar, there is a pressure relief valve that holds the correct amount of pressure, but bleeds off excess. Beer is drawn off the surface, so you don't get any yeast cloud until the very end of the Edme.

After a couple of weeks of carbonation, move the keg into the fridge (if you like) and serve. No bottling and an easy clean-up. I've had beer for months and like mnunns, no change in flavor.

You can also do a partial bottling and dump the rest into the Edme.
 

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