# Hogshead > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hogshead > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Hogshead.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead > Source revision: 1354179563 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Unit of volume for tobacco, wine or beer}} {{other uses}} thumb|upright=1.4|A hogshead in relation to other barrels A '''hogshead''' (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large [cask](/source/Barrel_(storage)) of liquid (or, less often, of a food commercial [product](/source/Product_(business))) for manufacturing and sale. It refers to a specified [volume](/source/volume), measured in either [imperial](/source/Imperial_unit) or [US customary](/source/United_States_customary_units) measures, primarily applied to [alcoholic beverage](/source/alcoholic_beverage)s, such as [wine](/source/wine), [ale](/source/ale), or [cider](/source/cider). ==Etymology== [[File:US-Stamp-Beer-1867-2 dollars (1 hogshead).jpg|thumb|United States [revenue stamp](/source/revenue_stamp) (proof) for the $2 tax on one hogshead of beer in 1867.]] English [philologist](/source/philology) [Walter William Skeat](/source/Walter_William_Skeat) (1835–1912) noted the origin is to be found in the name for a cask or liquid measure appearing in various forms in [Germanic languages](/source/Germanic_languages), in Dutch {{lang|nl|oxhooft}} (modern {{lang|nl|okshoofd}}), Danish {{lang|da|oxehoved}}, Old Swedish {{lang|non|oxhuvud}}, etc. The [''Encyclopædia Britannica'' of 1911](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica_Eleventh_Edition) conjectured that the word should therefore be ''oxhead'', ''hogshead'' being a mere corruption.{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Hogshead |volume=13|page=507}} ==Varieties and standardisation== thumb|"Sugar hogsheads" from ''Ten Views in the Island of Antigua'', W. Clark, 1823, plate X. thumb|1870 United States $2 beer revenue stamp on 1 hogshead. A '''tobacco hogshead''' was used in British and American colonial times to transport and store tobacco. It was a very large wooden barrel. A standardized hogshead measured {{convert|48|in|m|2}} long and {{convert|30|in|cm|2}} in diameter at the head (at least {{convert|550|L|impgal USgal|0|abbr=on|disp=or}}, depending on the width in the middle). Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about {{convert|1000|lb|kg|0}}. A ''' hogshead''' in Britain contains about {{convert|300|L|impgal USgal|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite web | url = http://www.apjohn.com.au/Upload/PrintPages/AP%20John_Technical_Specifications.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110215212133/http://www.apjohn.com.au/Upload/PrintPages/AP%20John_Technical_Specifications.pdf | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2011-02-15 | title =AP John Technical Specifications}} The ''[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)'' (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an [act of Parliament](/source/act_of_Parliament) ([2 Hen. 6](/source/2_Hen._6). c. 14) in 1423, though the standards continued to vary by locality and content. For example, the OED cites an 1897 edition of ''[Whitaker's Almanack](/source/Whitaker's_Almanack)'', which specified the gallons of wine in a hogshead varying most particularly across fortified wines: [claret](/source/claret)/[Madeira](/source/Madeira_wine) {{convert|46|impgal|USgal L|0}}, [port](/source/Port_wine) {{convert|57|impgal|USgal L|0}}, [sherry](/source/sherry) {{convert|54|impgal|USgal L|0}}. The ''[American Heritage Dictionary](/source/American_Heritage_Dictionary)'' claims that a hogshead can consist of anything from (presumably) {{convert|62.5|to|140|USgal|impgal L|0}}. A hogshead of [Madeira wine](/source/Madeira_wine) was approximately equal to 45–48 gallons (205–218 L). A hogshead of [brandy](/source/brandy) was approximately equal to 56–61 gallons (255–277 L).{{cn|date=May 2022}} Eventually, a hogshead of [wine](/source/wine) came to be {{convert|52.5|impgal|L|6|lk=on}} (or 63 US gallons), while a hogshead of [beer](/source/beer) or [ale](/source/ale) came to be 54 gallons (249.54221 L with the pre-1824 beer and ale gallon, or 245.48886 L with the imperial gallon). A hogshead was also used as unit of measurement for sugar in [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana) for most of the 19th century. [Plantation](/source/plantations_in_the_American_South)s were listed in sugar schedules by the number of hogsheads of sugar or molasses produced. Used for sugar in the 18th and 19th centuries in the British West Indies, a hogshead weighed on average {{convert|1792|lb|kg}}. A hogshead was also used for the measurement of [herring](/source/herring) fished for [sardines](/source/Sardine_(food)) in Blacks Harbour, [New Brunswick](/source/New_Brunswick) and Cornwall.{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0001617/18601205/057/0004?browse=true |title= |newspaper= |location= |page= |issue= |date= |url-access=subscription |via=[British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive)}}{{Full citation needed|date=May 2022}} ==Whisky maturation== Hogsheads are a common form of cask used for maturing [Scotch Whisky](/source/Scotch_Whisky), typically with a volume of around 250 litres.{{cite web | title=Whisky Casks: The Hogshead | Whiskipedia | date=24 July 2020 | url=https://whiskipedia.com/fundamentals/hogshead-whisky-barrel/ }} These casks are usually made from the [staves](/source/stave_(wood)) of ex-[Bourbon](/source/Bourbon_whiskey) or [Tennessee whiskey](/source/Tennessee_whiskey) casks, which are plentiful due to US law requiring a new barrel for each batch of whiskey. The staves will be mated to new, larger heads which results in a higher volume - this means that five whiskey barrels are needed to make four hogsheads as the [circumference](/source/circumference) is greater. Using just the staves means that barrels can be shipped across the Atlantic in their component parts, which is much more space-efficient than shipping barrels whole. The new heads may be of [American white oak](/source/Quercus_alba) similar to the recycled staves, or may be of other woods such as [European](/source/European_oak) or [Mizunara oak](/source/Mizunara_oak). ==Charts== {{English wine casks}} {{English brewery casks}} ==See also== * [English units of wine casks](/source/English_units_of_wine_casks) ==References== {{reflist}} {{Imperial units}} Category:Imperial units Category:Wine packaging and storage Category:Brewing Category:Units of volume Category:Containers Category:Alcohol measurement Category:Customary units of measurement in the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Hogshead](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.