{{Short description|Traditional volume measurement units for wine}} {{hatnote|This article is about historic units of volume measurement for wine in England until 1824 and later under the imperial and US customary systems. For ''beer and ale'' units of the same, see English brewery cask units.}} Capacities of wine casks were formerly measured and standardised according to a specific system of English units.
The various units were historically defined in terms of the wine gallon so varied according to the definition of the gallon until the adoption of the Queen Anne wine gallon in 1706. In the United Kingdom and its colonies, the units were redefined with the introduction of the imperial system in 1826, whilst the Queen Anne wine gallon was adopted as the standard US gallon in 1836.
The major wine producing countries use barrels extensively and have developed standards at variance with the traditional English volumes: examples include a hogshead of {{convert|300|L|impgal USgal|abbr=on}}, a barrique of {{convert|220|L|impgal USgal|abbr=on}} (Bordeaux), a barrel of {{convert|225|L|impgal USgal|abbr=on}} (Australia), a barrel of {{convert|230|L|impgal USgal|abbr=on}} (Burgundy) and a puncheon of {{convert|465|L|impgal USgal|abbr=on}}.
==Casks== {{wide image|English wine cask units.jpg|750px|alt=Seven barrels, each of a different size.}}
===Tun=== {{Main|Tun (unit)}} The tun ({{langx|ang|tunne}}, {{langx|la|tunellus}}, Middle Latin: ''{{lang|la|tunna}}'') is an English unit of ''liquid volume'' (not weight), used for measuring wine, oil or honey. It is typically a large vat or vessel, most often holding 252 wine gallons, but occasionally other sizes (e.g. 256, 240 and 208 gallons) were also used.<ref name=memoirs>{{cite journal|journal=Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society |title=A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: The Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century, Volume 168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0l_k-XMIiQIC&pg=PA375|last=Zupko |first=Ronald E. | publisher=American Philosophical Society |volume=168 |year=1985 |isbn=9780871691682 |quote=Quoting Gras (1918), p. 706}}</ref>
{{anchor|pipe|butt}}
===Pipe or butt=== The butt (from the medieval French and Italian ''botte'') or pipe is half a tun, or exactly {{convert|105|impgal|l|5}}.
Tradition has it that George, Duke of Clarence, the brother of Edward IV of England, was drowned in a butt of malmsey on 18 February 1478.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/royalty/dukeac.html |title=Dukes of Great Britain |access-date=2012-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218093912/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/royalty/dukeac.html |archive-date=2013-02-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070807195747/http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9249149 Biography Channel Duke of Clarence]</ref> When James VI and I sailed to Norway in October 1589, his provisions included a pipe of sack.<ref>Miles Kerr-Peterson & Michael Pearce, "James VI's English Subsidy and Danish Dowry Accounts", ''Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, XVI'' (Woodbridge, 2020), p. 33.</ref> In Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Cask of Amontillado", the narrator claims he has received "a pipe of what passes for Amontillado".<ref>Sarah J. Hale & Louis Godey, ''Godey's Lady's Book'', vol. 33 (Philadelphia, 1846), p. 216.</ref>
{{anchor|puncheon|tertian}}
===Puncheon or tertian=== {{Main|Puncheon (unit)}} The puncheon is a third of a tun. The term ''puncheon'', shortened to '''pon''' in the United States. The unit was also known as a ''tertian'' (from the Latin word for "third").<ref name=memoirs/>
===Hogshead=== {{Main|Hogshead}} Of comparable size to the beer hogshead, the wine hogshead is equal to half a butt or a quarter of a tun.
===Tierce=== {{Main|Tierce (unit)}} Closely related to the modern oil barrel, the tierce is half a puncheon, a third of a butt, or a sixth of a tun.
===Barrel=== {{Main|Barrel (unit)}} The wine barrel is half a wine hogshead or an eighth of a tun.
===Rundlet=== {{Main|Rundlet}} The rundlet is a seventh of a butt or a fourteenth of a tun.
==History== Originally, the tun was defined as 256 wine gallons.<ref group=nb>{{gaps|256|{{=}}|2<sup>8</sup>}}</ref> (This was the basis for calling 64 gallons a quarter.) At some time before the 15th century, it was reduced to 252 gallons, so as to be evenly divisible by other small integers, including seven.<ref group=nb>252 = {{gaps|2<sup>2</sup>|×|3<sup>2</sup>|×|7}}</ref> Note that a 252-gallon tun of wine has a mass of approximately {{cvt|2060|lbs|kg}},<ref>See Ethanol (data page)#Properties of aqueous ethanol solutions.</ref> between a short ton ({{cvt|2000|lbs|kg}}) and a long ton ({{cvt|2240|lbs|kg}}).
The tun is the approximate volume of a cylinder with both diameter and height of {{cvt|42|in|cm}}, as the US gallon was originally a cylinder {{cvt|7 by 6|in|mm}} (diameter × height).<ref group=nb>The volume, ''V'', of this cylinder may be approximated from the height, ''h'', and the radius, ''r'', as follows. :{| |- |valign=top rowspan=4|''V'' |= ''πr''<sup>2</sup>''h'' |- |≈ {{gaps|{{frac|22|7}}|×|(21 in)<sup>2</sup>|×|42 in}} | since π ≈ {{frac|22|7}} |- |= {{gaps|(2<sup>2</sup>|×|3<sup>2</sup>|×|7)|×|(3|×|7|×|11)}} cu in |- |= {{gaps|252|×|231}} cu in |}</ref> The Queen Anne wine gallon of 231 cubic inches was adopted in 1707, and still serves as the definition of the US gallon. A US tun is thus the volume of a rectangular cuboid with dimensions {{cvt|36 by 38.5 by 42|in|cm}}.
When the imperial system was introduced, the tun was redefined in the UK and its colonies as 210 imperial gallons, meaning the imperial tun remained evenly divisible by small integers,<ref group=nb>210 = {{gaps|2|×|3|×|5|×|7}}</ref> and there was also little change in the actual value of the tun.<ref group=nb>The imperial tun is only about {{#expr:954.6789/9.53923769568-100round2}}% larger than the US tun assuming current definitions, since {{nowrap|5 imp gal ≈ 6 US gal}}.</ref>
{|class=wikitable |- ! |rowspan=9| !colspan=7|comparisons |rowspan=9| !historically |rowspan=9| !colspan=2|imperial definitions |rowspan=9| !colspan=2|US definitions |- !measure !tuns!!butts!!puncheons!!hogsheads!!tierces!!barrels!!rundlets !litres<ref group=nb>The conversion to litres is approximate, and is given as a range to reflect the varying definitions of the gallon and the tun in terms of the gallon.</ref> !gallons !litres<ref group=nb>The conversion to litres shown in tooltips is exact assuming the current 4.54609-litre definition of the imperial gallon.</ref> !gallons !litres<ref group=nb>The conversion to litres shown in tooltips is exact assuming the current 25.4-millimetre definition of the international inch.</ref> |- !tun |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|2}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|4}} |align=center|{{sfrac|6}} |align=center|{{sfrac|8}} |align=center|{{sfrac|14}} |align=center|950–960 |align=center|210||align=center |954.6789 |align=center|252||align=center|953.923769568 |- !butt |align=center|2 |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|2|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|2}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|4}} |align=center|{{sfrac|7}} |align=center|475–480 |align=center|105||align=center|477.33945 |align=center|126||align=center|476.961884784 |- !puncheon |align=center|3 |align=center|{{sfrac|1|1|2}} |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|3|4}} |align=center|{{sfrac|2}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3|8}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3|14}} |align=center|316–320 |align=center|70||align=center| 318.2263 |align=center|84||align=center|317.974589856 |- !hogshead |align=center|4 |align=center|2 |align=center|{{sfrac|1|1|3}} |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|2|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|2}} |align=center|{{sfrac|2|7}} |align=center|237–240 |align=center|{{sfrac|52|1|2}}||align=center|238.669725 |align=center|63||align=center|238.480942392 |- !tierce |align=center|6 |align=center|3 |align=center|2 |align=center|{{sfrac|1|1|2}} |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|3|4}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3|7}} |align=center|158–160 |align=center|35||align=center|159.11315 |align=center|42||align=center|158.987294928 |- !barrel |align=center|8 |align=center|4 |align=center|{{sfrac|2|2|3}} |align=center|2 |align=center|{{sfrac|1|1|3}} |align=center|1 |align=center|{{sfrac|4|7}} |align=center|118–120 |align=center|{{sfrac|26|1|4}}||align=center| 119.3348625 |align=center|{{sfrac|31|1|2}} ||align=center|119.240471196 |- !rundlet |align=center|14 |align=center|7 |align=center|{{sfrac|4|2|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|3|1|2}} |align=center|{{sfrac|2|1|3}} |align=center|{{sfrac|1|3|4}} |align=center|1 |align=center|68–69 |align=center|15||align=center|68.19135 |align=center|18||align=center|68.137412112 |}
==See also== {{Portal|Liquor|Wine}} {{Div col}}
===Economic=== * Economy of England * Food and drink industry in England
=== Liquors === * English whisky * Gin * List of whisky distilleries in England
=== Wine === * Barrel * Barrel (unit) * Cubic ton * English brewery cask units * English sparkling wine * List of unusual units of measurement * Tonnage * Units of measurement {{Div col end}}
==Notes== {{reflist|group=nb}}
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:British wine Category:Units of volume Category:British units of measurement Category:Alcohol measurement Category:Wine terminology Category:Wine packaging and storage Category:Food and drink industry in England