Oak Notes 2: Barrel Sizing

Barrel Sizes

The use of wooden barrels for the storage and maturation of wine, beer and spirits has been a relatively recent development.  Relative, in this case, means in the last one to two thousand years.   

The earliest know picture of a wooden barrel was found in an Egyptian tomb dating to about 2600 BC.  This barrel was used for measuring corn.   Only centuries later were oak barrels used for storing liquid corn.

Until the development of glass, clay, metal and plastic vessels, wooden barrels  have been used to store a variety of liquids from olive oil to Sperm whale oil.  Because of high cost of producing liquid tight barrels, they are generally only used in the 21st century to age high value beverages such as Tabasco sauce, specialty ginger ale, kombucha, mead and balsamic vinegar - in addition to beer, wines, and spirits.

Although the basic shape of barrels doesn’t vary too much, over the years, different uses dictated different sizes with different, sometimes colorful,  names:

ENGLISH BARREL SIZES  (partial list!)

Runlet 18 gallons

Barrel (English) 31 1/2 gallons

Tierce 42 gallons

Hogshead 63 gallons

Puncheon 84 gallons

Butt 126 gallons

Tun 259 gallons

FRENCH BARRIQUES

Bordeaux style 225 litres (59 gallons)

Burgundy style 229 litres (60 gallons)

Cognac 300 litres (70 gallons)

Foudres custom sizes - up to and over 3000 litres.  From the German “Fuder” - a cartful.

AMERICAN SIZES

ASB American Standard Barrel  53 gallons - with some variations.

This is not an exhaustive list, by any means.  We haven’t delved into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese cooperage history yet.  If any of you know of other interesting barrel configurations - drop us a line and we’ll post them.

The amount of wood in contact with liquid varies with barrel size and shape with larger sizes having less surface area per volume of liquid than smaller barrels.   This same principle applies to biology:  larger animals have less surface area to mass ration so they radiate relatively less body heat than smaller animals.  That’s why polar bears, whales and musk ox are found in cold climates and kids can get cold fast when you take them skiing and ice skating.  (As animals and barrels get bigger, surface area increases as a square function while volume increases as a cube function).  

Rewine Barrels can renew any size barrel from Runlet to Foudre.  Please let us help you save money and make great wine.  Call Tom at 541 968 5003 or e-mal: rewinebarrels@gmail.com