Barrel
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[[Image:Barrels2.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|Traditional wooden barrels in [[Cutchogue]], USA]]
[[Image:Castle Rock Brewery - Nottingham - England - 2004-11-04.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|Modern stainless steel beer barrels—also called casks or kegs—outside the [[Tynemill|Castle Rock]] [[microbrewery]] in [[Nottingham]], [[England]]]]
A '''barrel''' or '''cask''' is a hollow [[Cylinder (geometry)|cylindrical]] container, traditionally made of [[wood]] [[staves]] and bound with [[iron]] [[hoop]]s. The term "barrel" typically refers to wooden vessels that are small enough to be moved by hand, up to [[puncheon]] size (see below). Someone who makes such (wooden, iron-bound) barrels is known as a ''[[Cooper (profession)|cooper]]''. Contemporary barrels are also made of aluminium and plastic.
==History==
In [[Europe]] in ancient times liquids like [[oil]] and [[wine]] were carried in vessels, for instance [[amphora]], sealed with [[pine]] [[resin]]. The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] began to use barrels in the 3rd century [[AD]], as a result of their commercial and military contacts with the [[Gauls]], who had been making barrels for several centuries.
For nearly 2,000 years barrels were the most convenient form of shipping or storage container for those who could afford the superior price. All kinds of bulk goods, from [[nails]] to [[gold]] [[coin]]s, were stored in them. Bags and most crates were cheaper, but they were not as sturdy and they were more difficult to manhandle for the same weight. Barrels slowly lost their importance in the 20th century, with the introduction of [[pallet]]-based logistics and [[containerization]].
In the mid 20th century, [[55 gallon drum|55-gallon steel drums]] began to be used for the storage and transport of fluids such as [[water]], [[oil]]s and [[hazardous waste]]. Empty drums occasionally became musical instruments in a [[steel pan]] [[Musical ensemble|band]].
==Usage of barrels==
Barrels are used for the storage of liquids, from simple [[water]] to [[Fermentation (wine)|ferment]] [[wine]], to age [[wine]] (notably [[brandy]], [[sherry]] and [[port wine|port]]) and [[whiskey]].
===Water barrels===
[[Image:Ceres rainwater tank 1 Pengo.jpg|right|thumb|150px]]
Water barrels are often used to collect the [[rain water]] from dwellings (so that it may be used for irrigation or other purposes). This usage, known as [[rainwater harvesting]] requires (besides a large [[Rainwater tank|rainwater barrel]]), an adequate (water-proof) roof-covering and an adequate [[Plumbing|rain pipe]].
===Aging===
{{main|Aging barrel}}
[[Image:Lightmatter wine barrels.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Wine barrels in Napa Valley, California.]]
Some wine is fermented "in barrel," as opposed to a neutral container such as a steel or concrete tank. Wine can also be fermented in large wooden tanks, often called "open-tops" because they are open to the atmosphere. Other wooden cooperage for storing wine or spirits are called "casks", and they are large (up to thousands of gallons) with either [[elliptic]]al or round heads.
==Shape==
Barrels often have a convex shape, bulging at the middle. This constant bulge makes it relatively easy to roll a well-built wooden barrel on its side, changing directions with little friction. It also helps to distribute [[stress (physics)|stress]] evenly in the material by making the container more spherical.
Casks used for [[ale]] or [[beer]] have [[shive]]s, [[spile]]s and [[keystone (cask)|keystone]]s in their openings.
The "chine hoop" is the iron hoop nearest the end of a wooden barrel, the "bilge hoops" those nearest the bulge, or centre.
The stopper used to seal the hole in a barrel is called the [[bung]].
==Sizes==
=== English traditional, wine ===
{{English wine casks}}
Pre-1824 definitions continued to be used in the US, the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches being the standard [[gallon]] for liquids (the corn gallon of 268.8 cubic inches for solids). In [[United Kingdom|Britain]] that gallon was replaced by the [[Imperial gallon]].
The [[tierce]] later became the petrol barrel.
The [[tun]] was originally 256 [[gallon]]s, which explains where the ''quarter'', 8 [[bushel]]s or 64 (wine) gallons, comes from.
===Sizes of UK beer "barrels"===
Although it is common to refer to [[draught beer]] containers of any size as barrels, in the [[UK]] this is strictly correct only if the container holds 36 [[imperial gallon]]s. The terms "[[keg]]" and "[[cask]]" refer to containers of any size, the distinction being that kegs are used for [[Draught beer|beers]] intended to be served using external gas cylinders. [[Cask ale]]s undergo part of their fermentation process in their containers, called casks.
Casks are available in several sizes, and it is common to refer to "a [[firkin]]" or "a kil" ([[kilderkin]]) instead of a cask.
In the United States, the term "[[keg]]" commonly means a 'half barrel' size container.
=== Sizes of US beer and ale "barrels"===
{{English brewery casks}}
The US beer barrel is 31 US gallons (116.34777 litres), half a gallon less than the traditional wine barrel. (26 U.S.C. §5051[http://fatty.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=barrel%2031%20gallons&url=/uscode/html/uscode26/usc_sec_26_00005051----000-.html])
==Oil barrel==<!-- This section is linked from [[Approximate conversion of units]] -->
[[Image:Bluebbl.gif|frame|right|[[Standard Oil Company]] blue 55-US gallon (44 imp. gal, 200 L) barrel]]
{{main article|barrel (unit)}}
The standard [[Barrel (unit)|barrel]] of [[crude oil]] or other [[petroleum]] product (abbreviated [[bbl]]) is 42 US [[gallon]]s (34.972 Imperial gallons or 158.987 [[litre|L]]). This measurement originated in the early [[Pennsylvania]] [[oil field]]s, and permitted both British and American merchants to refer to the same unit, based on the old English wine measure, the [[tierce]].
Earlier, another size of [[whiskey]] barrel was the most common size; this was the {{convert|40|USgal|impgal L|1|lk=on}} barrel for proof spirits, which was of the same volume as 5 US bushels. However, by 1866 the oil barrel was standardized at 42 US gallons.
Oil has not actually been shipped in barrels [http://www.slate.com/id/2115219/] since the introduction of [[oil tanker]]s, but the 42-US-gallon size is still used as a unit for measurement, pricing, and in tax and regulatory codes. Each barrel is refined into about 25 gallons of [[gasoline]], the rest becoming other products such as jet fuel and heating oil, using [[fractional distillation]].<ref>[http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html What's In A Barrel of Oil?<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
The current standard volume for barrels for chemicals and food is {{convert|55|USgal|impgal L|0|lk=on}}.
==Dry goods==
A barrel is standardized for other products:
*[[cornmeal]], 200 pounds (90.7 kg);
*[[portland cement]], four cubic feet or 376 pounds (170.6 kg).<ref>{{cite web| title = U.S. Traditional and Commercial Barrel Sizes| publisher = 2000 Sizes, Inc.| url = http://www.sizes.com/units/barrel_USconv.htm| accessdate = 2007-04-26}}</ref>;
*[[sugar]], five cubic feet;
*wheat or rye [[flour]], three [[bushel]]s or 196 [[pound (mass)|pounds]] (88.9 kg).
==Other uses==
Due to the traditional barrel's distinctive shape and construction method, the term has been used to describe a variety of largely unrelated objects, such as the [[gun barrel]] and [[barrel organ]].
The English [[idiom]] ''over a barrel'' means to be in a predicament or helpless in a situation where others are in control: ''"I have no choice in the matter — my creditors have me over a barrel."'' The phrase is said to originate from two 19th century practices: rolling [[drowning]] victims over a barrel to clear their lungs of water, or [[flogging]] someone who is bent over a barrel.
==See also==
* [[55 gallon drum]]
* [[Keg]]s
* [[Cask ale]]
* [[Wine barrel]]s
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Barrels}}
{{Wiktionarypar|barrel|cask}}
* [http://www.imperialtometric.com/conversion_en.htm Online barrel conversions]
* [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-ove2.htm Origin of "over a barrel"]
[[Category:Containers]]
[[Category:Wine packaging and storage]]
[[Category:Beer vessels and serving]]
[[ar:برميل]]
[[cs:Sud]]
[[da:Fad (beholder)]]
[[de:Fass]]
[[es:Barril]]
[[eo:Barelo]]
[[fa:بشکه]]
[[fr:Tonneau (récipient)]]
[[gd:Baraille]]
[[hr:Bačva]]
[[it:Botte]]
[[he:חבית]]
[[lb:Faass]]
[[lt:Statinė]]
[[nl:Vat (verpakking)]]
[[ja:樽]]
[[no:Tønne]]
[[nn:Tønne]]
[[pl:Beczka]]
[[ru:Бочка]]
[[sk:Sud]]
[[sl:Sod (posoda)]]
[[fi:Tynnyri]]
[[sv:Tunna]]
[[tr:Fıçı]]
[[bat-smg:Bačka]]