Hogshead
13726
200662697
2008-03-24T23:12:38Z
218.215.11.214
{{otheruses4|the unit of measure|the ''Harry Potter'' location|Hog's Head}}
A '''hogshead''' is a large [[Barrel (storage)|cask]] of liquid (less often, of a [[List of traded commodities#Foodstuffs|food commodity]]). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in [[Imperial unit]]s, primarily applied to [[alcoholic beverage]]s such as [[wine]], [[ale]], or [[cider]].
A '''tobacco hogshead''' was used in American colonial times to transport and store tobacco. It was a very large wooden barrel. A standardized hogshead measured 48 inches long and 30 inches in diameter at the head. Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about 1000 pounds.
The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an [[act of Parliament]] in [[1423]], though the standards continued to vary by locality and content. For example, the OED cites an [[1897]] edition of ''[[Whitaker's Almanack]]'', which specified the number of gallons of wine in a hogshead varying by type of wine: [[claret]] 46 gallons, [[Port wine|port]] 57, [[sherry]] 54; and [[Madeira wine|Madeira]] 46. The ''[[American Heritage Dictionary]]'' claims that a hogshead can consist of anything from 62.5 to 140 (presumably U.S.) gallons.
Eventually, a hogshead of [[wine]] came to be 63 [[gallon]]s, while a hogshead of [[beer]] or [[ale]] is 54 gallons.
A hogshead was also used as unit of measurement for sugar in [[Louisiana]] for most of the 19th century. [[Plantation]]s were listed in sugar schedules as having produced x number of hogsheads of sugar or molasses.
{{English wine casks}}
{{English brewery casks}}
[[Category:Imperial units]]
[[Category:Wine packaging and storage]]
[[Category:Brewing]]
[[Category:Units of volume]]
[[de:Oxhoft]]
[[nl:Okshoofd]]
[[no:Oksehode]]
[[pl:Okseft]]
[[ru:Хогсхед]]
[[sv:Hogshead]]