Hogshead

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A hogshead in relation to other barrels English wine cask units.jpg
A hogshead in relation to other barrels

A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoholic beverages, such as wine, ale, or cider.

Contents

Etymology

United States revenue stamp (proof) for the $2 tax on one hogshead of beer in 1867. US-Stamp-Beer-1867-2 dollars (1 hogshead).jpg
United States revenue stamp (proof) for the $2 tax on one hogshead of beer in 1867.

English philologist 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, in Dutch oxhooft (modern okshoofd), Danish oxehoved, Old Swedish oxhuvud, etc. The Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 conjectured that the word should therefore be "oxhead", "hogshead" being a mere corruption. [1]

Varieties and standardisation

"Sugar hogsheads" from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua, W. Clark, 1823, plate X. Sugar-Hogsheads - Ten Views in the Island of Antigua (1823), plate X - BL.jpg
"Sugar hogsheads" from Ten Views in the Island of Antigua, W. Clark, 1823, plate X.

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 48 inches (1.22 m) long and 30 inches (76.20 cm) in diameter at the head (at least 550 L or 121 imp gal or 145 US gal, depending on the width in the middle). Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about 1,000 pounds (454 kg)[ citation needed ].

A hogshead in Britain contains about 300 L (66 imp gal; 79 US gal). [2]

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an act of Parliament (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 , which specified the gallons of wine in a hogshead varying most particularly across fortified wines: claret/Madeira 46 imperial gallons (55 US gal; 209 L), port 57 imperial gallons (68 US gal; 259 L), sherry 54 imperial gallons (65 US gal; 245 L). The American Heritage Dictionary claims that a hogshead can consist of anything from (presumably) 62.5 to 140 US gallons (52 to 117 imp gal; 237 to 530 L). A hogshead of Madeira wine was approximately equal to 45–48 gallons (0.205–0.218 m3). A hogshead of brandy was approximately equal to 56–61 gallons (0.255–0.277) m3.[ citation needed ]

Eventually, a hogshead of wine came to be 63 US gallons (52.5  imp gal ; 238.5  L ), while a hogshead of beer or ale is 54 gallons (250 L if old beer/ale gallons, 245 L if imperial).

A hogshead was also used as unit of measurement for sugar in Louisiana for most of the 19th century. Plantations 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 16 cwt / 812kg. A hogshead was also used for the measurement of herring fished for sardines in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick and Cornwall. [3] [ full citation needed ]

Charts

English wine cask units [4]
gallonrundletbarreltiercehogsheadpuncheon, tertianpipe, butttun
1tun
12pipes, butts
11+123puncheons, tertians
11+1324hogsheads
11+12236tierces
11+1322+2348barrels
11+342+133+124+23714rundlets
11831+12426384126252gallons (wine)
3.78568.14119.24158.99238.48317.97476.96953.92litres
11526+143552+1270105210gallons (imperial)
4.54668.19119.3159.1238.7318.2477.3954.7litres
English brewery cask units [5]
gallon firkin kilderkin barrel hogshead Year designated
1hogsheads
11+12barrels
123kilderkins
1246firkins
18163248ale gallons(1454)
= 4.621 L= 36.97 L= 73.94 L= 147.9 L= 221.8 L
19183654beer gallons
= 4.621 L= 41.59 L= 83.18 L= 166.4 L= 249.5 L
18+12173451ale gallons1688
= 4.621 L= 39.28 L= 78.56 L= 157.1 L= 235.7 L
19183654ale gallons1803
= 4.621 L= 41.59 L= 83.18 L= 166.4 L= 249.5 L
19183654 imperial gallons1824
= 4.546 L= 40.91 L= 81.83 L= 163.7 L= 245.5 L

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hogshead"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 507.
  2. "AP John Technical Specifications" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-02-15.
  3. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0001617/18601205/057/0004?browse=true via British Newspaper Archive.{{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. "wine barrel". Sizes. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
  5. "English Beer and Ale Barrel". Sizes. 2002-01-23. Retrieved 2018-03-27.