Today is the feast day of St Abdon, who is the is patron saint of barrel makers. Here are ten things you might not know about barrels.
Some barrel words. A person who makes barrels is called a cooper. The wooden parts of a barrel are called staves, the rings around them are called hoops. The tops and bottoms are called heads or headers. As to what a keg is, I found two different meanings. One said a keg is a small barrel, another said a keg is an empty barrel, the word cask being used for one that is full. The bulge around the middle is called the bilge.
There’s a reason why barrels bulge in the middle rather than being straight cylinders. It makes it easier to roll and possible to change direction easily while doing so.
Barrels have been around a long time. Pictures of wooden containers bound with hoops have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 2600 BC, and archaeologists have found remains of barrels dating back to 200 BC.
The Romans were responsible for popularising the barrel as a means to store and transport Wine. Before the Romans, wine was kept in various types of pottery jars such as the qvevri or amphora. Alternatively wineskins as referenced in The Bible. There were drawbacks, however. Wineskins might rot and earthenware was too fragile and likely to break. The Romans, keen not to waste any wine, started using wooden barrels. Once the wine had been consumed, Roman armies found uses for the empties: Julius Caesar would fill the barrel with tar, set it on fire and lob it over the city walls during a siege. The Romans also used empty barrels to make pontoon bridges and to line shallow wells.
Until the 19th century, the hoops were made from wood, but the Victorians found that metal was stronger, more durable and took up less space.
Does the type of wood matter? It certainly does when it comes to alcoholic beverages. Oak is most popular for storing and ageing wines and spirits such as Whiskey. English oak (Quercus robur), white oak (Quercus petraea), American white oak (Quercus alba) are most commonly used, but but chestnut and redwood are not unknown. Japanese Cedar is used for sake.
The type of wood matters because chemical compounds in the wood, such as tannins and vanillins, infuse into the liquid contents, giving it flavour. American oak lends notes of Vanilla, Coconut, and Toffee. French oak gives Clove, spice and nutty flavours. Japanese cedar imparts an unusual, minty-piney flavour to the sake. Some drinks, such as bourbon, benefit from a bit of treatment to the barrel before the contents go in. Bourbon makers will char the inside of the barrel first to enhance the flavour. Eventually, the barrel will have given up all its chemical contents and becomes neutral. At this point it’s time to recycle it. Hence you may find old barrels in use as tables or stools or plant pots.
Barrels don’t have lids, but a small hole in one side called a bunghole, which is sealed by a stopper known as, you guessed it, a bung. Modern bungs are usually made from silicon.
While barrels are watertight, some of the contents will always be lost to evaporation. This is known as the angels’ share.
A barrel is also a standard measure of the capacity or weight of a commodity. In the UK and Ireland, for example, a barrel of beer equals 36 imperial gallons (160 litres or 43 US gallons).
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