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A wooden barrel usually has a convex shape, bulging at the middle. This constant bulge makes it relatively easy to roll a well built wooden a barrel on its side, changing directions with little friction.
In ancient times, in Europe, liquids like oil and wine were carried in vessels, for instance amphora, sealed with pine resin. The 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 coins, 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.
Main article: Aging barrel
Barrels are used for the storage of liquids, to ferment wine, and to age wine (notably brandy, sherry, and port) and whiskey. Wine is said to be fermented "in barrel," as opposed to a neutral container such as a steel or concrete tank. The barrels used for this can be hundreds or even thousands of gallons.
| gallon | rundlet | barrel | tierce | hogshead | firkin, puncheon, tertian | pipe, butt | tun | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | pipes, butts | ||||||||
| 1½ | 3 | firkins, puncheons, tertians | |||||||
| 1 1⁄3 | 2 | 4 | hogsheads | ||||||
| 1½ | 2 | 3 | 6 | tierces | |||||
| 1 1⁄3 | 2 | 2 1⁄3 | 4 | 8 | barrels | ||||
| 1¾ | 2 1⁄3 | 3½ | 4 2⁄3 | 7 | 14 | rundlets | |||
| 18 | 31.5 | 42 | 63 | 84 | 126 | 252 | wine gallons | ||
| 0.83 | 14.99 | 26.23 | 34.97 | 52.46 | 69.94 | 104.92 | 209.83 | imperial gallons | US + pre-1824 |
| 3.79 | 68.14 | 119.24 | 158.99 | 238.48 | 317.97 | 476.96 | 953.92 | liters | |
| - | 15 | 26¼ | 35 | 52.5 | 70 | 105 | 210 | imperial gallons | post-1824 |
| - | 68.19 | 119.3 | 159.1 | 238.7 | 318.2 | 477.3 | 954.7 | liters |
Like other units, the pre- 1824Events January 22 Ashantis crush British forces in the Gold Coast Cimetiere du Montparnasse established The Dutch sign the Masang Agreement temporarily ending hostilities in the Padri War March 17 signing of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. March 11 The Un definitions continued to be used in the US, the wine gallon of 231 cubic inches staying (since 1707Events March 26 Act of Union with Scotland becomes law, making the separate Kingdoms of England and Scotland into one country, the Kingdom of Great Britain. April 25 Allied army is defeated by borbonic army at Almansa ( Spain) in the War of the Spanish Su) the standard gallon for liquids (accompanied by the corn gallon of 268.8 cubic inches for solids), whereas in Britain that gallon was abolished and replaced by the Imperial gallon. The tierce later became the petrol barrel. The tun originally was 256 gallonThe gallon is a unit of volume used for measuring liquids. In the US a gallon is 3. 78541 litres: see U. customary units An Imperial gallon is 4. 54609 litres: see Imperial unit. At one time, the volume of a gallon depended on what you were measuring, ands, which explains where the quarter, being 8 bushelA bushel is a unit of volume, used (with somewhat different definitions) in the systems of Imperial units and U. customary units. It is used for volumes of dry commodities, not liquids, most often in agriculture. The Imperial bushel equals 8 Imperial galls or 64 (wine) gallons, comes from. [1]