# How many gallons in a barrel and how much does it weigh?



## Isida Kep'Tukari

For a game situation, I need to know how many gallons are in a typical barrel, and how much a full barrel would weigh (or at least how much a gallon of ale weighs).  My dwarven drunken master wants to know if his traveling mule sidekick is going to be encumbered or not.  Thanks in advance!


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## Phineas Crow

Here are the various sizes with the amount they hold.

Hand Keg: 2 gallons
Cask: 12 gallons
Barrel: 30 gallons
Butt: 100 gallons
Tun: 250 gallons


A gallon of water weighs about 8 lb.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari

You sir/ma'am, are a peach.  Thanks a ton!


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## Steverooo

hand keg - 12" long, 8" circumference, weighs 10 lbs; holds 2 gallons

cask - 2' long, 18" circumference, holds 12 gallons

barrel - (generally) 3-5' long, as wide around as a healthy man's shoulders, holds 30 gallons

butt - 6-7' long, wider than a man, holds 100 gallons

tun - holds 250 gallons (mounted into walls of taverns with a tap directly into it
According to PHB, p.110, a Barrel weighs 30lbs. empty, and holds 10 cubic feet of liquid.

10 cubic feet is 74.8 gallons (US liquid volume), 62.3 british gallons.

10 cubic feet of water would weigh 624 pounds. Ale would be roughly the same density. So, figure that a filled barrel of ale weighs somewhere around 650 pounds.

Now, the standard unit of measurement we call "barrel" is the 31.5-gallon drum used for oil. Two barrels equals a hogshead (63 gallons).


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## Agback

Steverooo said:
			
		

> barrel - (generally) 3-5' long, as wide around as a healthy man's shoulders, holds 30 gallons
> 
> <snip>
> 
> Now, the standard unit of measurement we call "barrel" is the 31.5-gallon drum used for oil. Two barrels equals a hogshead (63 gallons).




You've over-generalised. There are about a dozen different measures in the US Customary system, all called 'barrels', and ranging from 31.5 gallons to 42 gallons, when they are not a unit of weight. The 31.5 gallon ones are wine barrels, the oil barrel is a measure equivalent to 42.5 gallons.



			
				Encyclopedia Britannica said:
			
		

> *Barrel*
> unit of both liquid and dry measure in the British Imperial and U.S. Customary systems, ranging from 31.5 to 42 gallons for liquids and fixed at 7,056 cubic inches (105 dry quarts, or 115.63 litres) for most fruits, vegetables, and other dry commodities. The cranberry barrel, however, measures 5,826 cubic inches. In liquid measure, the wine barrel of 126 quarts (31.5 gallons, or 119.24 litres) and the ale and beer barrel of 144 quarts (36 gallons, or 136.27 litres) probably were defined by the traditional size of the actual wooden barrels used in these trades. In the United States a 40-gallon barrel for proof spirits has been legally recognized, and federal taxes on fermented liquors are calculated on a barrel of 31 gallons. A petroleum barrel of 42 gallons may have become standard in the American Southwest because casks of this capacity were readily available. Dry-weight barrels include the barrel of 200 pounds for fish, beef, and pork and that of 376 pounds for cement, among others.




So a barrel of _beer_ is bigger than a barrel of _wine_, but smaller than a barrel of whisky, and probably weighs over 300 lb.

Metric is less confusing.

Regards,


Agback


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## Agback

Ray Silver said:
			
		

> For a game situation, I need to know how many gallons are in a typical barrel, and how much a full barrel would weigh (or at least how much a gallon of ale weighs).




By the way, a US gallon of water weighs 8 pounds avoirdupois, but an Imperial gallon of water weighs 10 pounds avoirdupois. Fortunately the US and British pound have been the same since 1959.

_Metric-- you know it makes sense._

Regards,


Agback


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## Kevin Sullivan

Game designers are morons at best.  http://www.thebarrelmill.com/barrels for new barrels.  and http://www.distillerytrail.com/blog/understanding-oak-barrel-maturation-part-1-know-your-casks/ for lots more sizes and information.


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## Kevin Sullivan

Kevin Sullivan said:


> Game designers are morons at best.  http://www.thebarrelmill.com/barrels for new barrels.  and http://www.distillerytrail.com/blog/understanding-oak-barrel-maturation-part-1-know-your-casks/ for lots more sizes and information.




BTW, that was 3 minutes on Google.


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## aramis erak

Phineas Crow said:


> Here are the various sizes with the amount they hold.
> 
> Hand Keg: 2 gallons
> Cask: 12 gallons
> Barrel: 30 gallons
> Butt: 100 gallons
> Tun: 250 gallons
> 
> 
> A gallon of water weighs about 8 lb.




You left out
Hogshead (63-64 gal) 
Pony Keg (1/2 barrel) 7.5 gal

Pure Alcohol is 6.59 lbs per (US) gallon, and water is actually 8.33 lbs per gallon.

Most drinkable booze is 10-30% alcohol by volume, so one gallon is 0.7*8.33 + 0.3*6.59 = 7.8 lbs per gallon. Hundred proof (50% ABV), is 0.5*8.33+0.5*6.59=7.49. Add dissolved sugar weight, and you can get some cordials at 30% massing more than 8.5 lbs per gallon.

Note that if you're kegging up soups and stews, meat is about 21/20 the weight of the water displaced, and most veggies run 19/20 to 21/20 the water weight per volume.

And, in case you want to be "historical" - the UK gallon is a hair over 1.2 US gallons in volume, and thus all weights go up... 10 lbs per gallon for water, 7.91 for alcohol.


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## ArchfiendBobbie

It varies.

The typical American barrel is 31.5 gallons, but the typical _beer_ barrel is 31 gallons. The UK beer barrel, on the other hand, is 43 gallons. The typical oil barrel is 42 gallons.

So, first thing you really need to do is figure out "barrel of _what_" before you figure out how much it weighs.

But in general? 31-35 gallons should do you fine.


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## happyhermit

Kevin Sullivan said:


> Game designers are morons at best.  http://www.thebarrelmill.com/barrels for new barrels.  and http://www.distillerytrail.com/blog/understanding-oak-barrel-maturation-part-1-know-your-casks/ for lots more sizes and information.




Really? You join a forum to resurrect a 14 year old thread to take an attack against an entire group of people based on nothing...


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## Jhaelen

Kevin Sullivan said:


> Game designers are morons at best.



"Stupid is as stupid does."







Kevin Sullivan said:


> BTW, that was 3 minutes on Google.



Actually, it took you about 14 years + 3 minutes...


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## Kevin Sullivan

happyhermit said:


> Really? You join a forum to resurrect a 14 year old thread to take an attack against an entire group of people based on nothing...




I've held this opinion about game designers for a couple of decades now.  Very few games even try to get anything right and the designers of games like D&D have never succeeded.  The internet only means game designers are even more stupid because in a few minutes, even 14 years ago, you could do enough research on most subjects to not sound like a moron.  Hell, you can get statistics from the late 90s on everything from agricultural production in Africa.  But don't let that get in your way of the worst Roll Play game in history worship.


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## Kevin Sullivan

Jhaelen said:


> "Stupid is as stupid does."Actually, it took you about 14 years + 3 minutes...



  14 years ago we still would have used google to do the same thing in the same amount of time.


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## happyhermit

Kevin Sullivan said:


> I've held this opinion about game designers for a couple of decades now.  Very few games even try to get anything right and the designers of games like D&D have never succeeded.  The internet only means game designers are even more stupid because in a few minutes, even 14 years ago, you could do enough research on most subjects to not sound like a moron.  Hell, you can get statistics from the late 90s on everything from agricultural production in Africa.  But don't let that get in your way of the worst Roll Play game in history worship.




First off anybody that holds an opinion that an entire group of people are all "morons" has issues, that's simply a irrational position. Secondly you seem to know very little about game design if you think "trying to get anything right" in a ttrpg correlates with it's implementation of real world weights and measures. Last, you haven't even shown that ttrpg designers got it "wrong" in any way.

As to worshiping the "worst roll play game in history" I'm guessing that's simply a sad attempt at trolling, this thread doesn't even mention a specific game.


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## Eltab

A "barrel" of oil is 55 gallons.  It weighs more than one person can lift.*  (I suppose STR 18+ guys can try ... )
Maybe use 500 lbs. until somebody can get back with more accurate data.  It stands about chest high _on a Human_ and is as far across as your shoulders are broad.

* Especially if that person is me.  I can't even scoot one across the floor or slip a hand-jack underneath one.  If I tried to roll one, I don't know how I would turn a corner, much less stop it when I got where I was going.


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## Eltab

Kevin Sullivan said:


> The internet only means game designers are even more stupid because in a few minutes, even 14 years ago, you could do enough research on most subjects to not sound like a moron.  Hell, you can get statistics from the late 90s on everything from agricultural production in Africa.  But don't let that get in your way of the worst Roll Play game in history worship.



You are probably on the wrong website, if that is how you really think.
What DO you like to do in your spare time?  Google that and follow the links.


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## aramis erak

Eltab said:


> A "barrel" of oil is 55 gallons.  It weighs more than one person can lift.*  (I suppose STR 18+ guys can try ... )
> Maybe use 500 lbs. until somebody can get back with more accurate data.  It stands about chest high _on a Human_ and is as far across as your shoulders are broad.
> 
> * Especially if that person is me.  I can't even scoot one across the floor or slip a hand-jack underneath one.  If I tried to roll one, I don't know how I would turn a corner, much less stop it when I got where I was going.




Nope. 42 US gallons. The standard shipping drum is 55-gal, yes, but that's not the barrel used in the oil industry. 

In Russia, the barrel is 3/22 of a metric ton. (That is, 7 1/3 bbl = 1 tonne)

The SG ranges from 0.77 to 0.95

https://www.ihrdc.com/els/po-demo/module01/mod_001_03.htm

Wikipedia notes the 42 gal is 35 Imperial Gallons. 

35 Imp Gallons of water would be 350 lbs, and crude would be 270 to 332 lbs. A not atyppical 42 gal shipping drum masses 26 lbs empty.

I know a lot of guys who can carry one for short distances filled with avgas. I, myself, have moved them by tilt-n-spin...


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