CK wonders, misguidedly I wonder why I already knew that?
mtywtk,ial [more than you wanted to know, in all liklihood]
Casks are traditionally made from European oak or more commonly nowadays from stainless steel or aluminium. They have an opening at the front (approximately 25 mm diameter) for attachment of a tap and a second opening (shive hole) at the top (approximately 50 mm diameter) through which the beer is racked into the cask. The front opening is stopped with a wooden or plastic plug (the keystone). Similarly, the shive hole is plugged with a shive. Both keystone and shive contain central knockout sections. The cask also comes with a hard peg known as a hard spile and a soft peg known as a soft spile. Traditional cask sizes are derived from the 36 gallon barrel. They are:*
4.5 gallons - Pin
9 gallons - Firkin
18 gallons - Kilderkin (Kil or Kiln)
27 gallons - Half-hogshead
36 gallons - Barrel
54 gallons - Hogshead
*I'd quote my source, but I have no idea where I got this, I LIU when I got a question about hogshead...
the worthless word for the day is: hogshead
choose one (or more):
a) a large barrel
b) 3 kilderkins
c) 6 firkins
d) 12 pins
e) 2 half-hogsheads
f) something totally unrelated to a cask
