Butt
- The term "butt" is also U.S. slang for the buttocks.
A wine
butt (from the medieval
French and
Italian botte) is a large cask (or barrel) holding two hogsheads of wine. A hogshead varied in size but today is most commonly 63 U.S.
gallons (approx.
238.5 litres), so a butt is now usually 126 U.S. gallons or 108 imperial gallons (approx. 477 litres).
Traditionally, a butt of beer is 162 gallons or 613 litres, and how big a butt (or "pipe") of wine is depends on what kind of wine it is:
- A butt of Madeira or of Cape Wine is 92 gallons or 348 liter.
- A butt of Sherry is 108 gallons or 409 liter.
- A butt of Brandy is 114 gallons or 431.5 liter.
- A butt of Port Wine is 115 gallons or 435 liter.