Being a cultured wine lover, you must want to know how many bottles can be filled with a barrel of wine. Which is great, you want to learn more about this drink. Let us talk you through this simple math.
The Size of a Barrel
This one really differs, which is why we can’t give you an exact number. But most barrels can hold anywhere from 200 liters (or about 53 gallons) to 650 liters (or about 172 gallons). There are a couple of things that go into how big of a barrel a manufacturer puts the wine in. For example, if they want to make a wine that has a very distinctive oak taste, then they will use a small oak barrel. This is because the liquid can absorb the flavor and it will spread around in a smaller amount. Resulting in a more potent taste.
Most barrels hold 250 liters (or 55 gallons) though. These are called hogsheads and are the most common.
The Size of the Bottle
And of course, to know how many bottles can be filled with a barrel of wine we need to know how big those bottles are.
There are 4 main bottle sizes. We are going to address each one of them because nobody really has a preference when it comes to the bottle size. So why not talk about all 4?
The smallest can hold 375 ml (or 12.7 ounces), the next one 750 ml (or 25.4 ounces), then 1,5 liters (or 50.8 ounces) and the biggest one has the volume of 3 liters (or 101.6 ounces).
The second size is the most common though, as most people consume that much wine in a few month period. The smallest size is usually not enough and it’s more like a “wine tasting” size for when you want to try out a new blend, for example. And finally, the two largest sizes. We mainly use those if we buy a wine that we really love and plan to consume it in the foreseeable future. After all, it would be a shame to let so much wine go bad.
The Math
The rest is simple. Divide the barrel’s volume by the bottle’s volume.
Let’s say that we have 4 regular 250-liter barrels. Let’s see how many bottles could be filled with each size.
250 divided by 0,375 is 666,666… You get the point. Let’s just say that you could get 666 and a half bottles. As for 750 ml bottles, you could fill 333 and a third. You could get 166 and a half bottles. Then finally, the biggest size of them all, the 3-liter bottle. 83 full ones and one filled one third.
These are quite insane amounts if you think about it, especially if you take a guess at the price of these amounts.
Conclusion
Our own final conclusion is that wine barrels are a lot bigger than we expected. And can hold a lot more than we would have ever imagined. But that’s great for us, as this means that more is made of our favorite drink.
How many bottles did you think a barrel could fill originally? Were you surprised? Tell us down in the comments below!