traditional cooperage
Traditionally there are three types of cooperage: white, dry and wet. White cooperage consists of the items used in a pioneer home or farm such as butter churns, buckets and tubs of various sizes. These items are straight-sided and usually made of white pine or oak. Dry cooperage are kegs and casks for dry goods. At one time in history, all items were shipped or stored in barrels of various sizes. A Dry goods barrel is not necessarily water tight or water proof. For example an apple barrel will not be tight, however a flour barrel would be tight in order to protect the contents. Wet cooperage consists of barrels that are water tight. Certainly we all know that wooden barrels will swell to become tight, however, you wouldn’t want your barrel to swell at the expense of your wine or other important beverage. A wet cooper can product a barrel that is perfectly tight.
The name “barrel” is basically a modern term to describe a wooden container of a barrel shape. These days, consumers of barrels are concerned with the volume of the container in gallons or litres. A typical wine barrel holds 220L. In historic days, the generic terms “keg” and “cask” were used. A keg was a small container that a person could carry. A cask was too big to carry, so it was rolled. Each specific volume of container had a specific name.
Here are some examples of sizes and names for wet cooperage:
A great source for historic information on coopering is the following:
The Cooper and His Trade by Kenneth Kilby, John Baker, 1971.
The name “barrel” is basically a modern term to describe a wooden container of a barrel shape. These days, consumers of barrels are concerned with the volume of the container in gallons or litres. A typical wine barrel holds 220L. In historic days, the generic terms “keg” and “cask” were used. A keg was a small container that a person could carry. A cask was too big to carry, so it was rolled. Each specific volume of container had a specific name.
Here are some examples of sizes and names for wet cooperage:
- 4.5 gallon keg was called a pin
- 9 gallon keg was called a firkin
- 18 gallon cask was called a kilderkin
- 36 gallon cask was called a barrel
A great source for historic information on coopering is the following:
The Cooper and His Trade by Kenneth Kilby, John Baker, 1971.

buckets.pdf | |
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oval_tubs.pdf | |
File Size: | 384 kb |
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piggins.pdf | |
File Size: | 303 kb |
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