Butt

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 liter), so a butt is now usually 126 U.S. gallons or 108 imperial gallons (approx. 477 liter).

Traditionally, a butt of beer is 162 gallons or 613 liter, 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.

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The term "butt" is also a U.S. euphemism for the buttocks.