Kilderkin (kil)

Imperial (British)Traditional unit (still used in some regions)

18 imperial gallons (81.8 L), two firkins or half a UK beer barrel.

1 kilderkin = 81.82962 liters (exactly).

About the kilderkin

Dutch kinderkin, a small cask, is the origin of this word, and a kilderkin holds 18 imperial gallons, exactly 81.82962 liters, or two firkins, half a barrel. Nominally that is 144 pints, though a real cask yields fewer because of sediment and other unsellable beer.

Its size has shifted with the gallon. Before 1824 the beer kilderkin was always 18 ale or beer gallons, but that gallon itself changed: kilderkins held 16 gallons (73.94 L) from the mid fifteenth century, 17 gallons (78.56 L) from 1688 and 18 gallons (83.18 L) from 1803. The Weights and Measures Act 1824 replaced these with the imperial gallon and brought the cask to its present volume. A wine kilderkin was far smaller, around 13 imperial gallons. The Campaign for Real Ale uses the kilderkin as its yardstick for planning beer quantities at festivals and in internal accounts.

Sources: Wikipedia: Kilderkin; Wikipedia: Firkin (unit); Wikipedia: Barrel (unit)

Kilderkin conversion chart

1 kilderkin expressed in every other volume unit:

More Imperial (British) units

• imperial gallon (volume)
• imperial quart (volume)
• imperial pint (volume)
• imperial gill (volume)
• imperial fluid ounce (volume)
• UK beer barrel (volume)
• firkin (volume)
• hogshead (ale) (volume)
• stone (weight & mass)
• long ton (weight & mass)
• hundredweight (UK) (weight & mass)
• quarter (UK) (weight & mass)
• fortnight (time)
• score (time)
• furlong per fortnight (speed)
• poundal (force)

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