UK Beer Barrels to US Gallons (bbl (UK) to gal)

1 UK beer barrel equals 43.23419732 US gallons (rounded).

1 UK beer barrel = 43.23419732 US gallons

How to convert UK beer barrels to US gallons

To convert UK beer barrels to US gallons, multiply the number of UK beer barrels by 43.23419732. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply US gallons by 0.02312983846 (rounded).

US gallons = UK beer barrels × 43.23419732

Example: 10 UK beer barrels = 432.3419732 US gallons.

Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.

About these units

UK Beer Barrel (bbl (UK))

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

36 imperial gallons (163.66 L). A traditional British beer barrel.

Barrel entered English from medieval French baril, a word of unknown origin. Across medieval Europe barrels ranged from roughly 100 to 1,000 liters depending on place and contents, so the brewer's barrel is only one of many. In British brewing it is fixed at 36 imperial gallons, about 164 liters (163.66 L at the figure used here) or roughly 43 US gallons.

The size matters because the other traditional beer casks are fractions of it. A firkin is a quarter of a barrel at 9 gallons, a kilderkin is half at 18 gallons, and the barrel itself is two kilderkins or four firkins. Today the barrel survives mainly as an accounting unit in brewery statistics rather than as a physical container, since most beer now travels in metal kegs measured in liters.

1 UK beer barrel = 163.65924 liters (exactly).

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

US Gallon (gal)

US customaryCurrent unit

Exactly 231 cubic inches or 3.785411784 liters (128 US fluid ounces). About 17% smaller than the imperial gallon.

The US gallon is a survivor of English wine trade. Around 1706, a statute in Queen Anne's reign fixed the wine gallon at exactly 231 cubic inches, settling confusion among the competing gallons for wine, ale and corn. British colonies in North America used that wine gallon, and in 1824 Britain replaced all its gallons with a new imperial one while the United States kept the old measure. It was adopted as the legal US standard in 1836 and is still defined as exactly 231 cubic inches, or 3.785411784 liters.

That makes the US gallon about 17 percent smaller than the imperial gallon, a difference that explains why American and British fuel-economy figures cannot be compared directly. Everyday uses are milk jugs, paint cans and gasoline pumps. One gallon divides evenly into four quarts, eight pints, sixteen cups and 128 fluid ounces. A gallon of water weighs a little over 8 pounds, an easy figure to remember when loading a car with water jugs.

1 US gallon = 3.785411784 liters (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Gallon; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume

Related conversions

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