Geek Trivia

If You Have A Butt Load Of Something, How Much Of It Do You Have?

126 Gallons
14 Tons
4,000 Cubic Centimeters
50 Yards

Answer: 126 Gallons

If you come into possession of a butt of wine–derived from the Italian botte–you’re the proud owner of a half tun (a large cask with the volume of four standard wine barrels) or roughly 475-480 liters of wine. Adjusted into US gallons, the average butt of wine then is 126 gallons–with the cask and all, a butt of wine weighs around 1200 pounds.

Although outside of the wine industry the use of butt as a unit of measurement has fallen out of favor, the legacy of the butt-size wine cask lives on in the colloquialism “butt load” to informally denote that the amount of something is quite sizable. The next time someone says “We’d better swing by the store and pick up a butt load of beer” you can nod sagely and respond, “Yes. Yes, indeed. All 126 gallons.”