Cask ale more plastic casks around than wooden ones. Plastic casks are increasing in popularity because they are cheaper to buy and lighter to carry. Though they don't last as long, they are also less likely to be stolen as they have no melt-down value. Beer casks come in a number of sizes, but by far the most common in the pub trade are those of 9 gallons (72 pints or roughly 41 litres) which is known as a Firkin and 18 gallons (144 pints or roughly 83 litres) known as a Kilderkin. (N.B. These are imperial gallons, equal to 1.201 US
Firkin Brewery in Whitby, Ontario), and many Firkin Group pubs in fact share their names with former UK Firkin Brewery pubs. In the United States, the franchise pubs are named with "Firkin" first, as in "The Firkin & Fox" as opposed to "The Fox & Firkin". The pub chain once credited itself as being the "largest and fastest growing" group of pubs in North America. Lately the claim is "largest & most dominant chain of traditional English pubs" in North America. About 10 pubs have closed out of the about 25 pubs that have opened since 2005. New pubs have opened about