How many gallons of ale in a butt?
United States v. Forty-Three Gallons of Whiskey United States v. Forty-Three Gallons of Whiskey United States v. Forty-Three Gallons of Whiskey, 108 U.S. 491 (1883), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that Congress has the power to regulate the possession and sale of liquor in the lands of and near Native American tribes and upheld an order to seize barrels containing forty-three gallons of whiskey that were being traded on Native American land. The form of the styling of this casethe defendant being an object, rather than a legal personis because this is a jurisdiction "in rem" (power over objects) case,
Ale hours of boiling required in production, not the alcoholic content of the finished beverage. Records from the Middle Ages show that ale was consumed in huge quantities. In 1272 a husband and wife who retired at Selby Abbey were given 2 gallons of ale per day with two loaves of white bread and one loaf of brown bread. Monks at Westminster Abbey consumed 1 gallon of ale each day. In 1299, Henry de Lacys household purchased an average of 85 gallons of ale daily and in 1385-6 Framlingham Castle consumed 78 gallons per day. Brewing ale in the Middle Ages