hogshead

An English and later British unit of capacity, a quarter of a tun, = 63 wine gallons. After conversion to imperial measure in 1824, the hogshead became 52.5 imperial gallons, about 238.7 liters. See wine barrel for a chart showing its changes in value and its relation to other wine measures. Abbr., hhd.

In addition to the legal value, the hogshead had various conventional commercial values, depending on the commodity.

Mid 19th century, according to Waterson:

beer	54 imperial gallons
brandy	45–60 imperial gallons; some say 57
claret	46 imperial gallons
Scotch whisky	55–60 imperial gallons
sugar (West Indies)	1,456–1,792 pounds avoirdupois.
tobacco	1,344–2,016 pounds avoirdupois.
Hock, Rhine and Moselle wine	30 gallons