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For the small barrels, with an average diameter of about 4.4 feet[193] and
an average length of about 11.5 feet, as scaled from the Plan, the volume
per barrel computes to about 175 cubic feet or about 4960 liters, rounded
off at 5000 liters.

For the large barrels, with an average diameter of about 9.6 feet[194] and
an average length of about 14.5 feet, as scaled from the Plan, the volume
per barrel computes to about 1060 cubic feet or about 30,000 liters.
The contents of one large barrel could be drained into, and exactly fill,
six of the nine small barrels.

It is interesting that for a monastery population of 300, consuming one
hemina of 0.2736 liters per day for 365 days, the total annual consumption
computes at 29,920 liters, rounded off at 30,000 liters, identical with
the contents of one large barrel.

235.B

Cellar practice requires draining the entire content of one large barrel
into smaller containers at the same time, since small daily withdrawals
from a large barrel would shortly cause acetification of its remaining
content.

The six small barrels would contain wine used during the year, each
small barrel holding two months' supply, a period that would not cause
serious deterioration of the contents.

If the vintage of any one year were held to mature for two subsequent
years, three large barrels would have been required of the five shown
on the Plan. The supply of wine to constantly top up these three, to
offset considerable loss by evaporation, could be provided by the
three remaining small barrels, after six of them had been filled by one
large barrel.

This would leave two large barrels for extra wine or beer storage.

235.C

If the wine allowance per person were doubled, it must be assumed that
the wine would be allowed to mature for only one year after the initial
vintage year.

Four large barrels would be required, since two barrels a year would be
consumed instead of one per year (as in 235.B).

Two large barrels would be drained off during the year with six small
barrels filled every six months. This would leave two small barrels
to supply losses by evaporation, and one large and one small barrel
for beer storage.

CONCLUSION

The maximum capacity of the cellar of the Plan of St. Gall appears
to have been 0.54 liters, or two heminae of wine per day per person
with not more than one year of maturing after the year of vintage,
since two years of maturation would have required six large barrels.
The scheme shown in 235.C (requiring four barrels for a production
cycle) leaves two barrels for beer, or one barrel for beer and one for
a special reserve of wine.

The analysis given here, certainly conjectural, fits together with an
ease and flexibility not reconcilable with the notion that the drawing
on the Plan of the barrels was a draftsman's whimsical symbol for
"Here is the cellar."

See pages 292 through 305 for discussion of the cellar.

E.B.