The history of the cask reaches back into the ancient woodlands of north-western Europe and to the enigmatic Celts more than 3,000 years ago. Europe’s forests furnished the first staves to fashion these wooden containers. These vessels were skilfully constructed, ensuring the staves fitted tightly, then bound by hooped branches to securely hold liquid such as beer and mead, the favoured libations of the Celts. Old Celtic words for beer are familiar to modern brewers: ‘cervesia’ and ‘bior’. This pan-European family were more than partial to alcoholic beverages, striving to achieve excessive levels of inebriation. Where the Romans had the genteel Bacchus as the god of wine and intoxication, the Celts worshipped the god of the woodlands and beer, Secellos, who ominously carried a mallet and small cask. After Julius Caesar’s sobering conquests of Europe, a thriving wine, oil and garum trade developed where the discovery and exploitation of the unpretentious cask would make New World travel and global trade possible.
Creation of the cask and its place in modern linguistics
Casks were one of humankind’s most robust and versatile containers until the advent of steel drums and moulded plastics in the 20th century. A sustainable and natural resource, they are durable and easy to store and transport. A worker can move a cask
