80 stones of beer

According to Common Merchandise table, 1 load of 10 Beer barrels is 80 stones and costs 100 gp. How much pints are there in a stone of beer, if 1 pint of beer costs 2cp?

Beer weighs essentially the same as water, and as the saying goes, a pint’s a pound the world around.

This tells us that one stone (between 10-14 pounds) is between 10-14 pints, or 20-28 cp.

This does not fit together with the price of the trade good relative to the mug at a tavern (80 stone being 800-1120 pints would give it a price of 1600 to 2240 cp, or 16-22.4 gold). Presumably beer that has actually been shipped, instead of brewed locally, is higher quality, not to mention the price of putting it into barrels and actually shipping it.

(edit: I am not an Autarch, just doing some math!)

Also not an Autarch, but here is a good website that talks about mroe standardized beer sizes

http://www.belmont-station.com/kegs-to-go/keg-policies/

Looks like half a barrel is 124 pints. I think that should be a good start for you. So one barrel is 248 pints (31 gallons), and a load of ten barrels is 2,480 pints (310 gal).

I hope that helps.

[quote="Aryxymaraki"] Presumably beer that has actually been shipped, instead of brewed locally, is higher quality, not to mention the price of putting it into barrels and actually shipping it. (edit: I am not an Autarch, just doing some math!) [/quote]

Or, the common merchandise beer is actually beer concentrate, dilluted and fermented locally to produce beer sold at 1-2 cp a pint. In this case beer concentrate is sold in special 8 stone barrels, each containing around 112 pints of concentrate, resulting in a price of almost 9 copper per pint of beer concentrate.

[quote="Opiyel"]

Looks like half a barrel is 124 pints. I think that should be a good start for you. So one barrel is 248 pints (31 gallons), and a load of ten barrels is 2,480 pints (310 gal).

[/quote]

1. If an 8-stone beer barrel from Common Merchandise holds 124 pints, then 1 stone is actually 15,5 pints, or almost 2 gallons, and thus a 8-stone barrell contains 15,5 gallons of beer. The cost of such beer is  then 8 coppers per pint.

2. If an 8-stone barrel holds 248 pints, then 1 stone is 31 pints, or almost 4 gallons, thus an 8-stone barell contains 31 gallons of beer. The cost of beer would be 4 coppers per pint.

Right, we're definitely getting closer I think. One thing to remember is that brewing is a lot more standardized today. I'm sure barrels back then varied between the different brewsters and monastaries. Still, we're really close with the barrel being 4 cp a pint. And it wasn't unheard of to mix beer/liquor with water. Look at grog.

Also for #1, remember, 124 pints is for a half barrel, not a full one. So you'd be looking at a 4 stone beer half barrel.

[quote="Opiyel"]

Also for #1, remember, 124 pints is for a half barrel, not a full one. So you'd be looking at a 4 stone beer half barrel.

[/quote]

I  think 8 stones is a half-barrel holding 15,5 galons of beer, and 16 stones is a full one holding 31 galons of beer. So a load of beer is 10 half-barrels, or 5 full barrels. The only problem that remains is the cost of beer - the wholesale price is greater than retail price. It is 8 times greater than cheap beer, and 4 times greater than good beer.

In adventuring gear the barrel can hold 20 gallons. If the beer is sold in such barrels, then 1 stone is 2,5 gallons and 1 pint costs, again 8 copper.

The barrels of beer are undiluted beer. The pints of beer are heavily diluted, what was called "small beer", and drunk on a daily basis as a replacement for water.

THAT SAID, if I did a 2nd edition of ACKS, the merchandise price for beer would probably be something I adjust. 

This is good quality Autarch forum right here. :)

"How much beer is there?" is really the fundamental question of all civilization, and as such, it's important to be correct.

Thank you everyone for your help, now I can finally say, that a group of four riding a wagon travels with the speed of 72miles/half-barrel of beer, or 36 miles/half-barrel of beer if they really admire the view.