#ullage

[twentysixtyfour]

Word of the Day

July 6/2018―July 9/2018

[yourcoolwine]

Ullage and It's Impact on Wine Aging

Ullage is a term commonly used in the wine industry to refer to partially empty cask or bottle. This phenomenon has significant effects on t

[thewordwideweb]

Ullage: Mind the Gap

Unless you’re a winemaker – or possibly a rocket scientist – chances are you won’t be familiar with today’s Word of the Day. The word is “ullage,” and I like it for a few reasons. First, it rolls trippingly off the tongue. Try it. Say “ullage.” Second, I’m always on the lookout for cool, underused words, and I think this qualifies. And third, it’s a good example of my theory that English has a word for absolutely everything. 

“Ullage” means “the amount by which a container – especially of a liquid – falls short of being full.” It’s also the empty space between the cork and the wine in a wine bottle. Or the amount of liquid in a container (bottle, cask or barrel) that is lost through spillage, evaporation or leakage. Wine experts look at ullage charts (fill-level) to help determine how well the wine has been stored. A big ullage gap can suggest poor storage and even spoiled wine. 

If you’re a rocket scientist (see, I wasn’t kidding about that), it refers to the space deliberately left unfilled in a rocket fuel tank to account for thermal expansion of the propellant and the accumulation of associated gases. If you don’t leave enough “ullage,” you run the risk of your fuel tank exploding. That would be bad. 

Ullage comes from the Anglo-French word “ulliage” and the Old French verb “ouiller,” meaning “to fill up to the eye” (l’oeil). The “eye” in this case refers to the bunghole where the cask or barrel is tapped. Full disclosure: I tried very hard to come up with a good synonym for “bunghole,” which I wanted to avoid because it also means “arsehole.” But the best I could come up with was “plug-hole” and that’s almost as bad as bunghole. If you have a problem with that, I would advise you to make like a cooper (a cask or barrel-maker) and stick a cork in it!

[the-lexicographer]

Word of the Day

Ullage, n. /uhl-ij/ - The amount that a vessel, like a bottle or wine cask, lacks of being full; wantage.

      Source: The Winston Dictionary - College Edition, 1945

[hopdamn]

A sad day indeed...

I’m sad to say that the Berliner has been dumped. Never a good thing, but it had clearly picked up some off flavours during the sour mash and they weren’t diminishing. In fact, the sweetness fermenting off made them more apparent.

I’ve a good idea what it was - oxygen uptake allowing other nasties to create a rather pervasive sickly sweet manure flavour. So next time, cling film and a more air-tight seal are in order.

[douglasbgibson]

ullage

ullage—the space between the top of the liquid and the bottom of the cork in a bottle of wine. 

This word traces to the Latin word for the bung-hole, which was oculus (metaphorically, an eye).  The word passed into Old French as oeil, and from that came the verb ouiller (to fill up a barrel to the bung-hole). The ouillage was the remaining space.  The word passed into Anglo-Norman, and then into English. 

[toborrowtime-blog]

This story will never be ours— I am both damaged goods and the damager of goods. You are the relentless ocean but I am the ullage. I am headspace. I am breakwater. I am the brave soul who will save everyone from you. This story will never be ours, but it is mine. This story will never be told, but I will come out the hero. I win as you break me.

N.L., Ullage

My dad told me this beautiful word over dinner tonight. This poem has been on my head since.

[logodaedalus]

Ullage

(ˈəlij. Noun.)

"The amount by which a container falls short of being full"