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The real trick is figuring out how many Old Fashioned cocktails you can make from one barrel of whiskey.

Creating a decent bottle of whiskey is a process — a wonderfully complex, and sometimes unpredictable process, at that. Throughout this journey, whiskey barrels play a key part in providing a stable container for maturation and also adding delicious qualities to what ends up in your glass. Perhaps you’ve wondered about these containers while sipping on a beloved rye or bourbon, and it piqued your curiosity: Once the whiskey reaches full maturation, how many standard bottles do distillers get out of a barrel?

As it turns out, that answer is just as complicated as the production process itself. While the United States doesn’t regulate distilleries’ barrel size, the most common whiskey barrel holds 53 gallons of unaged liquid. Craft spirit distilleries sometimes use smaller barrels and shorter aging stints to impart more flavor, Du Nord Social Spirits founder Chris Montana tells Food & Wine.

Before the Second World War, the typical whiskey cask could only hold up to 48 gallons. Nonetheless, as resources like lumber started dwindling during the conflict, distilleries in America opted for larger storage options to reduce the quantity of barrels needed. The challenge then becomes estimating the levels of the liquid as it begins to age.

Related: Storing Top Quality Whiskey

As alcohol ages over many years, some of its liquid evaporates naturally. This evaporation rate, often referred to as the “Angel’s Share,” varies with each batch and can even differ amongst casks in the same distillery. While the exact amount lost is generally left to nature’s whims, several environmental factors can give us a rough idea of the liquid lost during the process.

The final amount of whiskey is influenced by various factors, including the geographical location, climate, temperature variations, barrel material, and distillery conditions, as stated by Montana. Interestingly, even within the same batch, no two barrels will yield identically. However, blending and processes post-maturation ensure that the product remains consistent and of high quality.

Given these factors, it’s difficult to determine exactly how many standard 750-milliliter bottles you’ll find in that common barrel size. Some distillers estimate that the average output shakes out to be 250 to 300 bottles, while others say it’s closer to a conservative 200.

“That’s what makes whiskey fun — unlike many spirits, whiskey is about choices, and you get to make so many of them along the way,” Montana says. “Most, if not all of those choices, will also come to bear when it comes to how much whiskey you’re going to be able to produce and what’s going to come out of those barrels.”

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Read the original article on Food & Wine.