Brewing Related Acronyms

The following is a list of commonly used abbreviations and acronyms used in the brewing and homebrewing culture. This blog will occasionally use one of these acronyms and therefore requires the need to maintain a list of common terms.

AA - Alpha Acid
AAU - Alpha Acid Unit (the same as HBU)
ABV - Alcohol By Volume
ABW - Alcohol By Weight
AG - All-Grain
AHA - American Homebrewers Association
APA - American Pale Ale
B - Brix or Balling (a measure of sugar)
B3 - Beer, Beer, and More Beer
BBBOT (or 3BOT) - Big-Bore Blowoff Tube
BJCP - Beer Judge Certification Program
BMC - Bud Miller Coors
BOP - Brew on Premises
BTU - British Thermal Unit
BYO - Brew Your Own magazine
BW - Barleywine
C&S - Crankandstein, a maker of malt mills
CAMRA - Campaign for Real Ale (a Britain’s organization for the preservation of cask-conditioned ales)
CAP - Classic American Pilsner
CFC - Counterflow Chiller
CPBF - Counter-Pressure Bottle Filler (same as CPF)
CPF - Counter-Pressure Filler (same as CPBF)
CPVC - Chlorinated PolyVinyl Choloride
DME - Dry Malt Extract
DMS - Dimethyl Sulphide (produces cooked corn aroma in wort that isn't cooled quickly enough)
EKG - East Kent Goldings
FG - Final Gravity
FWH - First Wort Hopping
GABF - Great American Beer Festival
GU - Gravity Unit (two numbers of gravity reading; 1.062=62GU)
HBA - HomeBrew Adventures
HBU - Homebrew Bittering Units (Hop Ounces * Hop Alpha Acids)
HERMS - Heat Exchange Recirculation Mash System
HLT - Hot Liquor Tank
HSA - Hot Side Aeration
IBU - International Bitterness Units
IC - Immersion Chiller
IIPA - Imperial India Pale Ale
IPA - India Pale Ale
JPA - Japan Pale Ale (special IPA kit available at HBA)
L (*L) - Lovibond
LHBS - Local Homebrew Supply Store
LME - Liquid Malt Extract
LT - Lauter tun
MLT - Mash/Lauter Tun
MO - Maris Otter
MPS - Mass Produced Swill
MT - Mash Tun
NB - Northern Brewer
O2 - Oxygen
OG - Original Gravity
P - Plato (a measure of sugar)
PBW - Powdered Brewery Wash
pH - Potential Hydrogen
PPM - Parts Per Million
PPPG - potential point per gallon
PVC - PolyVinyl Choloride
RDWHAHB - Relax, Don't Worry, Have A HomeBrew
RIMS - Recirculating Infusion Mash System
RO - Reverse Osmosis
SG - Specific Gravity
SRM - Standard Reverence Method (Same as Lovibond)
SS - Stainless Steel
Swill - Refers to tasteless mass-produced lager, such as Bud Miller Coors
TG - Terminal Gravity (same as Final Gravity)
WLP - White Labs yeast (eg, WLP-001 = California Ale)

Related articles:
- Beer reviews by style
- Choosing a brew kettle.
- Brewing Definitions
- Colorado Brewers List
- Colorado Homebrew Supply Stores

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