Quite a few technical (and wordy) homebrewing terms exist, so to make it easier to read homebrewing recipes and directions, terms have been abbreviated. Here’s a handy guide for homebrewing abbreviations:
| Abbreviation | What It Stands For |
|---|---|
| AAU | Alpha Acid Unit. A measurement of hop bittering potential. |
| ABV | Alcohol By Volume. One of two methods of expressing alcohol content in beer. (See ABW.) |
| ABW | Alcohol By Weight. One of two methods of expressing alcohol content in beer. (See ABV.) |
| BJCP | Beer Judge Certification Program. National organization for official homebrew judges. |
| DME | Dry Malt Extract. The spray-dried version of liquid malt extract. |
| DMS | Di-Methyl Sulfide. An off flavor and aroma reminiscent of cooked corn. |
| ESB | Extra Special Bitter. A medium-high gravity ale of British origin. |
| FG | Final Gravity. The measurement of gravity taken at the end of fermentation that allows the brewer to compute the alcohol content of beer. (See OG.) |
| FWH | First Wort Hopping. The practice of introducing bittering hops to the beer during the sparging / lautering phase of the mashing procedure. |
| HBU | Homebrew Bitterness Unit. A unit of measurement used by homebrewers to denote the amount of bittering in beer. |
| HSA | Hot Side Aeration. The unintentional exposure of the still-warm wort to oxygen that can lead to problems in your brew, not the least of which is premature staling. |
| HCU | Homebrew Color Unit. A crude method of measuring beer color devised for homebrewers. |
| IBU | International Bittering Unit. An international unit of measurement used by professional brewers to denote the amount of bittering in beer. |
| IPA | India Pale Ale. A highly hopped Pale Ale. |
| OG | Original Gravity. The measurement of gravity taken at the beginning of fermentation that allows the brewer to compute alcohol content of beer. (See FG.) |
| pH | Percent Hydrion (also potential hydrogen). A scale used to measure the acidity and alkalinity of a liquid. |
| RIS | Russian Imperial Stout. High gravity stout brewed for the Russian Imperial Court. |
| SRM | Standard Reference Measure. A measurement of beer color. |
| TSP | Tri-Sodium Phosphate. An effective sudsless, powdered cleanser often used to clean brewery equipment. |