There are lots of acronyms used in the brewing community. This is a list of some of the more common ones used:
AA – Alpha acid
AAA – American Amber Ale
AAE – alpha amylase enzyme
AAU – Alpha Acid Unit
ABV – Alcohol By Volume
ABW – Alcohol By Weight
AFAIK – As Far As I Know
AFD – Alcohol Free Day
AG – All Grain
AHA – American Homebrewers Association
AHB – Aussie Home Brewer
ANAWBS – Australian National Amateur Wine and Beer Show
APA – American Pale Ale
ATM – At The Moment
BAE – beta amylase enzyme
BB – Brew Booster
Bbl – Barrel (31 gallons in U.S.)
BE – Brew Enhancer – Coopers – also BE2
BIAB – Brew in a Bag
BIN – Buy It Now – Ebay.
BJCP – Beer Judge Certification Program
BOAB – Brewing On A Budget
BP – BrewPub
BS – BullS**t
BTU – British thermal units
BTW – By The Way
BYO – Brew Your Own (print magazine) – www.BYO.com
CaCO3 – calcium carbonate (chalk)
CAMRA – Campaign for Real Ale
CAP – Classic American Pilsner
CaSO4 – calcium sulfate (gypsum)
CC – Cold Condition
CF – Counter Flow
CFC – Counter Flow Chiller
CFWC – Counter Flow Wort Chiller
CO – carbon monoxide
CO2 – Carbon Dioxide
CP – Charlie Papazian
CPA – Coopers (Original) Pale Ale
CPBF – Counter Pressure Bottle Filler
CPF – Counter Pressure Filler
CPVC – chlorinated polyvinyl choloride (plastic)
CSA – Cold Side Aeration
CSA – Coopers Sparking Ale
DAB – Dortmunder Actien Brauerei
DCL – DCL Yeast – formerly Fermentis – Safale, Saflager etc.
DCS – Dried Corn Syrup (MaltoDextrin)
DE – diatamacious earth (filter)
DE – diastatic enzyme
DLM – Dry Light Malt (Extract)
DM – Dave Miller
DME – Dry Malt Extract
DME – dark malt extract (uncommon)
DME – diastatic malt extract (uncommon)
DMS – DiMethyl Sulfide
DMSO – dimethyl sulfoxide
DWC – DeWolf Cosyns (malting company)
EBC – European Brewers Convention, a measure of grains/beer colour. See SRM
EE – extract efficiency (uncommon)
EF – Edmund Fitzgerald Robust Porter, brewed by the Great Lakes Brewing Company.
EKG – East Kent Goldings (hop variety)
ESB – Extra/English Special Bitter
FAN – Free Amino-Nitrogen
FAQ – frequently asked question
FB – False Bottom (lautering)
FDA – United States Food & Drug Administration
FFS – For F*** Sake
FG – Finished/Final Gravity (see also OG and SG)
FV – fermentation vessel
FWH – First wort hopping
FWIW – For What It’s Worth
FYI – For Your Information
GABF – Great American Beer Festival
GBBF – Great British Beer Festival
GPM – gallons per minute
HB – Home Brew!
HBD – Homebrew Digest
HBS – Home Brew Store/Shop
HBU – Homebrew Bittering Unit r
HDPE – High Density PolyEthylene – a plastic, used for fermentors, stirring spoons, etc.
HERMS – Heat Exchange Recirculating Mash System
HEX – Heat Exchange
HLB – hot liquor bath
HLT – Hot liquor tank
HNO3 – nitric acid
HP – High Pressure
HSA – Hot side aeration
HTB – How To Brew – John Palmer’s free online(print avail.) book.
IBU – International Bittering Unit
ID – internal diameter
IIRC – If I Remember Correctly
IMC – International Malting Company
IMHO – In My Humble/Honest Opinion
IMO – In My Opinion
IOW – in other words
IPA – India Pale Ale
IRA – Irish Red Ale
K&B or KnB – Kits and Bits – Kit of hopped malt extract, extra malt extract, extra hops and special yeast.
K&K or K+K – Kit (hopped malt extract) and Kilo (sugar)
L – degree Lovibond (measure of color)
LA – low alcohol
LC – Little Creatures
LHBS – Local Home Brew Store/Shop
LME – Liquid Malt Extract
LMK – Let Me Know
LOL – Laughing Out Loud
LPG – liquid propane gas
LT – lauter tun
MBAA – Master Brewers Association of America
MD – MaltoDextrin
MgSO4 – magnesium sulfate (epsom salt)
MLT – Mash & Lauter Tun
MM – malt mill
MO – Maris Otter – variety of Barley
MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet
MT – mash tun
N2 – nitrogen
NA – non-alcoholic
NaCHO3 – sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)
NaCl – sodium chloride (table salt)
NB – Northern Brewer hops
NC – ‘No Chill’ method for cooling boiled wort
NE – NorthEast (or New England) region of USA
NG – natural gas
NHC – National Homebrew Competition (in USA)
O2 – oxygen
OD – outer diameter
OG – Original Gravity (see also FG and SG)
OLHBS – OnLine HomeBrew Store/Shop
OMG – Oh My God
OPA – Original Pale Ale (Coopers)
OTOH – On The Other Hand
P – Plato (density measurement, see also SG)
PET – PolyEthylene Terephthalate
pH – potential hydrogen (measure of acidity)
PITA – Pain In The Ass
PKU – Please Keep Up
PM – Private/Personal Message
PNW – Pacific Northwest (region of USA)
ppg – points per gallon (extract efficiency)
ppm – part per million (mg/l)
PS – PostScript
PSI – pounds per square inch (pressure)
PVC – PolyVinylChloride – Vinyl tubing
R2D – Ready to Drink
RB – Roasted Barley
RCD – Residual-Current Device
RDWHAHB – Relax, Don’t Worry, Have A Home Brew!
RFC – request for comment
RIMS – Recirculating Infusion Mash System
RIS – Russian imperial stout
RO – Reverse Osmosis (water filtration)
ROFL – Rolling On Floor Laughing
ROFLMAO – ROFL My Ass Off
RTFM – read the flaming manual
SG – Specific Gravity (see also FG and OG)
SMM – S-methyl methionine
SNPA – Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
SRM – Standard Reference Method (Standard for USA), see Lovibond and EBC
SS – Stainless Steel
SS – SodaStream
SWMBO – She Who Must Be Obeyed (aka: the missus or The Wife)
TBH – To Be Honest … blah blah blah
TIA – thanks in advance
TKT – Thread Killa Thread
TR – Tap Room
TSP – TriSodium Phosphate -r
TW – Torrified Wheat – puffed wheat.
TWOC – Tina’s World Of Crafts(!) HBS in Perth
USFDA – United States Food & Drug Administration
WCB – West Coast Brewers.
WL – White Labs (also WLP)
WTF – What The F*$! ?
WWW – world wide web
WY – Wyeast
YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary