The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 letter word ABV
A
B
V
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "A measure you might look for in beer, in cider, in wine — and in short" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case a measure you might look for in beer, in cider, in wine — and in short = abv.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ABV mean?
ABV noun- A standard measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage, usually defined as the number of millilitres of pure ethanol present in 100 millilitres of solution at 20 °C (68 °F).