Using Statistics for American Porter Recipe Development

This session is a live version of the Meanbrews YouTube channel, providing an in-depth exploration of four decades of award winning homebrewed American Porter recipes. Speaker Matthew Herrold provides guidance on the types of malt, hops, and yeast that are most prominent in winning recipes, as well as the proportions of ingredients that are most common in the style. Lastly, Matthew presents the stylistic evolution of American Porter, showing how award winning recipes have changed over time.

Learning Objectives

• What malts are mainly used for this style and in what proportions to use
• What hops are used, when they’re added, and at what hop rates
• What yeasts are most commonly used in award winning recipes, what fermentation temperatures are used, and what pitch rates are required
• What processes are most common wort mash profile, water profile, and fermentation profile

About the Speaker

Matthew Herrold is a 17-year homebrewer, President, Master of Mead, and Grand Master IV Homebrewer within the Master Homebrewer Program, as well as a certified Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) beer judge. Matthew is the owner of Meanbrews, a YouTube channel providing video tutorials on recipe development using statistical analysis of award winning beer styles. In Matthew’s 15 years of competitive homebrewing with the Meanbrews process, he has accumulated multiple awards including the Champion of the Lone Star Homebrewing Circuit in 2020. Matthew has won seven Best of Shows using the Meanbrews method of recipe development.