Craft Beer & Brewing Course
Defeat the Hop Creep with Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo
It’s a pernicious problem for today’s brewers: the risk of hop creep from dry-hopping. In this detailed video course, Russian River cofounder and brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo digs into the root causes—and lays out strategies to beat the creep.
Sign in to check your access · or buy this course for $29.99
Dry-hopping is an important technique in craft brewing today, particularly for all kinds of IPAs. However, adding hops to the fermentor also can lead to unforeseen consequences—namely, hop creep. The secondary fermentation that results from enzymes on the hops can lead to out-of-spec beers, longer tank time than expected, and buttery off-flavors.
In this 71-minute video course, Russian River cofounder and brewmaster Vinnue Cilurzo—highly respected among fellow brewers for his IPAs as well as his deep knowledge of hops and hopping techniques—digs into the particulars of hop creep, including:
- What is hop creep, exactly?
- Why and how does it happen?
- Hop creep’s potential effects on safety, tank time, and off-flavors
- Strategies to minimize and mitigate the risk of hop creep
- Specific ways to remedy hop creep
- The role of enzymes, including exogenous enzymes that can prevent hop creep
And much more.
Course contents
4 chapters, 14 lessons, 1h 12m of video
Chapter 1
Welcome
- Welcome to This Course3:55
- What is Hop Creep?2:15
- What Is Diacetyl?
- Hop Creep, Explained
Chapter 2
Managing Hop Creep
- Why Should we Care About Hop Creep?8:30
- Handling Hop Creep Professionally and At Home21:34
- Hunting (and Testing) for Diacetyl
- Mixing Your Dry Hops8:14
Chapter 3
Experimentation with Hop Creep
- Experiments That Didn't Work3:41
- Experiments That Have Worked7:37
- Timing & Testing6:10
Chapter 4
Conclusion, Recipes & Further Reading/Listening
- Final Thoughts9:55
- Recipe: Blind Pig Inaugural Ale
- Listen Up! Two Deep-Dive Podcasts with Russian River's Vinnie Cilurzo
What students say
Defeat the Hop Creep with Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo
I realy learned a lot from video course. Now I have to find Alpha Acetolactate Decarboxylase to get less off flavor in some of my beers.
I think the title is accurate in the sense that this is literally what works for Russian River
Simplified, I've already adopted a tip or two to my process and recipes. Great job overall.
Advice for the Zen Master
Picked up a lot of good ideas regarding reducing hop creep. Thank you.
Show all 11 reviews
Hop Creep for better IPA's
Hello, Thanks so much Vinnie to share all that knowledge with us !!! It is really helpfull for me as a French commercial craft brewer to brew better IPA's than ever before. Once again, I really appreciated this course. Cheers
Excellent!
Enlightening!
I really appreciated the depth of explanation and useful tips to prevent hop creep. Only thing I would have also liked to hear about is methods for detecting diacetyl.
Eye opening and informative
Vinnie clearly presents on subject that is forefront to an aspiring home brew like me. Loved it.
Great content
Title a accurately describes what is in the presentation
Very informative
Something new
This is my first time learning about hop creep and the processes in getting rid of it or trying rid.
Everything you need about hop creep from all angles
My review title says it all. Vinnie breaks it all done simple and easy (as hop creep can be). Ive always tried to find a one stop shop remedy so to speak for hop creep but the reality is there isnt BUT this gave me everything I need in order to either reduce the chances of it happening prior to the DH or by running with it while it happens