Craft Beer & Brewing Course
Russian River’s Complete Course on Oxygen in the Brewhouse, from Mashing to Packaging
Russian River cofounder and brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo and head lab technician Taylor Lane discuss all the facets of oxygen that affect beer quality—for pros and homebrewers alike—from happy yeast to airtight packaging.
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In this information-packed 87-minute video course, Russian River head lab technician Taylor Lane and cofounder Vinnie Cilurzo dive into various facets of understanding, measuring, and controlling oxygen in the brewhouse. Among other topics, they discuss:
- The differences between dissolved oxygen (DO), shaken DO, and total packaged oxygen (TPO)
- Measuring DO and minimizing oxygen exposure
- The importance of purging fermentors, kegs, and other vessels
- Aeration and its importance for yeast health and fermentation
- The advantages of dry yeast for aeration and pitch rate
- Processes and tips for airtight packaging
- Minimizing hot-side aeration
- The role of thermal stress on wort
- The effects of oxidation
- Open fermentation, under control
- And much, much more.
Course contents
5 chapters, 22 lessons, 1h 28m of video
Chapter 1
Welcome
- Oxygen Overview and Basic Measurement9:50
- About Oxygen, in the Context of Brewing
- Off-Flavor: Oxidized
- What Is Oxidation?
Chapter 2
Oxygen in the Hot-Side Process
- Deep Dive into Every Phase17:54
- What Is Hot-Side Aeration?
- Learning Lab: O2? Oh My! An experiment in hot-side oxygen exposure.
Chapter 3
Oxygen in the Cold-Side Process
- Yeast and Oxygen Overview10:40
- What Is Aeration?
- Homebrewing Tips: How to Inject Pure Oxygen into Wort
- Homebrewing Tips: 4 Ways to Aerate & Agitate Your Yeast Starter
- Open-Top Fermentation15:13
- Purging Fermentation Vessels5:22
- Homebrewing Tips: Avoiding Oxidation
- Maximizing Hops Utilization7:03
Chapter 4
Oxygen Pickup in Transfer and Packaging
- Oxygen Pickup in Transfer + Centrifuge4:41
- What Is Dissolved Oxygen (DO)?
- Analysis in the Packaging Lab11:16
Chapter 5
Conclusion, Recipes & Further Reading/Listening
- Thank You5:52
- Recipe: Russian River Janet’s Brown Ale
- Recipe: Blind Pig Inaugural Ale
- Listen Up! Two Deep-Dive Podcasts with Russian River's Vinnie Cilurzo
What students say
5.0 from 3 reviews
The capping on foam experiment is the best thing I've seen this year from any homebrew resource. In general, a great course with a good balance between science and practical tips.
This was my first course on the Craft Beer & Brewing plaform. and what a pleasure!
I really enjoyed the part of the video covering bottling and the measurement of dissolved oxygen. I will definitely implement the suggested method of bottling beer with a counter pressure bottle filler.