I don't remember it being fruitful, only my serious doubt about your connection in Weihenstephan.
Anyway now we know for sure what the real answer is.
So it appears the information I was given two years ago wasn't wrong after all... below is a response I got from Mr. Tobias Zollo himself (the Weihenstephan head brewer from the videointerview).
The following is deepl-translated from German (with just a few adjustments here and there by me...I swear I didn't change the sense of his words
):
"Hello!
Sorry for the late reply!
So, oxygen is fundamentally bad in the brewing process. Fatty acids can oxidize in the brewhouse, which can lead to poor flavor stability. Also to a more edgy, bitter taste.
On the cold side, the beer oxidizes and you immediately get an aged taste in the beer.
Only the wort for pitching and the yeast for propagation need oxygen.
At Weihenstephan, we only degas the water for the cold side. In the brewhouse, we use low-oxygen, softened brewing water - but not completely deaerated. Only partially due to the softening process.
In the brewhouse, we try to keep oxygen pickup as low as possible by gentle stirring, mashing out from the bottom, and so on.
So both are right somewhere. You and the Crafties. Basically it comes down to this: oxygen is the enemy of beer
.
Greetings,
Tobias"