Lost Ark Spirits Rum Class with Matt Pietrek

This full day class features internationally acclaimed rum expert Matt Pietrek and three rum distillers covering all aspects of rum making. The session will be hosted at Lost Ark Distillery in Columbia Maryland). The instructing distillers are:

• Brad Blackwell (CEO/Distiller of Maryland’s Lost Ark Distilling)
• Andrew Lohfeld (CEO and head distiller of Louisiana’s Roulaison)
• Brett Stiegerwaldt (Head distiller at Maryland’s Lyon Rum and Rosalie Bay Distillery in Dominica).

Please note that speakers and subjects may be subject to change.

The day’s sessions will transition back and forth between live rum making with Lost Ark’s equipment and classroom-style sessions on all aspects of rum including styles, regulations, current trends,  distillery setup, source materials, fermentation, distillation, and maturation

Topics Covered During Classroom sessions include:

Rum Background 

• The evolution of rum from a crude spirit into multiple distinct styles, e.g., Spanish style, “agricole,” heavy pot, multi-region blends, etc…
• Technical differentiation between today’s prevalent styles
• Rum regulations and legal definitions
• The (mis)categorization of rum
• Bulk and sourced rum
• Current trends in high-end rum

Fermentation Deep Dive

Brett Steigerwaldt and Andrew Lohfeld take you beyond fermentation basics into the world of wild yeast, multi-week ferments, vinasse (dunder,) and bacterial fermentations. Think high-ester Jamaica rum and Grand Arome style fermentations, unusual yeast strains, and multi-week ferments. Steigerwaldt and Lohfeld are among America’s foremost practitioners of these techniques.

Aging Deep Dive

Blackwell, Steigerwaldt, Lohfeld take you beyond aging basics, with rum-focused details regarding the different chemical processes of aging, cask size selection, and much more. Samples from various stages of Lost Ark’s aging program will be part of the program.

Morning coffee and lunch provided

Lost Ark Distillery was founded in 2014 and focuses solely on rum and rum liqueur production. This combination nano distillery, tasting room and tiki bar has won the ADI Best in Category for Rum and manufactures multiple gold medaled spirits. To find out more click here:  https://www.lostarkdistilling.com/

To learn more about Brett Stiegerwaldt’s rum fermentation studies, see these publications:

• https://distillingresearch.org/research/using-bacteria-to-increase-organic-acids/
• https://modernbarcart.com/podcasts/episode-269-cutting-edge-rum-research-brett-steigerwaldt-bacteria-fermentations/