A 36 year-old Caucasian man was hospitalized with acute alcoholic hepatitis complicated by Escherichia coli spontaneous bacterial peritonitis. Three days after admission, he developed new fevers with sepsis requiring mechanical ventilation and vasopressor support. He was found to have a bowel perforation. Cultures from blood, peritoneal fluid, and sputum grew a difficult-to-identify yeast. Micafungin was started empirically. On hospital day 43 the yeast was identified as L. fermentati with low minimum inhibitory concentrations (by Epsilometer test) to all antifungals tested. Micafungin was changed to fluconazole to complete a 3-month course of therapy. Serial peritoneal fluid cultures remained positive for 31 days. One year after his initial hospitalization the patient had ongoing cirrhosis but had recovered from fungemia.
Conclusion
This case demonstrates the need for clinicians to consider host factors when interpreting culture results with normally non-pathogenic organisms. In this immunocompromised host L. fermentati caused disseminated disease. We believe his hobby of brewing alcohol led to colonization with L. fermentati, which then resulted in invasive disease when the opportunity arose.
Well, all good things must come to an end. I am sad to report that the original dunder, the one that spawned this thread, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by friend and family (me). It was three years old. Hopefully we all learned a little bit by it and will be better distillers having known it. The service will be attended by me tomorrow after dawn. The family requests no flowers, instead you can make a contribution to one of your favorite distilleries or local moonshiners in the dunder's name. Please keep Punkin in your prayers as he will be the most affected by the dunder's passing.
I was following your progress in the dunder thread and was going to ask if we could plan a time where I could visit and maybe get a sample of your magic funk... but i just read that it passed away??!!?
Plans to start another? Did you have a sample in the freezer as a backup so you could inoculate a new batch??
I have been inspired to start my own funky pit of deliciousness.... I have 6 gallons of dunder in the fridge waiting to find the proper inspiration, i'm heading out to find a sprouting piece of sugar cane and some old brown bananas... maybe I'll go visit the butcher and get a goat's head!
Great Thread! I learned tons, now I'm confident I can funk it up on my own!
This one has hit me harder than I thought it would. I just don't know if I can ever have another dunder pit. Losing this one was too painful. It was always so giving without ever asking for anything in return.
So if you were to start a new Dunder/Muck/Flavor pit again today, what would you do differently?
You told me before to drop in A Fresh Piece of Cane in the backset and I would be good to go. Just wondering if the goal was a Fully Funkalicious Dram, if you would attack that beast in a different way?
Well, I guess I'll add something random. Not my project, but my friend who runs Seven Caves Spirits has a pretty awesome agave based dunder pit. Smells like honey. Pretty neat stuff
@grim care to elaborate on the Arroyo bit? "Textbooks" are always corrected and/or modernized. This stuff is kind of amazing. I don't recall Arroyo bringing it up but its been a rather long time since I've read his material. I frankly don't see how this could be a bad thing or, at least, any worse than a cane-based pit
Comments
I never though of that! What sort of flavors do you figure that would develop?
Zymurgy Bob, a simple potstiller
my book, Making Fine Spirits
Not sure.
Not sure I want to know...
Maybe @punkin is right?
Fungemia due to Lachancea fermentati: a case report @ BMC Infectious Diseases
"His social history was notable for brewing his own alcohol and alcohol abuse".
Brewing seems to be the key term here. I wonder what temp is lethal to this fungus? Bet it wouldn't survive our distilling process.
***sad music in background********
Well, all good things must come to an end. I am sad to report that the original dunder, the one that spawned this thread, passed away peacefully last night surrounded by friend and family (me). It was three years old. Hopefully we all learned a little bit by it and will be better distillers having known it. The service will be attended by me tomorrow after dawn. The family requests no flowers, instead you can make a contribution to one of your favorite distilleries or local moonshiners in the dunder's name. Please keep Punkin in your prayers as he will be the most affected by the dunder's passing.
RIP dunder.
More beautiful words couldn’t have been uttered by a minister of the bottle!
RIP dunder.
At least it didn't take a few with it.
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
Hi @FloridaCracker! - I am also in Central Florida..
I was following your progress in the dunder thread and was going to ask if we could plan a time where I could visit and maybe get a sample of your magic funk... but i just read that it passed away??!!?
Plans to start another? Did you have a sample in the freezer as a backup so you could inoculate a new batch??
I have been inspired to start my own funky pit of deliciousness.... I have 6 gallons of dunder in the fridge waiting to find the proper inspiration, i'm heading out to find a sprouting piece of sugar cane and some old brown bananas... maybe I'll go visit the butcher and get a goat's head!
Great Thread! I learned tons, now I'm confident I can funk it up on my own!
Tunstal
I plan to start another batch from the next run of rum that I do. Not sure when that will be as I am still in mourning over the passing....
Take some time to get yourself together. Don't forget to breath. And above all, you can't love another Dunder if you don't first love yourself.....
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Thanks for the kind words, guys.
This one has hit me harder than I thought it would. I just don't know if I can ever have another dunder pit. Losing this one was too painful. It was always so giving without ever asking for anything in return.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjook1I0V4
StillDragon Australia & New Zealand - Your StillDragon® Distributor for Australia & New Zealand
LOL!
Sooo...how do you know when a dunder pit dies?
p.s. If you'd like, I can send you back a few jars of your genetics.
Oh, you'll know.
Somehow bugs (the ones with legs) got in there and it became a breeding ground.
Once again, you'll know.
Usually just a good smell is all it takes.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Sweet! Mines still smelling great!
That's a good sign.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
Sweet smell= good to go
Smells like dead sewage= not so much
So if you were to start a new Dunder/Muck/Flavor pit again today, what would you do differently? You told me before to drop in A Fresh Piece of Cane in the backset and I would be good to go. Just wondering if the goal was a Fully Funkalicious Dram, if you would attack that beast in a different way?
Nope, I wouldn't do anything different other than seal it up better. It would still be awesome if I hadn't let the 6-legged bugs get to it.
That's it. Too many insects down here. Have to lock it down good and tight. It just doesn't take that much oxygen to get your mold structure to bloom.
StillDragon North America - Your StillDragon® Distributor for North America
dunder that been sitting closed up for 3yrs. still smells great.
This was the best thread ever.
+1 @grim absolute classic, I was stoked to see it pop back up today
FEED ME SEYMOUR!!!
I'm more like I am now than I was before.
Well, I guess I'll add something random. Not my project, but my friend who runs Seven Caves Spirits has a pretty awesome agave based dunder pit. Smells like honey. Pretty neat stuff
you think he can get some tequila flavors with that agave dunder?
We're working with Pombe now.
I think Arroyo was wrong.
@grim care to elaborate on the Arroyo bit? "Textbooks" are always corrected and/or modernized. This stuff is kind of amazing. I don't recall Arroyo bringing it up but its been a rather long time since I've read his material. I frankly don't see how this could be a bad thing or, at least, any worse than a cane-based pit