whole wheat starter basics

 LLM777 - (I'm not talking you out of it, honest)  I've tried keeping a whole wheat starter and it's work, though interesting. I've found that if I keep a stiff white flour starter and convert it to whole wheat before I want to bake, it works just as well. Saves in whole wheat flour too. Just this last week I tried from RLB's "Bread Bible" a recipe for sourdough wheat bread with seeds. In this she turns her white starter into a partial whole wheat starter and I liked this better than a totally whole wheat one. The loaves turned out very nice. But, keep on perusing TFL, there are lots of suggestions for a complete whole wheat starter in here.   Anet

How long had it been since the last feeding?Where was it kept?On the counter or in the refrigerator?

Do you feed it at least once a day or possibly more if you keep it out at room temp?

Do you discard and feed?

Also, the color from red wheat does color the hootch.

More info is needed in order to help you.

And for the original poster-starting a WW starter is the same as starting an AP, except it can get hungry faster and may need more of a feeding schedule.

Your starter was just getting started at 4 days.When you refirgerated it, it probably died.

Try this to start over:

1. 2 tbsp flour/2-3 tbsp water in a small covered jar (quarter or half pint).Stir and leave on counter-stir once or twice a day.It can be loosely covered with cheesecloth,top or cloth.You just don't want the top to dry out but it does work beeter if there is air exposure.

2. When it starts producing some bubbling-prob noticeable on the edge at first (this might be after 4-7 days-spending on temp in room)-discard half and replace it with 1 tbsp flour/2-3 tbsp water.It should always be a thick pancake batter consistency.Stir in and let it sit on counter.

3. While it is not too active (next day or so)just repeat the discard/feed once a day.Bubbling or even foaming may occur but it is not ready yet! It's becoming more sour.Right now there is a mix of bacteria and yeast. The bacteria are making it a more sour,acid environment and this allows the yeast to really grow.

4.If it becomes more active-do the same thing twice a day.At this little bit of flour it is not too painful to do.Put a rubberband around where you start the level,right after feeding.That way you can see if it is rising and how much.Keep it out on the counter.

5.If it gets really active and starts doubling or tripling, you may want to move it to a pint jar.

6.When you can consistently get it to double/triple after a feeding, it is pretty well established. You have grown enough of a population to think about using it for bread.This may be anywhere from 7-14 days from the start.Keep going until you are ready to bake with it.This helps to really establish the culture.

7. The morning before you want to use it for bread, put a few tablespoons starter in a pint jar, add about 1/4 cup flour, and enough water to make a thick pancake batter consistency. Repeat this in the evening with no discard (about 12 hours later)-you want to build the volume to 1/2-1 cup of active starter.

8.Next morning you should have enough starter for 1-3 loaves of bread. Most of my recipes use 1/2 c per loaf. This now acts as your discard from the culture!

9. To the remains in the pint jar, add a small amount flour/water,let sit for 1 hour and NOW you can refrigerate.Take out 1x/week and feed,set 1 hr,refrigerate .

10.If you are baking every week,take it out the morning before the bake-just like in step 7.Make sure it is active (doubling after a feed) before you use it.

**Make sure it is warm enough in the room (70-75F) when you bring it out of refrig for use next day. If it's too cool in the room, it won't be ready. In winter, I have to make sure it is in a warm spot (top of my refrigerator or under a lightbulb) cause my kitchen is about 60F.Otherwise the yeasties are too sluggish.

Many people measure the flour/water so you have the same amount by weight (50g flour/50 g water) but I didn't see you mention weights in your original post.It is handy to weigh things out so you know what hydration your starter is at. That, indirectly, tells you how much flour and water are being added to your recipe so you can adjust any recipe to use your starter or adjust any of your recipes to use no starter.

If you want to make this a WW or rye starter, just start it with those flours.Sometimes the whole grains and esp rye are much more active and require more feedings. Never let your starter get hungry-esp in the early phases. If hootch forms-it is hungry! And ALWAYS remember to discard.

The natural yeasts are more likely to survive as a starter-in my opinion. It's perhaps similar to the question-how long does a housecat survive in the wild? The commercial yeast is bred to do one thing-be in an ideal environment,rise 1 time and die. The starter, on the other hand, is designed to survive long term in its culture.We then take advantage of its capabilities to raise dough but the culture survives long term-it's sustainable.

So be brave-capture some wild yeast beasts and have fun.