The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

sourdough alcohol

dwg302's picture
dwg302

sourdough alcohol

i've noticed a strong alcohol smell with my sourdough recently.  i was a late feeding it and probably didn't scoop enough of the hooch off the top before feeding it, but that was a couple feedings ago and i can still smell it alot.   will this go away as i keep feeding it?  

david

rcornwall's picture
rcornwall

How did the bread come out? Was the flavor too strong? If it's a problem I would pour off half of your starter and feed it again. If the flavor isn't affected in a bad way then I wouldn't worry about it too much.

rcornwall

susanfnp's picture
susanfnp

Hi David,

How much flour and water are you feeding with, relative to the amount of starter? It sounds like you may need to feed more.

Susanfnp

staff of life's picture
staff of life

David,

In addition to feeding my starter more, I'm also making it thicker in this hot weather---it slows it down more.  But I'd definitely feed it more, maybe 1 or 2 T to a heaping cup of flour and 3/4 c water, depending on the temp of your house.

Abbey

dwg302's picture
dwg302

i've been feeding it with bread flour.  but yesterday i cleaned the crock out (which was long overdue) and i suspect that susan may be right and that i have been keeping too much sourdough in proportion to the amount i've been feeding it.    the bread i've baked it with comes out fine so i'll see what happens in a week.

david