drat! my starter didn't deal well with the fridge...
i have a white spelt sponge in the fridge that i feed weekly, and i've used it twice to create starters that i leave out. the more recent one smelled delish, and the discards make wonderful pancakes.
about five days ago, there were a couple little flies in the kitchen, so i panicked - i fed my starter extra and threw it in the fridge near the sponge. yesterday i got it out and it was grey and watery with a tiny piece of mold and a very vinegary smell. i've never had grey starter, but i've read threads where people nursed their starters back to health, so i decided to try that. so far, the grey is almost gone and it's beginning to bubble. it doesn't smell like it used to, but it doesn't smell like vinegar, either, so hopefully a good sign.
and the mother, which has been refrigerated for two months with success, wasn't looking too healthy, either. perhaps it's because the two starters were slightly open on the sides and they traded bacteria - perhaps not. i fed her some whole grain spelt and a little rye flour, and i'll see how it goes. i'm not knowledgeable about this, but i'm learning. at least i didn't throw them away this time and start over like i did with my first starter...
Wouldn't this "sponge" you describe be your starter?
Starter, mother, seed (all 'sponges") etc... same things.
so you keep a starter in the fridge from which you make off-shoot starters - levains! to make your bread.
unless the mother starter was very low hydration I suspect it wouldn't last two months in the fridge between feeds. And even if it did it would be worse for wear and will need TLC before you made a levain from it. And even if it was by chance performing ok you might need more then one build for a levain to get it strong.
So I'm not sure exactly about your whole method.
let me see if i can make more sense.
the one that's been inside the fridge the whole time is the mother starter. seed? i don't know what to call it. i feed it every six days with double it's weight. till yesterday, it's always looked and reacted the same way.
the starter on top of the fridge till just under a week ago was an offshoot starter from the one in the fridge, but i don't make a new starter from it each time - it's been sitting on the fridge for a couple months or so, and i use discards from it for pancakes and a few other things almost every day. i fed it twice a day. when the two flies were spotted, i fed it and put it in the fridge five days ago, taking it out yesterday to find it had turned grey and watery.
for the first time ever, the one in the fridge wasn't healthy. maybe related? maybe not.
i fed them both lots including some whole grain spelt, and the grey one - the offshoot that's lived on top of the fridge for two months - is turning back to its normal color and smell is less vinegary but not the smell it always had till now. it's harder for me to judge what's up with the one in the fridge as it doesn't react fast due to the cold, and it's been so consistent till now.
"the one that's been inside the fridge the whole time is the mother starter. seed? i don't know what to call it. i feed it every six days with double it's weight. till yesterday, it's always looked and reacted the same way".
Sounds like a good starter maintenance.
"the starter on top of the fridge till just under a week ago was an offshoot starter from the one in the fridge, but i don't make a new starter from it each time - it's been sitting on the fridge for a couple months or so, and i use discards from it for pancakes and a few other things almost every day. i fed it twice a day. when the two flies were spotted, i fed it and put it in the fridge five days ago, taking it out yesterday to find it had turned grey and watery".
Sounds like this can be revived by finding some fresher looking starter amongst the grey and giving it a few good feeds. But since it's discard anyway there's no point. I'd dump this one.
"for the first time ever, the one in the fridge wasn't healthy. maybe related? maybe not".
If covered and kept separately I doubt it's related.
"i fed them both lots including some whole grain spelt, and the grey one - the offshoot that's lived on top of the fridge for two months - is turning back to its normal color and smell is less vinegary but not the smell it always had till now. it's harder for me to judge what's up with the one in the fridge as it doesn't react fast due to the cold, and it's been so consistent till now".
Sounds like you've done what I explained above. So now the off-shoot one is healthier and the mother starter is still struggling. So don't dump the off-shoot one. Continue to nurse it back to health. It can even be the new mother starter should the mother starter not spring back to life.
Up to you if you wish to continue to keep both but at least one is doing better. Both go back to the original starter you made. But perhaps you're keeping too much and a rethink as to maintenance is needed. I only keep 50-80g starter and build levains from it. Kept in a small tub in the fridge.
i'm trying to refresh them both to see what will happen. i'm very curious about starter and how it reacts.
the two starters that were in the fridge - mother and offshoot - were in these jars
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0774JBY29/
the lids were closed but not sealed, if you see what i mean, so they could both expel gas. now the offshoot starter is back out of the fridge, it's in a lightly covered bowl again.
i just checked, and the offshoot looks good this morning. it's bubbly, it rose to about 150% overnight, and its back to its normal color, smell isn't strong but it isn't vinegary at all. since it was all grey yesterday, i couldn't throw the grey part away, but it seems to be making a recover. hopefully it will be safe to use for pancakes in a day or two...
i keep a fair amount rather than just a little as i used it for something every day - usually discard starter pancakes with a little flour and buttermilk. i'm planning to make discard starter crackers next.
thank you for the input!
btw, i think i'll dry some of it out next time rather than refrigerate wet starter.
Went for a long period between a feed and it started to go grey. Just found some non grey part and fed that. Reacted normally. I think this would happen with high hydration wheat starters more often then low hydration or rye starters. My starter is now 100% hydration rye and can easily be ignored for two weeks in the fridge or longer. Low hydration rye starters for much longer.
All's well that ends well :)
Lower hydration starters can go a really long time in the fridge without feeding. I once revived a bit of 65% hydration starter after a year in the fridge. It was fine, and was back to full strength in like 5 feeds.