Sourdough isn't sour :(
So I've been nailing my sourdough breads from the start. Each one is gorgeous, the texture is spot on. The only problem I have is ...
... it's not sour.It doesn't taste bland, it just tastes ... not sour. At all. Well, sometimes a little, but read on.
I grew my culture straight out of the BBA's formula, on into a barm, which I've refreshed every 2-3 days for a month now. Reading throughout his book over and over, I've done the following to try salvaging the mild flavor:
I read that doubling the barm can make for a stronger sour flavor than tripling/quadrupling it, so I always double the barm.
Textbook barm and sourdough recipe from BBA - mild sour.
Made starter the day after refreshing barm - no change.
Made starter 3 days after refreshing barm - no change.
I read in Reinholdt's grace notes that the lactic acids I'm after prefer a less airated enviroment, so I changed to a stiff barm.
Changed from wet barm to stiff barm, made the next day - no change.
3 days later I made starter from stiff barm right before refreshing barm - no change.
Using the preceding 5 types of barm/time, I also tried slowly fermentating (in the fridge), I tried skipping the starter and just making it directly from the barm, and I tried changing the amount of salt I use, both increasing and decreasing, as I hoped the lactic acids would have a chance to catch up to the wild yeasts. No luck.
25+ loaves later, I've come here for help. On the bright side, I can say I can make, shape, and score sourdough wonderfully with all this practice, and I'm as familiar with the process as I can imagine needing to be. But I still can't get that super sour/tangy sourdough flavor that I'm after.
ANY tips on strengthening that flavor would be welcome.