February 17, 2010 - 6:20am
acrid smelling whole wheat starter
I made a starter over 5 days around 6 weeks ago with whole wheat flour and water and later added bread flour and water. I made several breads with it. It came out pretty well but not hugely sour. I left around 3/4 cups in the refrigerator for a few weeks, and took it out yesterday to get it ready for a new bread. A few hours after the first feeding it developed an acrid alcohol smell, and not in a good way. I fed it again last night, to see if it would recover its good smell. This morning the smell is still there but less intense. Has it spoiled? What happened to it? I had it in a closed plastic container in the refrigerator. I don't want to send good flour after bad.