So, I made Peter Reinhart's 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf, which I have made one other time. It starts with an overnight sponge and soaker. The first time I made it it was awesome, but this time, the second rise seemed a little lame, didn't really rise to the top of the loaf pans. Then, in the oven, it didn't really rise much at all. It's out now, and it looks like a brick. It didn't even really brown very nice. Any ideas what might of gone wrong?
I'm not sure if it matters, but I doubled the recipe for two loaves (so, I actually have two bricks). I was careful to follow the formula, but I guess I wonder if I didn't knead it enough for two loaves.
Al though A picture of the final loaf helps alot, i'll venture into listing the probable reasons for your failed scenario:
a) Either you used dead expired yeasts (commercial yeast version), or you've killed them by using very warm water
b) You're fermentation temperature is very low, causing the yeasts to slow down.
c) you've used more salt than recommended, thereby slowing down the yeasts
d) your dough is drier than the required consistency (tacky but not sticky) causing fermentation to be slow. Wholegrain flours absorb lots of water.
e) You have overproofed the 1st fermentation - bulk fermentation , or overproofed the BIGA, or both, and thus did not leave much digestable carbohydrates left for the yeats to act upon, leading to a very modest 2nd rise, and ultimately a collapsed loaf (Most likely scenarion, given your descriptions).
I'am leaning towards e) here, as you have described your final loaf as pale (not browned), which only indicates spent fermentation (too much of a good thing).