So I put my first starter to sleep 3 weeks ago for an extended vacation and decided to wake it up yesterday.
The starter had developed a rather thick layer of grey water on top, and my assumption was that I was going to be assaulted with all sorts of bad smells when I cracked it open.
So I warned the wife and got the new jar with 100% hydrated food ready, then cracked it open. I was immediately assaulted with the overpowering smell of....
Plums?!
yes, plums. Gone is that leathery smell, and it is replaced with a sweet plum note.
I really really like the smell. My wife thought I was crazy when I called her into the kitchen and was hit in the nose with that same plum smell.
The smell has carried over after the first feeding, adding a strong alcohol smell as expected, but no indication of the leathery smell returning.
The little Italian widow (90 and just got back from... Siberia!) down the street dropped by to say hello and collect my "extra" biga loaf I bake for her, and was also enthusiastic about the starter smell. She said that it smelled like her uncle's "christmas" starter when he made sweeter breads for the holidays.
Hoping to bake with it tomorrow, we shall see how it comes out!
all is well. Good luck with the SD baking.
Hooch is has a little ethanol and other fermentation byproducts. You can stir it back in, but that means you include those by products in your starter. Many don't and even feel you shouldn't do that with comment like: "Hooch is harmless but should be poured off and discarded prior to stirring and feeding your starter. "
Many do and like the results of mixing it back in. Can't really make a "mistake" on this one, just try and find what works for you.
I decanted then saved 20% for the new batch. I figured it was full of yeast by products and decided I did not need it concentrated back into a new feed.
9 hrs later it is almost doubled, so we got a live batch.
Nice idea. It really is amazing all the life in there and the number of options we have to deal with them.
You really don't know what to do. I was at Treasure Island in SF getting mustered out of the Navy so i went to the mess and the Chief who got me started with SD said - What you have done is make beer. Do Navy men throw away beer? That is where all the good stuff is. He then told me that it just needed to be fed and,once the hooch was stirred in, I would be throwing most of it away before feeding it.
Biu it doesn't matter. Once fed, the mix will be producing plenty more hooch since that is all it knows to do:-)
Today, my rye sour starter never produces hooch even when stored in the fridge for 20 weeks with no maintenance. Now I wonder if it is missing its best part and the Chief was right ?
Happy beer making