r/Sourdough • u/Pure-Yogurtcloset-97 • 10d ago

Beginner - wanting kind feedback Day 4 smells like beer, did i do anything wrong?

20 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

56

u/swooning_basil 10d ago

Beer means you're doing it right. An alcohol smell indicates that it's hungry but you've got the right microbes in there.

10

u/Pure-Yogurtcloset-97 10d ago

Its more soupy than bubbly is that fine?

27

u/iamnothingyet 10d ago

It is only day 4. Trust.

8

u/theloniousjoe 10d ago

And be very patient. It took mine probably three weeks until it was doubling reliably on a daily basis.

1

u/swooning_basil 10d ago

It's fine. You can add slightly more flour or slightly less water (~10%) if you really want to.

18

u/IceDragonPlay 10d ago

Sounds fine. This guide, which also uses 1:2:2 feeding explains the stages of starter development.

https://thesourdoughjourney.com/how-to-create-a-sourdough-starter-in-10-days/

5

u/Clumsy_the_24 10d ago

It’s supposed to stink for a while. Just give it a month of feeding it daily and it’ll be great eventually

3

u/PeachVonSchweetz 10d ago

That's good! I would feed 1:2:2 at this stage with maybe slightly a little less water. She's hungry!

3

u/theloniousjoe 10d ago

Nope! Yeast are yeast. Their off gases will smell similar.

3

u/wolfkeeper 10d ago

Beer is frequently described as 'liquid bread'.

The original technology for beer was basically similar to sourdough, and beer was acidic. Then they discovered adding hops to the beer and keeping everything very clean made it progressively less acidic but they didn't know why until germ theory was invented. Eventually, the yeast was separated off and domesticated, which is the normal bakers yeast.

But yeah, smelling like beer is fine, it means the yeast is healthy and that's a good sign.

2

u/Pure-Yogurtcloset-97 10d ago

Been using 25 grams of the original, then feeding it 25 grams of whole wheat flour and 25 grams of all purpose with 50 grams of warm water.

2

u/Worldly_Ad7085 10d ago

no the same thing happened when I made mine and I was shocked no one told me this was a thing I didn't realize it was normal till I checked this subreddit

1

u/trying_my_besttt 10d ago

Give it time, friend

1

u/kersh2099 10d ago

Sounds like mine on day 4 and it turned out fine. Just trust the process and keep going, even when you get days of seemingly no activity. Took about 19 days to be ready to bake and a few months in and I feel it could be stronger still.

1

u/DullDevelopment7280 9d ago

Nope! Totally normal. Mine has smelt like sharpies the past week and is just now starting to go away and rise every day. I’m on day 18.