Howdy,

A few days ago, I took out a piece of one of my refrigerated
storage starters, added equal weights of flour and water,
put it aside at 80F, and left it for 12 hours.

When I next looked at it, I was surprised at what I found:

Rather than appearing "frothy" as it always had after this
process, it seems "syrupy" in texture. That texture has
always indicated to me that the gluten has completely
degraded.

There were a few bubbles visible, so some gas was being
generated, but nothing near what I had come to expect. Also,
what little gas was generated, seemed to bubble right out of
the mixture rather than contributing to any increase in
volume.

Next, I tasted a bit of the mixture.

It was quite sour.

I took some of the material in the container, and repeated
the feeding, but had exactly the same result. I checked it
several times over the course of the day to see if, at any
point, there was any rise, but found none.

I have repeated this process over the course of about five
days with no change that I can see.

It appears that the LB are alive and well, but that the
yeasts are dormant, or dead.

Have any of you had similar experiences, and what might have
caused this to happen?

Sincere thanks,
--
Kenneth

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