Serious question about why my sourdough starter died after 8 months of perfect care

I live in Denver and my starter was thriving since last July. Then last week I fed it like always and it just stopped bubbling completely after 24 hours. No smell change, no mold, just dead. Did the altitude finally catch up to me or did I somehow kill it with bad flour? Has anyone else had a starter suddenly quit on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

river32014d ago

Check your tap water situation. Denver switches up their water treatment in spring sometimes and the chlorine levels can spike. Did you happen to change anything else around the same time like a new bag of flour or different storage spot?

skylerrobinson14d ago

Man tap water changes are sneaky like that. Had the same thing happen a few years back when my sourdough starter suddenly got super sluggish and the bread came out dense and flat. Turned out our city switched to a higher chlorine dose for a month after some main breaks. The fix was easy though just let the water sit out in a open pitcher overnight before using it in your dough. That lets the chlorine evaporate off. Or if youre in a hurry you can boil it first and let it cool.

cole35613d ago

Just dead" man that part hits hard. I've had starters go dormant but not straight up die in 24 hours with no warning signs. One thing nobody's mentioned is your fridge temperature if that's where you keep it between feedings. Denver's spring weather has been all over the place and if your fridge is older or struggling it might have gotten way colder than normal during a warm spell. Another thing is maybe your feeding ratio got thrown off. If you got a new bag of flour that's coarser or finer it can absorb water totally different. I use a kitchen scale for everything now after my starter tanked on me one time. You might just need to treat it like a new starter for a week with some whole wheat or rye to wake it back up.