How do I know if my sourdough starter is too sour?
Smell and taste it. A sharp vinegar or acetone smell and a strong sour taste mean the bacteria have taken over, and your dough gets sticky and less fluffy. Daily feedings at 1:5:5 or 1:10:10, or switching to a stiff starter, bring the balance back.
Answered by Hendrik, The Bread Code
From the book
Your sourdough starter has likely produced a lot of acetic acid. Acetic acid is essential when creating vinegar. Once no additional food is left some of your starter's bacteria will consume ethanol and convert it into acetic acid. Acetic acid has a very pungent smell. When tasting acetic acid, the flavor of your bread is often perceived as quite strong. This is nothing bad. But if you would like to change the flavor of your final bread, consider converting your sourdough starter into a liquid starter. This will help to prioritize lactic acid-producing bacteria. Your flavor will change to dairy compared to vinegary. You can't go back though. After the conversion your starter will never go back to acetic acid production because you have changed the tides towards primarily lactic acid fermentation.
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