Is sourdough the new wine?

[story]

Apparently you get a fair variation in flavour based on your starter.

Yep, you do. According to where you live.

Cos the yeast is native to this or that locale, it gives a slightly different flavour to the bread. So San Francisco sourdough is very different to, say Brixton Market sourdough.

 

[dilute micro]

Apparently you get a fair variation in flavour based on your starter.

You can even still affect the sourness in how you prepare the starter and the dough with rising temperature and how much starter you use. Colder rising temperatures make it more sour. Refreshing a starter a lot before making the dough is supposed to make it less acidic (I think). I've read there's a debate on the type of starter whether stiff or liquid. A stiff starter produces more acetic acid and a liquid makes more lactic acid...that's the theory. Seems like a microbiologist would have nailed this down somewhere. Some starters take less time to rise than others and I think that has an effect on it too.