SDJ - day 2

Starter babies fed and ready to grow again

This morning I was anxious to check on my babies and here's my progress report.

YOGI: I have a nice crop of fungus growing on the sides of the container where some of the starter has splashed and stuck during stirring. Not sure if I should be worried. There's none on the starter itself and I could ladle it out and clean the jar. Still smells OK and mix is quite fluid. A couple of bubbles on the surface, but level hasn't risen.

HOOCH: Last night I diluted the mix and strained out what remained of the grapes - just seeds and skins.  Big changes this morning. The froth floating on top of the hooch has now virtually disappeared - I stirred it a couple of times last night in the hopes that this would happen because I now think that the initial action is not the one I need. There's not much hooch now but still a strong smell of alcohol.

I'm starting to think that the current high temperatures are not ideal for growing new starters. I'll continue for a few more days with the current cultures though.

Later in the day:

Yogi has a silky smooth texture with a few bubbles popping up to the surface - like 1 or 2 bubbles per hour. His house is clean again.

Hooch is bubbling - just reduced the volume of starter and fed him. I am hoping for some expansion over the next few hours.