Hooch /Liquid on Top.

There's a gray or dark liquid sitting on top of your starter. It looks alarming. It smells like alcohol. You're wondering if it's dead.

Watch: Hooch Liquid on Top
sourdough fixes

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1. always the cause

   Hungry starter — needs feeding

   Hooch is ethanol — the byproduct produced by yeast when it runs out of sugars to eat. The yeast metabolizes all available flour and then starts producing alcohol. The liquid separates and pools on top. It's not a sign that your starter is dying — it's a sign that it's very much alive and asking to be fed. You're just a little late.

1. Pour it off or stir it in — your choice

   Pouring off the hooch gives a milder, less sour result. Stirring it back in incorporates all the acidity for a sharper flavor. Either is fine. Neither will harm the starter.
2. Feed it now

   Discard down to 50g of starter, then feed 1:5:5 (50g starter, 250g flour, 250g water) or whatever your regular ratio is. Put it somewhere warm. It should be active within 4–8 hours.
3. Don't panic

   Hooch is not mold. It's not contamination. It's not death. It's the starter telling you it's ready to be fed. You've seen it before, you'll see it again.

1. Feed more frequently

   If hooch is appearing regularly, your starter needs more frequent feeds — twice daily at room temperature, or once daily with refrigerator storage between feeds.
2. Move it to the fridge between bakes

   If you bake once a week, keep the starter in the fridge and feed it once a week, taking it out 12 hours before you plan to use it. This dramatically reduces hooch accumulation.
3. Increase the feeding ratio

   A higher ratio of flour to starter (1:5:5 instead of 1:1:1) gives the yeast more food to work through, extending the time before hooch appears.