Hi,

I was baking really beautiful loaves of sourdough with my starter, which is relatively young (it was my pandemic project) but was rising and falling very predictably, but all of a sudden I'm getting very flat, unrisen loaves.
I use a recipe given by a local baker that has a 45 min autolyse, an every half-hour folding process for 3 hours at room temp, then a refrigerated rise for up to 1 day. I generally left the loaf in the refrigerator for nearly 24 hours before baking and it's always been fine, but one day I got a completely flat loaf upon baking. I assumed it was overproofed, so the next time I baked, I let it sit in the refrigerator for about 6 hours less, and though the loaf was a little bit better, it was still pretty flat :( Now I'm not sure if it's overproofed or underproofed, or how to even tell.

The only thing that's changed is that our A/C turned on as the weather has gotten warmer, so room temperature has likely gotten colder. But that should technically slow the rise, not make it faster and cause it to overproof. I've also noticed that my starter has started to smell a bit different--maybe slightly less sour and tangy? Any guidance for me?

I generally put my starter back into the refrigerator after baking with it, bc I bake about 2-3 times a week and I don't want to do daily feedings. If I'm not going a full week between post-refrigeration feedings, should I let it sit at room temp first for a bit before giving it a feeding? How many hours after a feeding can I generally bake with the starter?

I thought I had a good cadence going so I'm so confused as to why I'm suddenly not getting the beautiful risen loaves I was getting before!

Would appreciate any help!

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