Hi George, if you read through a page or two of earlier comments, you'll see that what you're experiencing is a fairly common occurrence. An early burst of activity in your starter is most likely caused by a type of bacteria that gives off carbon dioxide, rather than true yeast activity. Unfortunately, this type of early rise also seems to be related to a subsequent delay in the wild yeast kicking in which can go in for several days, or even longer. While frustrating, this isn't a cause for alarm, and there are ways to cope with this dreaded lull in rising. One option is to continue just as you're doing, since patience almost always pays off with sourdough starters; eventually the organisms will work through this lull and begin to function as they should. 

We also have an alternative feeding routine you could try. This method was suggested to us by microbiologist and sourdough baker, Debra Wink, who discovered that lowering the pH of the starter environment seems to help pave the way for the wild yeast to join the party. Here's the plan:

1. Feed only once a day. 

2. Feed with whole wheat or whole rye flour, if available. If not, you can use unbleached AP flour. 

3. Feed with a ratio of 2 parts starter : 1 part water :1 part wholegrain flour, by weight. For example, if you're following our normal feeding routine, you could switch to feeding once a day like this: save 1/2 cup (4 ounces, 113g) starter and feed this 1/4 cup (2 ounces, 57g) water and 1/2 cup (2 ounces, 57g) wholegrain flour. 

Once you see the starter begin to rise predictably (twice), it's important to resume twice a day feedings, which will further promote yeast activity. You can also gradually transition back to feeding with AP flour, and increase the percentage of water and flour you're feeding to line up with the 1:1:1 ratio. It's not uncommon for the starter to act sluggish each time you change it's feeding routine, as the organisms need time to adjust, but once your starter is again rising predictably then you can consider your starter mature and ready for baking bread. 

I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

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