Hi Anna, stirring in the hooch shouldn't cause any issues. The only reason I poured it off in this case was because it was so dark and unappetizing looking. However, if you're seeing a lot of hooch, this can be a sign that you need to step up your feeding routine. Ideally you want to replenish (feed) your starter when it's at its peak of rising, or just beginning to fall, which keeps yeast activity vigorous. Allowing the starter to fall completely between feedings, tends to lead to sluggish yeast behavior. 

I'm not sure where you are in the starter process, or what the ratio of ingredients are in your starter, so it's hard to give you exact advise about your feeding routine, but when feeding at room temperature I would try to focus on replenishing your starter when it begins to fall. If the starter seems to fall after only a few hours, then you could try adjusting the ratio of ingredients so that you're offering your starter a relatively larger meal, which it will take longer to consume and ferment. This can be particularly helpful in warmer months, when fermentation tends to happen faster. The goal here is to line up your twice a day feedings closer to the peak of rising. For our starter maintenance routine we recommend feeding equal parts by weight of starter, water and flour (1:1:1), which generally works fine when your home is on the cool side, but in the summer you might want to try feeding with something more like a 1:2:2 ratio, or even 1:4:4. And don't worry, this type of feeding routine doesn't mean using up more flour, since you can reduce the starter portion relative to the water/flour amount. For example, a 1:4:4 feeding could look like: 28g starter +113g water + 113g flour. 

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

Barb

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