Hi Roberta, well,"worm like creatures" definitely doesn't sound good! Were they moving? Sometimes yeast can take on a wormy appearance when deprived of nutrients (check out this discussion with photos). In this case there was algae in the water used to feed the starter (which had grown on a Brita container), and the algae removed vital nitrogen from the starter environment, which caused the yeast to respond in the way pictured. In this case the recommended treatment was: "using algae-free water, letting the acids accumulate so that the pH becomes inhibiting, and keep the starter in the dark . . . ." It's hard for me to say if this is what was going on with your starter, and I suspect you've already disposed of it, but it might be worth checking your water source for algae before you begin again. I don't see any inherent problems with your temperatures, although at 90 degrees fermentation is likely to occur rather rapidly, so you'll need to stay on top of feeding your starter and not let it sit out neglected for extended periods of time. Once your starter begins rising, be sure to feed when it's at its peak, or just beginning to fall, which helps keep yeast activity strong.
September 12, 2020 at 9:24am
In reply to I used a combination of… by Roberta (not verified)
Hi Roberta, well,"worm like creatures" definitely doesn't sound good! Were they moving? Sometimes yeast can take on a wormy appearance when deprived of nutrients (check out this discussion with photos). In this case there was algae in the water used to feed the starter (which had grown on a Brita container), and the algae removed vital nitrogen from the starter environment, which caused the yeast to respond in the way pictured. In this case the recommended treatment was: "using algae-free water, letting the acids accumulate so that the pH becomes inhibiting, and keep the starter in the dark . . . ." It's hard for me to say if this is what was going on with your starter, and I suspect you've already disposed of it, but it might be worth checking your water source for algae before you begin again. I don't see any inherent problems with your temperatures, although at 90 degrees fermentation is likely to occur rather rapidly, so you'll need to stay on top of feeding your starter and not let it sit out neglected for extended periods of time. Once your starter begins rising, be sure to feed when it's at its peak, or just beginning to fall, which helps keep yeast activity strong.
I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes.
Barb