Hi Mike, the fact that your starter is bubbling and smells wonderful are very good signs, so I wouldn't give up on it yet! Since I wasn't able to respond to your question as promptly as I would have liked, I'm hoping by now your starter is rising like gangbusters! If your starter is rising, but not as robustly as you remember, then you might find it helpful to tweak your feeding routine a bit. Ideally you want to replenish (feed) your starter when it's at its peak of rising or just beginning to fall. Allowing the starter to collapse significantly before feeding again tends to lead to sluggish yeast. Changing the ratio of ingredients in your starter can allow you to adjust the rate of fermentation. For example, feeding your starter with a ratio of 1:2:2 (starter:water:flour, by weight) will result in a somewhat slower rate of fermentation, which may mean that the starter peaks closer to the 12 hour mark, which will help keep the yeast more active. If you're worried about using up too much flour with an increased feeding, you might want to consider maintaining a smaller starter. It's difficult to give you the exact ratio of ingredients that will work best for you and your starter because temperature also plays an important roll in the rate of fermentation, and we aren't all dealing with the same room temperature. If your house is very cool, finding a slightly warmer spot (in the 70's) may also perk up the yeast, but, again, strive to feed your starter at its peak, or just as its beginning to fall, in order to achieve the robust rising behavior you remember. Once you go back to refrigerating your starter, be sure to allow it 2-4 hours to ferment at room temperature after a feeding and before returning it to the refrigerator. Sticking the just fed starter in the fridge may cut off fermentation too soon, and adversely affect starter health over time. I hope this helps! Let us know how it goes. 

Barb

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