Hi Leslie, it sounds like you're hoping to bake gluten-free with your sourdough starter? If so, you may want to consider feeding your starter with our Gluten-Free Measure for Measure flour, according to this recipe, although the GF All-Purpose flour should also work fine. If, on the other hand, rye flour is okay for your diet, you could also consider maintaining your starter with our whole rye flour or medium rye flour. While rye flour does technically contain some gluten-forming proteins, these do not contribute to rising in the same way they do with wheat flour. 

The tricky part of baking gluten-free sourdough breads is that you can't simply substitute gluten-free flour and starter into regular sourdough bread recipes. This is because so much of the rise and structure of regular bread recipes depends on the gluten that wheat flour provides. For gluten-free sourdough breads your best bet is to find a recipe that has been written to be gluten-free and use the type of flour called for in the recipe. If rye flour works for you, you could certainly substitute rye flour for some of the gluten-free flour called for in our gluten-free sourdough bread recipe. While you may not be able to recreate the crusty open-crumbed sourdough breads that you're used to, you can still enjoy sourdough bread. 

I think the starter you stored in the airtight bag in your refrigerator is fine. The reason we say to "cover loosely" isn't because your sourdough starter needs airflow in order to ferment properly (it doesn't), but because fermentation gases can build up in a tightly lidded container and cause the lid to pop off. As long as you leave adequate space for the gases to collect, and open the container now and then to vent the gases, it's fine to store your starter in a container with a lid. If the starter in the jar has also been sitting out on the counter for 3 weeks, you'll probably have more luck reviving the starter that you've stored in the refrigerator. It will likely take a few feedings at room temperature to get the starter nice and active again after its stay in the refrigerator. 

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