Meet your starter

German Bavarian

Rich, earthy, and built for dark, seeded loaves.

Hydration

100% (equal parts flour & water)

Peak time

3–4 hours at 76°F on a 1:1:1 feed

Temperament

Aggressive fermenter; watch the jar, not the clock.

Origin

Cultivated from a Bavarian rye-and-wheat blend and kept on organic bread flour since 2019. Rye's wild yeast population runs denser than wheat's, so this jar wakes up loud and ferments fast.

Flavor notes

Deep, earthy, cocoa-adjacent
Pronounced tang from lactic acid
Complex when baked into dark loaves

Best for

Pumpernickel and dense rye loaves
Seeded and multigrain boules
Boosting sour notes in a wheat dough (10% add)

The story of this jar

Bavarian-style starters carry more rye character than our other cultures. The jar bubbles differently — dense, tight foam instead of an airy dome — and it will peak before you've finished your coffee. Feed it, watch it, use it.

We keep a jar of this alongside our wheat starter and blend the two when a dough wants more depth. A 10% swap into a country loaf changes the flavor completely.

Take one home