On Aug 2, 11:48 am, Jon Salenger > wrote:

> As I said, I'm still a noob. I was just repeating what I'd learned from
> sjohn, but dictionaries state that sourdough has to be sour...

Well, that particular definition is a bit narrow...

If I had to guess, I'd say that the term sourdough was derived
originally from the smell of the starter. During storage it usually
develops a cider-like or vinegary scent. That doesn't mean the flavor
of the resulting bread is sour. You can make regular yeast bread
"sour" if you manipulate the fermentation correctly. And you can make
"sweet" bread from sourdough levain if you reach into your bag of
tricks and saccharify some of the flour or use a little malted grain,
etc...