Grateful Grains Sourdough 101

Location: Blue Monkey Brewery
Date: April 21
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Curious about sourdough but don’t know where to start? This beginner-friendly class breaks sourdough down into simple, easy-to-understand steps — no baking experience needed.

Join Grateful Grain Sourdough Bakery for a fun, relaxed, hands-on intro to the art and science of real sourdough. Learn how flour, water, salt, and wild yeast turn into beautiful artisan bread — all while enjoying the awesome brewery atmosphere.

• The Science of Sourdough Starter — and Why It Changes Everything
Discover how wild yeast and beneficial bacteria work together to create flavor, rise, and naturally preserved bread.

• How to Feed, Strengthen, and Maintain a Reliable Starter
Master simple routines, feeding ratios, and visual signals so your starter performs consistently.

• The Fundamentals of Mixing and Fermentation
Learn how hydration, temperature, and time shape dough strength, flavor depth, and crumb texture.

• Gluten Development Through Stretch & Fold (Live Demonstration)
Watch dough transform in real time and learn how to build strength without overworking it.

• Artisan Shaping Techniques for Bakery-Quality Loaves
Create structure, surface tension, and beautiful natural scoring patterns.

• Confident Home Baking Methods
Dutch oven baking, steam alternatives, doneness cues, and troubleshooting for consistent results.

🥈 Your Personal Fermentation Toolkit

✔ Etched Personalized Mason Jar + Active Starter
Your own living fermentation culture — a wild yeast + bacteria ecosystem you’ll take home and keep feeding (like a delicious science pet).

✔ Pre-Mixed Dough to Bake at Home
Practice fermentation timing and dough structure in your own kitchen with confidence.

✔ Bread Lame for Scoring + Loaf Design
Learn how controlled scoring supports oven spring and lets you create beautiful artisan patterns.

✔ Fresh Baked Artisan Sourdough Loaf
Taste real long-fermented sourdough and understand how fermentation impacts flavor, texture, and digestibility.

✔ Sourdough Pretzel Sampling During Class
Because fermentation science is better with snacks — and brewery vibes.

✔ Grateful Grain Tote Bag
Carry home your starter, tools, baked bread, and sourdough goodies in style.

👉 This is a fully immersive sourdough experience — part bakery, part brewery hangout, part fermentation lab.

• Curious Beginners
No experience needed — just an interest in real bread, fermentation, and learning something new.

• Home Bakers Ready to Level Up
If your bread is “pretty good” but you want consistency, structure, and bakery-quality results.

• Food Science + Fermentation Nerds
If microbes, fermentation, and dough chemistry fascinate you — this is your happy place.

• Craft Beer + Artisan Food Lovers
Perfect for anyone who appreciates slow processes, quality ingredients, and handcrafted food.

• Hands-On Learners
If you learn best by doing, tasting, and seeing the process happen in real time.

Info: 6:00 – 6:10 PM
Welcome + Set Up
• Grab Beer
• Overview of what we’ll cover
• Quick intro to sourdough + fermentation basics
• Hand out personalized starter jars
6:10 – 6:30 PM
Sourdough Science Made Simple
• What sourdough starter actually is (wild yeast + bacteria)
• How fermentation creates flavor + structure
• How to read an active starter (visual + smell cues)

6:30 – 6:50 PM
Feeding + Maintaining Your Starter
• Feeding ratios + timing
• Storage options (counter vs fridge)
• Troubleshooting weak starter issues
6:50 – 7:15 PM
Mixing Dough + Fermentation Fundamentals (Demo + Hands On)
• Ingredient ratios + hydration basics
• Mixing technique
• Fermentation timing + temperature impact
7:15 – 7:30 PM
Stretch & Fold + Gluten Development (Live Demo)
• How gluten structure forms
• When dough is “ready”
• Hands-on stretch & fold practice
7:30 – 7:45 PM
Shaping + Scoring for Artisan Loaves
• Building surface tension
• How scoring controls oven spring• Practice Fun scoring

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Grateful Grain Sourdough Bakery