[Nostalgia]

Morning, all. I'm following the sourdough method in "The Bread Baker's Apprentice," and having some difficulty. This is the second time I've tried it (I tried last year) with the exact same results. I was hoping some of you could possibly point me at what I'm doing wrong. All of the fermenting was done in a room that was controlled between 66 and 70 degrees Farenheit.

What the method says:
Day 1: Mix rye flour and water. Cover, ferment 24h. Should be little to no activity.
Day 2: Mix bread flour and water with Day 1 stuff. Cover, ferment 24h. Should be some rise.
Day 3: Discard half of Day 2 stuff. Mix bread flour and water with remaining. Cover, ferment 24h. Should double in size. If not, give 12 to 24 more hours.
Day 4: Repeat as Day 3. Should double to triple in size in 4 to 24 hours. The "seed" starter can now be made into the Barm, or mother starter.
Barm: Mix starter with more flour and water. Ferment 6 hours. Should cause the lid on the fermenting container to swell. Refrigerate.

What happened:
Day 1: Went as planned.
Day 2: Went as planned.
Day 3: Looked like there was almost a 50% rise and it had fallen. I could see the line it rose to. I gave it an extra 12 hours, but there was no further rise.
Day 4: Absolutely nothing. Not a millimeter rise. Bubbles on the surface like cooking pancakes.
Barm: No lid swelling. Bubbles on the surface of the starter.

The starter smells deliciously sour, and there are bubbles, so I know I'm doing at least something right. I'm just concerned that I won't have enough yeast activity to rise a loaf of bread.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

-Joe