Maybe making a starter makes my beer sour?

[jhorgan1]

My last 2-3 beers have been kind of sourish, I've been looking for a nice crisp IPA flavor from both of them and a few of my friends with decent palates tell me that they taste like sours. I was thinking, this problem started when I started making starters, in fact I brewed two beers since then that were not with starters (smack packs) and they tasted great. 2 of the beers since then have been the same recipe with reused yeast. I usually make a starter then let it sit on my desk for 2-4 days, I've heard that some starters can sour in that time if you don't add a hop pellet or two to the starter. I have not done this in the past. Do you guys think this could have something to do with my sourish beers or do you think there is something else to blame? I have a bucket fermenting with a pale ale that I used a starter but new yeast so in a few weeks I can sample that to get more data. Also, I make 500ml starters and I don't decant, I just pitch the whole thing in. My batch currently fermenting is the first batch where I decanted the starter off the yeast.
Any thoughts?

 

[ChadChaney]

Post some more information as to how you prepare your starter and how you take care of it once made. 2-4 days, IMO, is a long time for a starter, there is a video with the dude from White Labs talking about negative effects of letting a starter go to long. I think if you are not going to decant, you should pitch the starter at high krausen. Also, make sure your sanitation during the starter process is to the tee. Hope that helps. Also, how are you covering your starter?

 

[jhorgan1]

I cover the starter with tin foil although I never have sanitized it :/ Usually when I am swirling the starter I remove the tin foil in an attempt to get more oxygen into it. I've only seen one of my starters have krausen once, I must have missed all the other ones

 

[OvaTersley]

From my understanding of starters; after 24 hrs of fermenting it goes either into the fridge, or into your wort.
Letting it sit out for 3 days is not a good idea.

Here is the video referenced above, it has some good information

 

[badbrew]

Have you smelled or tasted sour in the starter itself? Also are you using tap water?

 

[Revvy]

Even if you didn't decant and just added the couple of cups of soured "starter beer" into your fermenter, that would not be enough to give you a sour taste in your beer. You're talking 2/80th of the overall liquid. Not enough to affect the taste, unless maybe you're doing extremely light lagers or pale ales.

Remember you are also adding it to hopped wort. The hops would prevent further souring.

I would look elsewhere, like in your sanitization process.