Did it go bad? (sourdough, LONG)

[Rachaell]

K, this is going to be long, i want to give you guys the full picture.  anyone who has the patience and time to read through this and help out a struggling newbie, thank you, thank you, thank you!!

so I started soaking my grains about three weeks ago.  I had read somewhere a good idea, to soak rice in plain water first, and then save some of that soak water for the next soak, and then save that for the next, etc, as a sort of starter.  So I had been doing that for all my grains and beens, just recycling this starter water and using it for my next soaks. 

K, so last week, Friday night, five days ago, I soaked barley in very warm water with some of this starter.  For a very long time - about 12 hours.  When I went to drain and cook it, it smelled almost alcoholic and acidy at the same time.  I saved the water and put it in the fridge.  last night I wanted to make bread, and I thought, hmmm, I don't have a sourdough starter, but I have this water, let me throw it in, omit the yeast, and see what happens!  Mind you, it was 1:30 AM, and I did NOT measure how much of that strong-smelling water I was putting it.  For sure more than a cup, maybe a cup and a half.  I used about 2.25-2.5 pounds of flour.  I let it rise in a warm oven overnight, shaped it at about 11:00 AM today, and let it sit in a warm oven all day today.  I baked it at 7 PM (I'm not in the US) today.  While it was  rising today, it smelled VERY strong, almost nauseating.  Also while it was baking, and now, I can't decide if it's good or not.

My nose is jaded, though.  I grew up on whte rice, froxen lima beans, and fish sticks for dinner, and that was on a good day.  Mold, bacteria, yeast, sour milk, any food that was sour or that stuck around too long was the evil enemy and could kill us.  So I'm not sure this is really bad.  It tastes very, very sour, but it could just be I put too much of the barley water in it. 

What i really want to know is this: Could this whole mixture have gone bad?  Could it possibly be dangerous to eat?  Will it send us to the bathroom all night?

What do YOU think?

If you made it this far, I commend you!

THANK YOU!