Author Topic: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese  (Read 6827 times)

tnbquilt

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Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« on: December 16, 2012, 03:36:17 PM »
I have never seen a trappist cheese, so I have no idea what to expect here. This is my recipe
Ale Washed Coriander Trappist Cheese
From Artisan Cheese Making at Home

2   gallons pasteurized milk
3    tsp coriander seeds, crushed
3   tsp granulated orange peel
½     tsp Meso II starter
½    tsp calcium chloride diluted in ¼ cup nonchlorinated water
½   tsp liquid rennet diluted in ¼ cup nonchlorinated water
Kosher salt
Two 12 oz bottles of Belgian Ale at room temperature plus 16 to 24 oz more for washing

1.   In a nonreactive 4 quart saucepan, heat 2 quarts of milk over low heat to 90°F; this should take about 20 minutes. Stir in 2 teaspoons of the coriander and 2 teaspoons of the orange peel, then slowly raise the temperature to 110°F over the course of 10 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and let steep for 45 minutes.

2.   Place the remaining 1-1/2 gallons of milk in a nonreactive pot. Pour the steeped milk through a fine mesh strainer into the larger pot of milk and whisk to combine. Discard the coriander and orange. Bring the milk to 90° over low heat; this should take 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

3.   Sprinkle the starter over the milk and let it rehydrate for 5 minutes. Mix well with an up and down stirring motion. Cover and maintain 90°F for 30 minutes. Add the calcium chloride and gently stir for 1 minute, then add the rennet the same way. Cover and let sit for 1 hour, or until the curds give a clean break.

4.   Still maintaining 90°F, cut the curds into ½ inch pieces and let sit for 10 minutes. The curds will shrink to the size of small beans. Meanwhile, heat 1 gallon of water to 175°F. Ladle off enough whey to expose the curds. Add enough hot water to bring the temperature to 93°F. Stir for 10 minutes. Repeat this process of removing whey and adding hot water, this time bringing the temperature to 100°F. Stir for 15 minutes, then let the curds settle for 10 minutes. Cover and let rest for 45 minutes, maintaining 100°F. The curds will mat and form a slab.

5.   Drain off enough whey to expose the slab of curds. Transfer the slab to a flat bottomed colander, place it over the pot, and let drain for 5 minutes. Transfer the slab to a cutting board and cut into 3/8-inch thick slices. Place in bowl and gently toss with 2 teaspoons of the salt.

6.   Line two 5-inch molds with damp cheesecloth and set on draining rack. Tightly pack a quarter of the curds in each mold, and press at 5 lbs for 10 minutes, just to compact the curds slightly. Peel back the cloth and sprinkle each cheese with ½ tsp of coriander and ½ tsp of orange peel, then pack in the rest of the curds. Press at 8 lbs of pressure for 6 hours at room temperature. Remove the cheese, flip over and rewrap. Press at 8 lbs of pressure for 8 hours.

7.   Pour the bottle of ale into a lidded, non reactive container large enough for ale and cheese. Remove the cheese from the mold and place it in the ale. Soak the cheese, covered, for 8 hours at 55°F, flipping over once.

8.   Remove the cheese from the ale and pat dry. Reserve and refrigerate the ale and place the cheese on a cheese mat. Air dry at room temperature for 12 hours. Return the cheese to the ale and soak for another 12 hours at 55°F. Remove, pat dry, and air-dry at room temperature for 12 hours, or until the surface is dry to the touch. Discard the ale.

9.   Prepare a brine-ale wash: boil ½ cup of water and let it cool, and combine with ½ cup of ale, then dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in it. Store in the refrigerator.

10.   Place the cheese on a mat in a ripening box and ripen at 50°F and 90% humidity for 4 to 6 weeks. Flip the cheese daily for the first 2 weeks, then twice weekly after that. After each flip, pour a little brine-ale wash into a small dish, dip a small piece of cheesecloth in it, and use it to wipe the surface of the cheese. Discard any unused brine-ale wash after 1 week and make a fresh batch. Also wipe away any moisture from the bottom, sides, and lid of the ripening box each time you flip the cheese.

11.   Wrap the cheese in cheese paper and store refrigerated for up to 1 month. If you vacuum-seal the cheese, remove it from the packaging and pat dry before consuming it.
Yield: 2 lbs

I am in the part where it says to wash the cheese with the ale wash twice a week. My question is about the rind. When I got it out to wash it yesterday, it had a white mold all over it. I did not put anything in it to make a white mold. So I washed it like usual and the white mold went away. There is a slightly brown tinged covering on the rind, and I don't know if I am supposed to try to wash that off or not. I can wash it off, or I can smear it around, I just don't know what is expected.

I can post a picture the next time it is time to wash it so that it will show up.

hoeklijn

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #1 on: December 16, 2012, 03:55:35 PM »
Sounds good Tammy! Keep us posted, because you know this is one on my wishlist!

tnbquilt

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2012, 01:40:00 AM »
These are my cheeses. They have a brown film on the outside and I don't know if I am supposed to wash it off or not. They are 3-1/2 weeks old, and the outside is very soft and creamy. Actually the cheese if very soft, since I am used to making hard cheeses.

I am washing it twice a week and when you get it out of the cave it has a little green mold on it but it wipes off easily.

This picture is after I washed it. I was careful to leave the brown on it when I wiped it tonight. I think that might be correct.

hoeklijn

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2012, 08:06:02 PM »
Never made it myself (yet) but I know that Chimay, which is washed with brown trappist ale, has a brown rind too. Personallly I would have pressed it with a bit more weight...

tnbquilt

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2013, 04:08:48 PM »
I agree with the more weight comment. I don't think any of the pressing weights in that book are heavy enough.

Just as a note the cheese was horribly bitter and I threw it away. Boofer posted notes about a cheese that he had made that appeared to have the same problem as this one. It is here

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10190.msg80079.html#msg80079

Tomer1

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2013, 12:45:59 AM »
Were there holes in the paste?  I wonder if its a case of unwated yeast strain taking hold.
To my understanding moisture content of the cheese is critical to prevent "(bread) yeasting" of these time of cheeses. 
What humidity did you keep these in?

Maybe incoculate the milk with some ripening culture to increase your chances. I wonder what would work here,  Likely GEO to "set the mood"  :P  and enough frequent washings (more then twice a week?) to get a native linens colony going for some meaty flavors.

tnbquilt

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #6 on: March 07, 2013, 02:10:25 AM »
I don't know but I think that the problem was that I put the cheese in a plastic box with the lid attached. I did not allow the cheese to breath at all, I didn't realize that I was supposed to. I thought that when the instructions said to put it in the ripening box that I was supposed to close it.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #7 on: March 07, 2013, 12:27:41 PM »
Tammy, I'm sorry for the outcome of your cheese.  I don't have any experience with this type but I am wondering, where is the salt to flavor the cheese?  It seems like there is just a bit in the affinage washes which seems like wouldn't be enough.  I did a Drunken Goat cheese from Mary Karlin's book and it had no salt and it was horribly bland.  A salt brine would help firm it up too but I know nothing about this style.....

Alpkäserei

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #8 on: March 07, 2013, 03:07:36 PM »
I would propose 2 reasons that could be responsible for the bitterness,

1: No salt. Salt content affects the way the cultures develop. This affects flavors, neutralizes certain harsh overtones, and inhibits certain contaminating bacteria.

2 Too old/too much moisture. If the cheese had a high moisture content, you can't age it very long. Going by the methods used, the coagulation time and the final temperature reached, this cheese probably would not be able to age much past 3 or 4 weeks. If you want to age it longer, you should cut down on coag time, drive more moisture out of the curd with a higher cooking temp, and press longer at a little higher weight (we use 8 pounds of force for every pound of cheese. Well not really, our press is just a giant beam and we just kind of guess where to put the stack to get the right amount of force). If a cheese has too much moisture, once you push it past its age limit it will turn extremely sharp and bitter.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #9 on: March 07, 2013, 03:24:58 PM »
Just as a note the cheese was horribly bitter and I threw it away. Boofer posted notes about a cheese that he had made that appeared to have the same problem as this one. It is here

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10190.msg80079.html#msg80079
The cheese you referenced had PLA in the milk and a PLA brine-wash. It was brined for 12 hours. That answers the questions about a rind development program and need for salt. Although my "Boofer's Fancy" wasn't declared to be a Trappist cheese from the start, it would appear that your cheese suffered a similar outcome. Sorry, Tammy. :(

Looks like we need valuable insight from linuxboy or Sailor to understand what this all means. Cheese rind + alcohol (and sugars) = bitter, disgusting cheese. In my case, that was a $40 mistake. :'(  Not anxious to repeat that one.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

tnbquilt

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #10 on: March 07, 2013, 09:42:31 PM »

[/quote] Looks like we need valuable insight from linuxboy or Sailor to understand what this all means. Cheese rind + alcohol (and sugars) = bitter, disgusting cheese. In my case, that was a $40 mistake. :'(  Not anxious to repeat that one.
-Boofer-
[/quote]

I agree. I would like to know what went wrong so that I can make it right next time.

Tomer1

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #11 on: March 08, 2013, 05:25:39 PM »
I wonder if the use of anarobic conditions (sealed bag) accually favors the development of gas producing yeast and in fact... spoilage.
 

Offline NimbinValley

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #12 on: March 19, 2013, 04:55:52 AM »
I have just made a washed rind/reblochon cheese using the guidelines suggested by iratherfly.  It all seemed to go pretty well - the notes are excellent.  One thing that surprised me, and relates to this thread, is how much weight is used for pressing; 1.5kg per standard reblochon mould which is only 13.5cm in diameter. (actually his notes say 1.5kg, but when you calculate out the weight using 15g/cm2 as recommended it comes to 2kg.  Maybe my maths is wrong? Arithmetic was never my strong point)  So final moisture content is quite low compared to something like a cam it would seem.

I have decided to wash some of them with ale - does anybody know if I should add salt to the beer?  4%?

Thanks.

NV.

tnbquilt

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2013, 11:21:55 PM »
My recipe book says to add salt to the beer. It keeps down the mold.

Offline NimbinValley

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Re: Ale Washed Trappist Cheese
« Reply #14 on: March 19, 2013, 11:43:31 PM »
Thanks Tammy.  That would make sense wouldn't it.

NV.