Author Topic: Greetings from Seattle!  (Read 1761 times)

Jerome

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Greetings from Seattle!
« on: February 21, 2013, 05:36:52 AM »
Howdy! My name's Jerome, I live in the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle, Washington with my wife, Janet. We have a passion for quality food and beverage - particularly in doing it for ourselves. I'm a long time hobby brewer, more recently a hobby charcutier, pickler, baker & spirit maker, and new to cheese making as a hobby.

Santa was good to us last Christmas, left a decent kit of gear in our stocking and we've knocked out a couple of cheeses since the New Year; gouda, whey ricotta (delicious!), 2 batches of farmhouse-style cheddars, camembert, a bloomy lactic set goat cheese, and a semi-hard washed curd cheese that we're washing the rind with Trappist ale. Nothing is quite ready to try yet but I'm hopeful that we're off to a good start.

I love cheese, but bloomy rinds, slightly stinky, sharp, and blue cheeses the best. I'm looking forward to playing with bloomy rind and washed rind cheeses the most, using my home brews as a washing medium and exploring the intersection of beer micro-flora with cheese micro-flora.

So far I've been reading a lot (finding "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking" by G. Caldwell was perfect), getting the cheese "caves" dialed in, proceeding to make cheese with some careful trial & error, and looking forward to making a lot more cheese. Getting a pH meter on hand & building a proper cheese press are next on the list.

I don't really have an issue to bring to the forum right off the bat; except that I'm curious if there are any organized hobby cheese making clubs in the Seattle/King County area. I've been in home brew clubs for a long time; great opportunity to meet folks, share information, equipment, and plan events. If the interest is there, I'd be willing to organize a group.

I'm glad to have found the forum and look forward to hanging around.

Cheers,
Jerome
« Last Edit: February 21, 2013, 05:42:36 AM by Jerome »

Offline Boofer

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Re: Greetings from Seattle!
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2013, 06:42:10 AM »
Welcome to the forum, Jerome. I'm a little further south of you in an unincorporated enclave of Tacoma called Parkland.

I don't know of any cheese clubs around here. This forum serves me well for communication and sharing of ideas. Sounds like you've got a good start towards your cheesemaking. A lot of folks will be looking forward to seeing and reading of your efforts. We love pics and details of successes and failures.

-Boofer-
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Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

linuxboy

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Re: Greetings from Seattle!
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2013, 06:56:13 AM »
I tried to organize a few times when I lived there, that's where the WA cheese guild came from, but we lacked momentum. If you or someone else wants to try and organize, would be a great idea.

High Altitude

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Re: Greetings from Seattle!
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2013, 01:26:52 AM »
Welcome to the forum!  I'm from Poulsbo, across the sound (with the best bakery around!), and visit my old college roomie in Fremont every summer on her houseboat!  You'll enjoy chatting with the many cheesy experts here (of which I am not...YET anyway). 

Used to attempt SF-style sourdough bread, but now dabble in winemaking.  Here's to we DIY'ers :-).  Cheers and happy cheesemaking!

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Greetings from Seattle!
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2013, 01:56:57 AM »
Welcome Jerome!!  Sounds like you're into the same stuff as me.  I'm in Port Orchard, just across the sound. ;D
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Jerome

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Re: Greetings from Seattle!
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2013, 08:33:57 PM »
Thank you for the warm welcome!

Cheers!,
J