Cut into my first Caerphilly make today. Was made on 1/13, so aged about 2.5 months. Was made according to Caldwell's "Milled Curd Cheese with Crumbly Texture and Mold-Ripened Rind"...aka Caerphilly. I didn't have detailed make notes for it, and I wasn't yet testing pH on my cheeses, so I can only presume I hit the temp, time, and texture targets more or less. It was raw milk with some MA11 culture, but no mold cultures added. Aged it in a plastic tote with a damp towel inside as well. At first I had it in my basement for a couples weeks, but the basement was quite cool, about 45 degrees, and not much was happening on the surface other than a faint white dusting and smell like you get on cut cheese in the fridge. I may have washed the rind a couple times right at first. I then moved the cheese to, of all places, my bedroom, which at the time was about 55 degrees (lol!), when growth on the rind really took off - first some orange linens type growth, quickly followed by the fuzzier browns and whites.
I haven't eaten a caerphilly before, but it seems to match the descriptions I read. A crumbly texture, except for the may 1/2inch near the rind, that softened a bit, with some of that fungal flavor that comes from some bloomies and washed rinds (geo. cand. action?). Center, crumbly portion of the cheese was quite and just faintly acidic, very mild cheddar flavor and perhaps more like a mild dry jack. Nearer to the the rind was more complex, with a bit of the fungal notes as well as a touch of gruyere-like nuttiness, ever so faint. All the tasters were quite pleased with it.
Couple questions: I presume the flavors and complexity would increase with further aging? Or are there traits of this type of make that actually make it better young?
Secondly, I wonder should it "normally" be more tangy/acidic? In which case I probably didn't get the pH as low in the vat as the recipe called for (which has been my experience with other makes since I have started monitoring pH).