I agree Herman, a little on the dry side. Did you wax it after you put your coating on it? I have screwed up cheddar every way possible. I had one dry one that I cream coated, but did not wax. I didn't realize that the cream coating would allow it to dry out. It was so dry I trashed it. I had one cheddar that I over cooked because I was trying to reach a specific PH level and my PH meter wasn't working right. It came out very dry and very tangy. I also trashed it. I have also under salted it, which makes it bitter, and I trashed it. And the final screw up was I didn't use enough culture and it came out bitter as well. I hope all of that is behind me, because we have eaten the last few that I have made.
I have not tasted my beer soaked one yet. I made mine on 4-6-13 and I soaked it in an amber beer that our friends with the new brewery make. They are having their one year anniversary party on September 7th so I plan on taking it to the party. I will taste it first and if it is good I will take it to the party. I forgot to salt it before I put it in the press, so the next day I took it out, cut it all up, salted it, reheated it and repressed it. I hope it comes out good. I vacuum sealed it after it air dried for a week.
I have found cheddar to be a bit challenging, and the aging period gets me. I need to make more short aging cheeses to enjoy while waiting on the cheddars so that I don't open them too early.