I had a all-grain mild beer wort in my fermenter that apparently would not take yeast. Six packets of yeast I threw at that thing, not trusting the yeast, until I concluded that it couldn't be the yeast, something in the wort was killing the yeast. Loathe to trow the whole thing out, I started to wonder what it would do in a cheese?
So...adapting a basic cheddar recipe in Caldwell's book,
16 litres pasteurised, unhomogenised milk (3.66% fat, 3.4% protein)
300 ml pre-cultured MA4000
3 ml rennet pre-diluted in 25 ml water
Brought milk to 27C, added culture, rested 30 mins. Added rennet, rested 45 minutes. Cut curd into 1cm cubes.
Stirred for 30 mins, increasing temp to 39C. Held at this temp, stirring, for 60 minutes.
Drained whey and cheddared at 37C for one hour.
Added wort, realised immediately that I should have boiled it first (D'oh!), pushed on, trying to maintain temp at 37C. Didn't quite succeed at this so infused in wort at 34C for one hour, drained.
Milled and added 30g salt (2% by weight)
Followed Biss's cheddar pressing-and-dressing routine:
Day 1: Placed in press, pressed with 1.25 then 5kg for 30 mins over heat, turned, then into press increasing over 2 hours to 35 kg. Pressed at 35kg for 24 hours, turning every 8 hours or so.
Day 2: removed from press, placed in 55C water bath for 1 minute, returned to press under 35kg for 24 hours
Day 3: removed from press, bandaged using coconut oil, returned to press with 20kg weight.
Day 4: removed from press, bandaged with coconut oil, into cave at 11-13C, 49-80% humidity.
Final weight out of press was 1656g. There's a good knit on this one if I say so myself.
The marbling is quite modest but there's a definite beery scent, even through the bandage. I may have trouble with late blowing if there's any yeast infection from the unboiled wort, but as it was killing the brewer's yeast off, we'll see. There's a year to wait for the results on this one.