Ariel301's Chevre - Funny Taste?

[Ariel301]

I've been making chevre with the new england cheesemaking direct set packets. It took me a couple of tries to figure out how to get it to set right, but now it's working. Except for one possible thing. It has the right texture, but it has a funny sour taste, like strong sour cream, along with a 'goaty' aftertaste. I haven't eaten store-bought chevre in a while and it's not available in the stores here for me to try some, so I forget exactly how it should taste. Is this the way it is, or is something wrong with mine? The sourness gets stronger with every day it sits in the refrigerator.

I don't know that it's a problem with the goats or the milking--the goats and their pens are very clean, the buck is separate from the does, and I am very sanitary with milking and my utensils for milking and cheesemaking.

My sister-in-law is after me to make her a batch of chevre, so I want to make sure I've got it right before giving her some.

[siegfriedw]

Two things I would note/check:

1) Was the milk "good" before you used it. If milk is not cooled rapidly this can result.

2) Did you use a different amount of culture or culture it longer than previously before draining, or was it made at a different ambient temperature?

Either of these could cause what you have described.

[Ariel301]

The milk is always cooled as quickly as I can. It comes from the goats to the house where I strain it through a filter to be sure I didn't accidentally get any hairs or bugs or bits of hay or whatever in there. (My only option is to milk outside, usually in the wind, so it happens every now and then. If the milk is contaminated, the goats get it.) It goes into small bottles (1 or two quarts generally) and goes right in a very cold refrigerator. I don't pasteurize it.

The room temperature in my kitchen stays pretty steady at 70 degrees or so. I would think if it fluctuated, the results would be inconsistent in my cheese. But the sour-cream flavor is always there. It doesn't vary with temperature or freshness of milk. (All the milk I make cheese with is as fresh as possible, never more than one week old.) I also leave it to set for the same amount of time; the packets call for 12 hours.

[bier]

I have used the New England Cheesmaking culture packets and had a similar result using store bought pasteurized goat milk.  I switched to using a prepared starter and it seems to have helped. 

You could try using less of the direct set starter and see if that makes a difference.  I have heard from a number of people that for some cheeses you will get a milder less acidic taste if you don't use a whole packet.

[LadyLiberty]

I read that sheep milk, if agitated a lot, gets a "sheepy" taste.  Something about the size of the bubbles that are produced from being sloshed around. How the fat molecules are cut up.  Now I'm only speculating here, but you might make an effort to keep the milk from being sloshed around too much.  I understand the idea of sieving the milk but maybe what you are using to sieve it is also cutting the fat up too much.  Not sure if bigger or smaller would work.  You might contact another Goat Cheese maker to find out this information and I would be very interested to find out.... we have a source of goat milk now, and I want to make sure, since the goat herder is new to this, that we do it right.  Time to google this issue!

[LadyLiberty]

upon googling, I discovered this, you might try it:

http://www.caprinesupply.com/shop/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=1043&category_id=790d7c2e179fdd36dd919357457912c1&ps_session=6c5045e7216c185e3922e94f3d670af1

this might be very helpful for you.

[FRANCOIS]

1.  Chevre should be sour, it has a very low pH.  Salt at a rate of 1 teaspoon to 1#.  It should have a clean tangy flavour.

2.  Goatiness.  All fo the classic reasons apply of course but it could very well just be your breed and feed.  Some goats just have string tasting milk, a fact most people ignore, forget or refuse to admit.  This is why dairies breed for components and flavour.