Chilipepper's Cheese #011 - Chokecherry Stout Cheddar

[rockie900]

chilipepper

I recall you mentioning that you might test your cheese at 1 month, not to put the hard word on you but....... ;D

Cheers

Al

[chilipepper]

Al, funny you should mention that. I had just emailed the secretary of our homebrewing club this morning and told him I'd be bringing it to the meeting Thursday.  I plan to cut it on Wednesday night and will certainly post picts when cut!  Keep your fingers crossed! :)

[stuartjc]

I am also burning with curiosity!

[Cartierusm]

Stuart, we talked about this, if it's burning you should see a doctor.

[stuartjc]

Stuart, we talked about this, if it's burning you should see a doctor.

oh, that's where I am going wrong... OK!

[Cartierusm]

LOL.

On a more serious note am I the only one who can wait till term for their cheese?

Actally I would cut this one open to, so if you did it right you'll know right away and then can make some for longer aging.

[chilipepper]

Well here it is guys!  I think I have the texture that we are looking for.  Maybe a little tighter knitting which would come with a little more aggressive transfer of the curd to the mold like in the videos John posted.  What I'm a little disappointed in is the light color of the beer infusion.  I kind of expected it to be lighter, but maybe not that light.  I think I will try with a can of Guinness next time and at least get a baseline with a real dark stout and then can work from there. 

On the taste side, it is a really nice albeit young cheddar flavor with the subtle hint of the chokecherry stout flavor mostly as an aftertaste rather than real strong up front.  I'm pleased with the flavor as I really didn't want it to overpower the cheddar.

Well let me know what you think!?

[cozcoester]

Wow chilipepper.  That looks awesome.

[Cartierusm]

Looks like Pate. But does look very good. I wonder if they do reduce the mixture as we takled about to get it more intense? Watch the short video that someone posted and see if they move the liquid at all and can determine if it's thicker than normal.

[chilipepper]

Carter, I did re-watch that video and it is really quite short and sweet when it comes to the process.  A couple of things: There wasn't any clues to the consistency of the beer in the measuring glass.  The other thing I notices is how dark the curd she was working and pressing into that mold was. There was also no visible whey or beer for that matter running out of that mold!  Do you suppose she was actually working the 'mortor' curd as John suggested and blending it with the beer to get the dark curd matter to then blend back in with the light curd before pressing??  Cus theirs is VERY dark and my stout was maybe not super dark but still quite dark and I'm not sure it would be that much lighter than a Guinness per say.

Ryan

[Tea]

Chili congrats, that looks great. 

[rockie900]

looks great chili, Guinness might give it that black colour, but the only way to find out is to make more, keep up the good work.

Al

[DeejayDebi]

That a fine looking cheese Chili - I hope it tastes as great as it looks! Love the marbling effect you got there.