I've only ever used raw milk to make cheese. When I finally had to use store-bought (was teaching a class and didn't have enough raw) pasteurized, homogenized, I was shocked at the difference. Not just in the way the cheese was made, the quality of the curds, etc, but even the whey was different. It was like water, versus the deep yellow-green of the raw milk whey after making ricotta.
Anyway, in about 7 or 8 years of only using raw, I've never been sick, never made anyone sick, etc. I milk my own little goats, however, and am very cautious about cleanliness. I would recommend inspecting the facilities at which you obtain your milk.
My goats put out such a high fat milk that I almost always hand skim a bit of the fat off and make butter or sour cream. Although it's hard to get goat cream to separate from milk, compared to cow cream, it is possible. Since my little goats don't produce enough to make a good sized cheese with each days' milk I freeze my milk after milking. The freezing and then thawing seems to help separate some of the cream. The milk is quite good for making cheese even after freezing a short time (max about 8 weeks, but usually more like 7-10 days).
I concur, you need less rennet with raw milk and you only need a very small amount of starter. I do use starter to give specific tastes to my cheeses. Usually I cut the amount of starter in half, and then experiment with that. You don't have to use starter though, you can just go with whatever your local area puts into the milk.
