Cheddar, Stirred - No Flavor

[Luckyksc]

So I made a stirred cheddar following the recipe on this site.  I used raw milk (1 gallon) and butter milk starter.  I let the cheese dry, waxed it and aged it 3 months.  When I tasted it, it had no flavor at all.    This is not my first cheese but it is the only one that had no flavor at all.  I have made the cheese twice and the first time I only let it age 1 month so I thought that if I make another one and let it age 3 months, it might have some flavor.  Sadly I was wrong.  Other then not aging long enough, what are some things that can cause cheese to have no flavor what so ever? 

[dthelmers]

I wonder if it needs more pre-ripening time. Sometimes the cultures need more time to develop flavor. Are you using a pH meter? I have learned that pre-ripening the milk makes a lot of difference in the flavor, and when using buttermilk as the starter you are relying on the viability of the culture of your buttermilk. In my area, I've found that it is not consistent, even with the same brand. I switched over to DVI cultures a while ago to avoid that problem.

[smilingcalico]

Makes me wonder if your buttermilk was dead, no active cultures.  Some also suggest that if your salt isn't pure, contains some additives, that may kill your culture before it's done all its work. 

[Luckyksc]

I don't have a ph meter.  I really want one but am afraid that I might kill it.  It seems so fussy (storing it and all that).  I would hate to kill something I spent $80ish dollars on.  It may very well have been the ripening time or the butter milk.  I will get some cultures someday soon.  It is just a matter of having all the money to do so.  I was using the last of my frozen buttermilk and it was getting a bit old.  I just made a new batch and froze it so I might have better luck.  I have been using that same batch for about 6 months with no problems other then the cheddar.  Thanks for the thoughts everyone!