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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => Problems - Questions - Problems - Questions? => Topic started by: shadowdream on May 20, 2013, 07:57:16 AM
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Hi all!
I've been a reader but not so much a poster for quite some time now, and have been making cheese as time allows for a few years.
I have had a few fails that have been quite obvious fails, but this one is one I'm not so sure of.
I have a farmhouse cheddar that I made about two weeks ago, and may have left out a little too long to dry before putting it in the cave. It has a lovely looking dry rind on the sides, but hasn't developed the same kind of a rind on the top or bottom, it is very very slightly damp. No droplets or anything, just lightly clammy and not bone dry like the sides. I have wiped mold off of it twice with vinegar, just small spots of it.
Went to the cave to turn it today and it has more mold, and has a smell like alcohol. Not like a bread type yeasty smell, but more almost like a beer. It's more sharp of a smell than say bread yeast.
It was made and dried under sanitary conditions, though maaaaybe the milk wasn't the absolute freshest (it was near the sell by date).
Thoughts? Is there anything I can do to save it, or is it a goner?
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If that was happening to one of my cheeses I'd probably respond by having it be a natural rind cheese and just dry brush every few days as needed. Smell it before and after you brush it just to add to your olfactory library of scents. I had one that developed wild blue spots that were likely yeast. It smelled musty before brushing and like yummy fruit after brushing. Very interesting. ;D
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I only experienced an alcohol smell while making Cabra al Vino and Cheddar with ale, so I am afraid I can't help you....