I am puzzled by what has been happening in my cheese makes over the past few months and I am hoping that some of the wise cheesemakers on this forum may be able to guide me as to what I am doing wrong.
My cheeses have developed a distinct sourness to them.
I noticed this in all of my cheeses recently and was wondering what is happening. I opened up a five week old Monterey Jack last night, and it had a mild sourness - to the point of tasting more like sour cream than a Monterey Jack. I had that happen to a Cabra El Vino (aged for four weeks) a week or two earlier. Then, I saw some seepage on a ten month old Gouda that was in my cheese fridge, so I opened that up, and decided to taste it too. The sourness was so strong, I ended up throwing it away.
Clearly, something I started doing about a year ago is causing this, and it is something very wrong.
Since all these cheeses use different techniques: Gouda, Monterey Jack, Cabra El Vino; and different aging times, it must be something else. The commonalities are that I use store bought pasteurized and homogenized whole milk, and, of course, I am the common element.
Any ideas on what to look far would be appreciated!