Aging cheddar ?

[qdog1955]

 Does anyone know the time frame for aging various cheddar's-------mild------medium----sharp------extra sharp?
Just opened a 2 month old cheddar, expecting the cheese to be in the mild to medium range and it seemed to be closer to a sharp ( excellent cheese ) This cheese was vac bagged and caved at about 54 degrees.
Any one done any experiments with time frame?
Qdog

[Stinky]

From what I've heard, cheddars tend to get sharp around 6 months. What cultures did you use?

[qdog1955]

All my cheddars are Caldwell recipe---using MA 4000.
Qdog

[Spoons]

From my own experience: Vac sealed, 11C, LH added as an adjunct will give a medium taste after 8 months, not much of a difference after 11 months. I also tried ST (TA61) as an adjunct and it gave it a bit more of a flavorful profile, but not a typical cheddar taste though.

[Stinky]

But then again when I adjuncted DG, it seemed like it tasted like mild cheddar at three weeks, and while not sharp, pretty strong after having been in the refrigerator for another month and a half.

[qdog1955]

This was a raw milk make----so they say  min. aging of 2 months-----I like all stages of cheddar, but now I have to wonder how I can get a mild or medium cheddar if I already have a sharp at just 2 months. On top of that, I have 4 other cheddars at various ages----so I guess I will have to get the cheese trier out and see what stage those are at.
Qdog