I am probably way over my head here, as my first 2 attempts at hard cheeses are barely out of their hoops, but I'm curious. I have a couple cabres al vino bathing in shiraz now, and I thought maybe my next batch I would incorporate beer into the mix...somehow.
I've seen references to beer-washed rinds, and also to actually adding beer to the milk (or perhaps to the whey - not sure). But not enough info for a newbie like me to figure out what exactly is done.
Speak to me of this, please!
Any experiences, best practices, recommendations...
Thanks!
Cyn
I added stout to chees emilk once, and only once. The results were pretty disgusting,taste wise. The beer yeast activated and my cheese ended up tasting like bread. Good thing it was only cows milk and only 30 gallons.....had it been goats milk I'd have been out a chunk of change..
Two common approaches out there for using beer with cheese. First is to use some beer in the wash solution when washing the cheese. This is after brining, and after a rind has developed. The idea is to introduce some subtle flavors and introduce yeast to the rind flora. Second approach is to wash part of the curd with pasteurized beer. This is similar to doing a washed curd style cheese and is done to remove lactose to make a milder cheese, and also to introduce some of the flavors of the beer into the curd itself.
I like the first approach, and the second approach can be OK if done properly, and with a well paired beer. No IPAs into a Gouda recipe, for example. But a light, malty amber or nut brown could work with a cheddar.
[edit] Third approach might be to soak a cheese in a beer wash so the flavor permeates. Be careful here about yeast contamination, especially with low acid cheeses.
I could be wrong but I think I was a utube video here somewhere about a stout mixed in the curds for a cheddar before pressing?
I'm thinking it was a British company maybe?
I tried a few different approaches at beer mixed in a farmhouse cheddar. They are very good and are even better if you can age them for a good 5-6 months. Here is a Chokecherry stout cheddar that I made posted here: https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,817.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,817.0.html)
Good luck,
Ryan