I hope this is the appropriate forum for this . . . curds soaked in beer, and cheeses wiped most days with ale brine.
The Bitch after a couple of weeks:
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DSCN0311.jpg)
Daily washed with:
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DSCN8711.jpg)
A couple of others that I tried, one with Rochefort and one with Guinness, now two months old:
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DSCN0290.jpg)
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DSCN0333.jpg)
Both good. Both needed salt! Both re-wrapped and I'll try them again in a few months.
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/DSCN0328.jpg)
Thanks,
-L
Those look fantastic!
Can I come over for some? >:D
AC4U!
Surely, Pittsy is only a few hours from DC.
And I have 4 or 5 cheeses ready for their first tasting. You can be my first victim!
-L
After three months of aging, time to cut dat bitch (sorry, got a bit gangsta).
Looks promising:
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DSCN1917.jpg)
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DSCN1919.jpg)
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DSCN1921.jpg)
The paste was very dense, almost crumbly, so impossible to get a clean cut.
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DSCN1924.jpg)
But, you ask, how did it taste?
Excellent! Very mild, but perfect balance of lactic and (finally!) salt, nice texture. Very very happy with this - - I've had a lucky streak with my cheeses lately. And, unless it's my imagination, you can taste the bitch.
(https://tiabr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/DSCN1926.jpg)
-L
Wow. Another beautiful looking cheese. It's interesting that it was crumbly and yet the sides of the cheese are slightly slumped. I guess you took it out of the mold and left it a while before salting? That's the only thing I can think of because normally you have to have a fairly high pH to get that slumping and you need the low pH to get the crumbly.
I followed Ms. Karlin's recipe, with some minor changes ( and of couse, mistakes :) ). It is washed-curd, so the pH didn't really go down from the initial 6.74.
I forgot to add the salt to the curds, so brined it instead.
I don't know if I described the paste well, it's not hard like a Parmesan, rather "springy, " if that makes sense.
As for the almost-crumbliness, at one point I accidentally heated the curds to 108 (instead of 100), so the curds didn't mat, and I had to press them at 20 pounds (instead of eight) to get a good knit. Could that be the cause?
Thanks,
-L
Congrats. Yummy looking cheese!