My second attempt is SO much better than the first. Its just proof that in this business its worth persisting. This has a great consistency and just the right amount of blue. Apparently this cheese started out in Scotland and was going to be called 'Highland blue' but for some unknown reason was finally taken to market as Shropshire blue even though it wasn't made in Shropshire. So this is my resurrection of Highland blue ( even though Aberdeen isn't in the Highlands !) I decided to cut it today as the outside temperature is uncharacteristically warm ( 24C this afternoon) and without a cheese fridge its becoming difficult to keep my storage room cool.
That's a very cool looking cheese. What was wrong with your first attempt? Which recipe did you use? What did you do differently this second time that resulted in an improved cheese? I've thought about trying something like this but it's a bit intimidating. :-)
the flavour was great but it was very hard almost like a parmesan. I am learning how important individual humidity regulation is to the finished product as that first attempt was in the open cave for the duration at about 65% humidity. The second has been under a plastic dome at about 85% so is much softer. The texture in fact is as it should be when compared with cheese shop originals.
How long did you age this? Low humidity will make the cheese lose more moisture. I made a washed rind cheese that was aged in 80% humidity, it lost an average of 12 grams a day! I prefer a humidity of over 90% that is why my ripening boxes are closed, moisture loss is less than 3 grams a day. I check twice a day to remove condensation so it wont drip on the cheese. Never knew this cheese was made first in Scotland. It actually sounds nicer "Highland blue". But not as nice as "Highland Park".
Highland Park is already taken! in fact i have some of it here. i am currently ripening a monks cheese steeped in calvados - if it works I will try the same recipe using malt whisky instead.
Quote from: broombank on June 24, 2021, 06:17:15 PM
Highland Park is already taken! in fact i have some of it here. i am currently ripening a monks cheese steeped in calvados - if it works I will try the same recipe using malt whisky instead.
I once made a washed rind cheese that I washed with a Haig Pinch 12 year old bottled in the 80's. What a waste of good scotch. It was a gift and I was not into spirits back then that is why I did that. That's a good idea using Calvados. I actually have 2 cheap Calvados brands, one is an Xo and the other is a Vieux. I will use them once I get B. Linens to grow aggressively on my smear ripened cheeses. What malt whisky do you plan to use? I hope not the good kind.
we are in Scotland often faced with supermarket specials of good malts at really low prices (say £20 or less) So I will choose a good cheap one. I read somewhere that the alcohol concentration should be less than 10% to avoid killing the bacteria. So it doesn't actually involve very much whisky. I have sprayed the Calvados cheese with a 10% solution for around 3 weeks. I have to wait a taste test to see if the flavour is obvious. A long time ago I tried a calvados camembert in Normandy ( and it wasn't the usual crumb covered version) It was superb.
Quote from: broombank on June 25, 2021, 11:55:38 AM
we are in Scotland often faced with supermarket specials of good malts at really low prices (say £20 or less) So I will choose a good cheap one. I read somewhere that the alcohol concentration should be less than 10% to avoid killing the bacteria. So it doesn't actually involve very much whisky. I have sprayed the Calvados cheese with a 10% solution for around 3 weeks. I have to wait a taste test to see if the flavour is obvious. A long time ago I tried a calvados camembert in Normandy ( and it wasn't the usual crumb covered version) It was superb.
Lucky you, you live where the best spirit ever is made. Other whiskies like Japanese, Indian, English and etc. are just copy cats and inferior imo. Good malts with an age statement of over 10 at £20? I would like to make a cheddar someday where the curds are soaked in malt whisky or cognac/calvados. I believe the flavor of the spirit will actually be noticeable compared to just washing it. Wow I never knew about a camembert soaked in Calvados. I googled it and looks even more delicious than just Camembert de Normandie.
i have never managed to track down the exact cheese I tasted in Normandie - I suspect it was a local 'produit fermier'
I do feel lucky to have such access to brilliant malts. What can you get in the Philippines ? I have written some photography books about whisky - you can see at www.broombankpublishing.com (http://www.broombankpublishing.com) The drink never ceases to amaze me. Especially if you develop a taste for the older ones. I have been privileged to taste many over 40 years old and I will never forget them. I will post a review of my calvados soaked one in the next few weeks. The monks cheese recipe is on the New England cheesemakers website.
This is great... Coincidentally I was just thinking about washing the rind with calvados... But the idea of soaking... hmmm. But first to create a few regular cheeses consistently before I get crazy!
Quote from: Aris on June 25, 2021, 12:46:44 PM
Other whiskies like Japanese [...]
You need to get some of the better single malt Nikka whiskeys ;-) I'm not going to say that I've tasted all Scotch whiskeys, but I haven't had anything that is objectively better than that. There is actually a new independent single malt distillery near where I live. I think they've been going for about 5 years. I'm patiently waiting for their first offering. They were selling barrels last year and I think it's another 4-5 years before they sell the first bottles. I'm hoping it will be good.
Maybe I should make a whiskey washed cheese... hmmm...
Quote from: mikekchar on June 25, 2021, 10:55:56 PM
Quote from: Aris on June 25, 2021, 12:46:44 PM
Other whiskies like Japanese [...]
You need to get some of the better single malt Nikka whiskeys ;-) I'm not going to say that I've tasted all Scotch whiskeys, but I haven't had anything that is objectively better than that. There is actually a new independent single malt distillery near where I live. I think they've been going for about 5 years. I'm patiently waiting for their first offering. They were selling barrels last year and I think it's another 4-5 years before they sell the first bottles. I'm hoping it will be good.
Maybe I should make a whiskey washed cheese... hmmm...
I've visited Nikka distillery in Hokkaido and tried the Nikka 17 Taketsuru and Nikka 21 Taketsuru in their bar. Both are blended malts. I wasn't impressed, both seemed one dimensional. The 17 is over 60,000 yen and 21 is almost 80,000 yen here in the Philippines. Those are insane prices. I can buy over 6 bottles of fine single malt scotch whisky with 60,000 yen. I bought Nikka Miyagikyo NAS and Yoichi NAS single malts before. Both are average malts that cost two times more than they should. The Nikka super rare dry and Nikka from the barrel were pretty cheap in the distillery and are average. Nikka from the barrel was disappointing because of its "grainy" or alcoholic whisky flavor similar to cheap blended scotch. That whisky is over hyped. The Nikka 12 blended whisky is the only Nikka whisky that really amazed me and it was a blended. I got it for 4500 yen, a steal for that price. It cost over 15000 yen now. Yamazaki 12(40,000+yen) and Hakushu 12 (36,000+ yen) are decent but they are extremely overpriced. I got Hakushu 12 few years ago for almost 11,000 yen and I still find that overpriced. A basic Glenfiddich 15 Solera (6000+ yen) is so much better than those whiskies especially if you consider the cost. It seems more and more Japanese distilleries are springing up. It seems demand is still not dying down. Because of the high demand of Japanese whisky there are numerous fake Japanese whiskies here. As in Scotch whisky blended with Japanese whisky being sold at a high price because its "Japanese". Problem with new independent distilleries is they sell young inferior products at prices way higher than aged single malt scotch.
Quote from: broombank on June 25, 2021, 04:44:18 PM
i have never managed to track down the exact cheese I tasted in Normandie - I suspect it was a local 'produit fermier'
I do feel lucky to have such access to brilliant malts. What can you get in the Philippines ? I have written some photography books about whisky - you can see at www.broombankpublishing.com (http://www.broombankpublishing.com) The drink never ceases to amaze me. Especially if you develop a taste for the older ones. I have been privileged to taste many over 40 years old and I will never forget them. I will post a review of my calvados soaked one in the next few weeks. The monks cheese recipe is on the New England cheesemakers website.
Scotch whisky is well established here. Selections are decent but you pay a premium for uncommon brands and bottlings. Diageo has a massive presence here and The Glens are very common. Sometimes you can get a great deal for uncommon brands. For example one online shop sells a bundle of 3 15 yr Ballantine single malts (Miltonduff, Glenburgie and Glentauchers) for 94 pounds! Those whiskies are some of the best I've ever tried and their low price makes them even better. Some 15 yr single malts can even cost over 200 pounds. So far I can only afford scotch whisky at 21 years old but Glenfarclas 21 was a let down, tasted like burnt oak, The 12 yr old was much better. It got a little better though after a few weeks probably due to oxidation. I hope the Aultmore 21 I have won't disappoint.
Fermier cheese in France is slowly disappearing your lucky you got to taste it.
my current favourite is Kilchoman from Islay - a small farm distillery who do everything themselves with a floor maltings and kiln. I also love Springbank . That is a very good price for three 15 year olds. Look also for Glenglassaugh and Glendronach - low profile but both owned by Billy Walker for five years. I wonder if steeping the curd in whisky would br better than washing the rind . definitely room for experimentation here. I seem to have accidentally started a thread here ...
I really wanted to try Kilchoman back in the day but it is significantly more expensive than other Islay malts with an age statement. I tried all the Islay malts except Kilchoman and Bruicladdich because of their price and no age statement. Lagavulin 16 is the best out of all the Islay malts I've tried. Not too peaty, phenolic and funky. Just the right amount of smoke and it has a briny bbq/bacon flavor with some fruityness similar to Dalwhinnie 15 or good speysiders. Springbank 10 is in my top five favorite malt whisky. Too bad I can't afford it anymore :( Glendronach 12 was a good sherried whisky but pricy. I've yet to try Glenglassaugh.
I read some of your fantastic work in your website about the ghost distilleries and Ardmore. It was very interesting and educational especially the thing about the chemist and the head of the distillery cleaning the wooden washbacks. This just reaffirms that other microbes like lactic acid bacteria or unique distillery microbes are beneficial in creating the unique flavors and distillery character of scotch whisky. I am also a home distiller and brewer. I hope to recreate scotch malt whisky at home someday that is why I love learning about it. I already figured out what kind of barrel to use and how to age it. Since I can't use real ex bourbon barrels and I can't produce 250 liters of new make. A special barrel that mimics the surface area to volume ratio of a bourbon barrel is the key.
I think soaking the curds in whisky is better in taking up the flavor compared to just washing the rind.
thanks Aris . I'm glad you liked the website. Lagavulin 16 is a great whisky but in short supply now. I can buy Kilchoman for about £45 . As for cheese my real doubt is the degree to which spraying will penetrate the curd sufficiently to leave a lasting flavour. I think dunking might be better. Or you could steep the curd before pressing as you would with an ale cheese. What I really need to do is produce three at the same time and treat each differently to see what works best. We have a cheesemaker up Deeside called Cambus O' May who are producing a cheddar steeped in Ardmore malt. I can't say that I am that impressed with the flavour although their cheeses are generally excellent.
Thanks for the heads up with Lagavulin 16. I feel a massive price increase is coming. I need to buy 1 or 2 bottles while it is still very cheap. Yeah steeping the curds when making Cheddar is what I plan to do but I don't know what alcohol content the whisky should be. Using standard proof whisky (40% or 43%) might ruin the texture and flavor. I need to learn to make plain Cheddar first. I will eventually make an ale/beer soaked cheddar using homebrewed India Pale Ale/Pale Ale or Helles to soak the curds. If those are successful, that is when I will try making a whisky cheddar. Blue cheese can also be soaked in beer/ale. There is a water buffalo milk blue cheese in Italy where they soak the best wheels of their blue cheese in Surfin hop IPA for two months! Ardmore seems to be a good whisky for cheddar since it is smoky and mildly peated. Laphroiag or Ardbeg are too peaty and has that cigarette ash smell.
https://www.quattroportoni.com/cheese/surfin-blu-26 (https://www.quattroportoni.com/cheese/surfin-blu-26)
Giaclinis Caldwell who's book is fantastic says the alcohol wash should not be more than 10% or it will interfere with the enzyme production. So take some Ardmore and dilute it from 40% to 10% presumably with bottled water. I think steeping the cheddar curd in it is a good idea. I did that with Brewdog's Jet Black Heart but the flavour is not strong enough for my liking. Maybe do that and then augment it with baths of whisky at intervals. We should post the results - this probably is the wrong thread as it has strayed from blue cheese !!
Ah no more than 10% that is good to know. Getting it down to 10% would be easy since there are online alcohol dilution calculators and I already have an alcohol meter. A cheap and decently sherried whisky like Naked Grouse would be good as well. With blue cheese I might inject it with 10% abv whisky after it has softened from aging. Soaking it whole would be too costly.
I tasted the Calvdos steeped monks cheese with a Trier yesterday and was not impressed that it has taken on much of the flavour. I need to wait for it to be ripe before being really sure. Actually you say immersion would be too expensive but if you have to dilute the alcohol to 10% then you don't really need that much to immerse the cheese providing your immersion vessel isn't much bigger than the cheese. I suspect I may end up doing that or mixing with the curds as you suggest. I just don't want to kill the maturation bacteria - just make them drunk !!
It seems injecting the cheese is much more economical and efficient. Nowadays I make big blue cheeses, one is 1.6 kg and the other is 1.75 kg. I plan to make one in the future that is even bigger like over 2 kg. Soaking those cheeses would be very costly. I will probably need a liter or two of diluted whisky. I used an alcohol dilution calculator and it takes 250 ml 40% abv whisky diluted with 750 ml water to get a 10% solution. One of these days I will make small blue cheeses and try both methods (soaking and injecting). The issue with soaking blue cheese is that it has a funky tasting rind and would probably ruin the flavor of the diluted whisky. The size and shape of the blue cheese will also matter. You have to make it into a shorter cylinder shape so it easily soaks up the whisky compared to making it into a tall cylinder like a Stilton.
Its great to be able to play and just see what happens, so more experimentation is justified. Its good to have people to share it with here
I just got to taste the Monk's cheese ( New England cheesemakers recipe) onto which I have sprayed a saline/calvados mix for several weeks as a washed rind. It has regrettably ABSOLUTELY NO CALVADOS FLAVOUR. I just chanced upon a recipe foe Calvados camembert in the book 200 Easy Homemade cheeses by Debra Amrein-Boyes. She waits until the camembert is almost ripe and then immerses it in Calvados for 12 hours - turns it and then steeps the other side for 12 hours. She then takes it out and covers it with breadcrumbs which in France is the standard presentation of this cheese. So it seems logical to apply the same treatment to my Monks cheese which at the moment is pleasant but unremarkable. I will not apply the breadcrumbs but dry it out before eating it or maturing it for a bit longer. If you see this Aris - take note! No point wasting good Calvados on a completely ineffectual process. Sorry for posting on this thread which should really be in a different place but it continues our conversation.
I want to mention the beer cheese I made from cheesemaking, where you mixed the beer with the curds, was remarkably strong. In fact, too strong for me and my spouse! But anyways, mixing with the curds definitely ramps up the flavor.
Yeah I already learned my lesson back in the day using scotch whisky. Washing cheese with spirit doesn't really impart its flavor to the cheese. Please post a picture of the cheese.
the is looking promising - we will see - first picture is immersion ,second is the 2 month old Monks cheese before immersion
That first one looks like Apple pie with caramel sauce!
It does look promising and proper ripe.
the experiment was a guarded success. The Calvados definitely penetrated the cheese to a depth of about 1cm as it changed the colour of the paste. The cheese is distinctly alcoholic ! I thought it could do with being a bit sweeter and it also went very soft in the Calvados. I have put the second one in a dilute calvados and honey diluted in water, mixture ( 100ml of each ) with a table spoon of apple vinegar and a teaspoon of Calcium Chloride to try to stop the protein loss. I have just taken this cheese out and is definitely much harder. I will dry it until its touch dry and then taste it. I will report back