This email and pictures sent in by reg:
Good morning John. Attached are a few photos of the cheeses we cut yesterday, both at aprox 4 weeks old. As you can see the caraway gouda is already somewhat dry. The wine washed rind Alpine style has a few small eyes. The other cheese we cut was the 3 week old Alpine style cheese but was made with 2% milk as we wanted to see what the major changes would be as compared to 3.5% whole milk.
All I can say is that we are very happy with the outcome of all the cheeses. The caraway gouda is good, the alpine style made with the 2% milk is good but the red wine washed rind alpine is real good and was chosen by our two guests and by both of us as the shinning star of the tasting.
We did notice that the alpine style made with the 2% milk was drier and had a milder flavour than the normal alpine made with whole milk. We did expect a difference but that much surprised all of us. All in all a great day of cheese tasting. The balance of 8" and 4" wheels were revac'd and back into the aging cooler. We will see the differences (if any) in another 4 weeks :).
Have a good one
reg
Reg great to hear that you cut three of your cheeses with friends, and that all turned out so well. Also interesting that the whole milk was that different from the 2% milk.
Now you have me keen to also cut my cheeses but have to wait, be good, must wait . . .
These vacuum bags are working great that can just reseal for another month, way easier than wax.
Those look great, Reg. You're a lucky man to have tried some of your cheeses. The wine washed rind Alpine makes me want to cut mine open...patience!
to get more feed back i took a few small pieces to the Golf Course with me yesterday. the greenskeeper there is of Italian decent and has been around and making cheese for most of his life. he chose the wine washed rind as his favorite and told me to concentrate on that particular cheese. his comment was " in six months that will be one great tasting cheese "
now i'm happy with that kind of a comment from a seasoned person such as him
now if i can wait six months that would be a miracle :-)
reg
Congrats on compliment, good luck on 6 months :-\ . . . you have an Italian descent friend there in Canada who has been making cheese most of his life!!! You have to mine him for more information, tricks, trips, and recipes!!!
That is a good sign, reg. When is six months up? You can bring it to your Holiday parties. ;D
Reg they look wonderful. Great to hear that they are a taste success too. It make all the effort worth it.
Congrats.