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Tasted my first cheese and it was incredibly sour. Almost like it was sprinkled with lemon juice. I had heard it was a pH issue. I have purchased a monitor but can someone give me a rundown on pH? What should it be and when? How do you control it?

Phiber, to give specific feedback we'll need to know the type of cheese and the recipe you followed. But here are some general ideas:

Basically, the longer you let the lactic bacteria work, the more acidic they will make the cheese - up to the point at which the acid itself stops them. That is around pH 4.4-4.6, if I recall correctly. There are three ways to slow down / stop the bacteria short of that point: reduce the temperature (refrigerate), remove the food source (the lactose, found in the whey), and/or add salt. In general, the latter two are the primary methods, with salt being the most important. If you just drain the whey, and even press it, there will still be some moisture and lactose left in the curd, enough to keep acidifying. So you add salt to stop the action at the desired pH.

All that said, I've never had a cheese get as sour as you are describing. One possibility might be if you trapped excess why in the cheese curds; this can happen if you pressed too much too quickly, sealing up the rind before the curd had fully drained. As I understand it - and I might not be understanding it correctly! - even if you salt the cheese at this point, you're going to wind up with a sour and/or bitter cheese.

Ph basics for most cheeses

Mold 6.1 to 6.3  most cheeses ( accept lactic set , they get molded at 4.2 to 4.5)

Salt before 5.2 to 5.4 if you want melty cheese

Soft cheeses that will become runny 4.6 to 4.9

And latic acid set , about 4.2 to 4.5

But all of the above is very ball park.

Awakephd is correct , too much whey left in the curd or way too acidic before salting . If you followed a recipe either it was a bad one or you added too much starter . A timed recipe is very sensitive to the amount of starter .
Temp and time are kind of easy to get right , but when dealing with such small amounts , the starters are hard to get exact.

Thank you for your responses. The recipe was a farmhouse cheddar from Ricki Carroll's book. I have had issues on both of my attempts at cheesemaking with getting the curd to set.  If it is taking two hours to get a clean break could that be part of the issue?

Quote from: Phiber_optikx2 on March 11, 2017, 06:22:36 AM
If it is taking two hours to get a clean break could that be part of the issue?

Sure. While you are waiting for the clean break the bacteria is still working and increasing the acidity. So that when you finally have  the clean break - it can be too late to get the proper PH level at draining or at pressing.

The flocculation method is the best solution in that case. If the floc point is more than 20-22 minutes then you will need to carefully monitor the acidity at all other stages. The PH meter helps a lot.

Good to know! I still haven't figured out why I can't get a clean break in a reasonable time frame. Tried farm fresh milk and store bought with the same result. So if I wasn't getting a clean break in a reasonable time frame would I just add some salt?

Read up on flocculation, use a LOT more rennet and/or change the type that you are using. The sourness is not from pH exactly, but from residual whey that becomes more acidic. Be sure to drain the curds well before hooping.

Quote from: Sailor Con Queso on March 11, 2017, 02:55:55 PM
Be sure to drain the curds well before hooping.

That's the very problem I had when first started cheesemaking. I put too much weight at first pressing and sealed the whey inside the cheese. So that I got PH 5.4 only in 2 or 3 hours of pressing. And my cheeses were terribly sour.

Ok on my next try I will try more Rennet. I am using vegetable Rennet because I have a vegetarian in the family. I also have a Guinness infused cheddar aging that took forever to set. Do you imagine it is ruined as well? Would I be able to tell at 60 days?

Quote from: Phiber_optikx2 on March 11, 2017, 05:16:22 PMI also have a Guinness infused cheddar aging that took forever to set. Do you imagine it is ruined as well? Would I be able to tell at 60 days?

If it took "forever to set" it will also take much longer to age. You will NOT be able to tell at 60 days. I wouldn't touch it for 6 months.

Simple Question/statement-
How long did you stir in the rennet? Flocculation method always satisfies me more than a recipe time. 
I had read somewhere no more than a minute of stirring but I find that does not mix it in well enough or I'm too gentle and it settles to the bottom of the vat and it coagulates bottom to top.

I really don't remember specifically but I imagine no more than two minutes at the most. I think most recipes state a minute so between one to two minutes.