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Hey friends,
I started a small experiment from David Asher's book on a mason jar-aged St Marcellin but haven't seen any signs of geotrichum growth. Instead, there's a semi-blue brain textured mold in one of the jars. Just wondering if anyone knows what it is, and whether or not to run with it and see how it develops. So far the consistency and smells seem okay.

Thanks!

I don't know for sure....but I pulled out my david asher book and looked the procedure up.

It looks like you have geotrichum and then blue mold made itself comfortable on top of the geo. Geo has the brain like structure and that is a good place for any mold to make itself comfortable.

I'd try it again, and keep it covered and see if you can get the geo to grow without the blue. Try to keep it isolated from the air that may have blue in it.
So if this is happening in a basement, move it to a fresher air source if that is a possibility.

I'm sure there will be replies from others with more experience. I hope they can help you out.

Thanks for the reply - his recipes seem to be tricky foremost because they rely on whatever is in milk Kefir. I honestly am not sure there's enough geo in my culture and haven't gotten the dominant brain-like texture like his recipe shows.

I will definitely try again but may let this one jar run wild and see what happens (FOR SCIENCE!). As a cheesemaker, I jumped in from easy mozz recipes to this so I'm not surprised that crazy things, or no things, are happening. Funny because I've cultured all sorts of bugs from the air for wild ale brewing, growing mushrooms etc. This is just a whole new world. Thanks again.

Yay for SCIENCE! 

The first time I made havarti I had geo growing on it with a blue mold on top of that. I wasn't trying to have that happen, but it did.

It looked like this.


A cheese friend of mine, suggested innoculating my kefir with the geo and white mold for a brie/camembert, to promote those cultures. I imagine you can try to innoculate your kefir with some of the geo once you get some going.

One way to isolate your project, is to use a ripening box (plastic box with lid) so that you don't get as much contamination with airborne yeasts and molds.

To me, it looks like you DO have a small patch of geo--the brain like structure, just under the blue portion. Blue can grow flat or in crevices. Good luck with your next try.

The one thing I learned most from David's book was ......  making cheese is so easy even a caveman's can do it . (And they probably did). And they did not all die out . Cheese making is really safer than it seems , that wild blue mold will not kill you if you eat it , now it may not taste good ..... but then again it might taste great.

Also I learned that one can just make the cheese your terroir will produce , and it will not be right or wrong

With wild cultures you usually get something edible,  My wild geo has a bitter after taste if it ages too long .  But when young it taste quite good.