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Hoping someone can help with my troubled first time Havarti
-Made with whole milk + rennet (pretty standard recipe)
-Has been ripening for almost 1 month at 12 degrees C (54 F) in a wine cooler
-Had some green mold was developing on surface in weeks 2-3, but cleaning and brining fixed that
-Cheese turned golden in colour in 4th week, but also started to develop what is now a very strong odour...

Question for the Havarti experts:  Should I expect a strong odour to develop during last stage of ripening (maybe resulting from cheese being trapped in ripening container with little air circulation?), or is this likely a rancid spoiled cheese ...  thanks, any guidance would be much appreciated  

It might help if we knew about your recipe and ingredients.

16L whole milk
1/2 tsp mesophilic culture
3/4 tsp calcium chloride
3/4 tsp liquid rennet
1/3 cup canning salt

sterilized equipment
sprinkled in culture
set for 30 mins at 32 C (90F)
add calcium chloride and rennet
clean break
remove 5 L whey, add 5L water - temp to 38C (100F)
curds into mold - pressed at light pressure for 20mins, medium pressure for 6 hours
placed into ripening container into wine cooler at 12C (54F) at 95 humidity

week 2-3 - some green mold started to develop on the surface - used brush with 18% brine to clean every 2 days
week 4 - mold gone, cheese started turning from white to golden/yellow colour and started to develop an odour (odour getting stronger each day it seems)

wondering if I should expect a noticeable strong odour near the end of ripening, or if the cheese is likely going bad (my guess is Havarti should not be a smelly cheese, but thought I would ask before tossing it).  Scheduled to take it out tomorrow - may just give it a taste and see what happens!

Looks like linens, seems like the brine washing (although very strong) encouraged it.
Does it sit beside any cheese with linens?

If you want to cut back on the linens I suggest you lower your humidity levels (were you putting a lid on that plastic box?) or perhaps wax\vaccum it.

Welcome.

I suspect as said it is probably from some sort of contamination from brine or if too humid/moist from a yeast encouraged by your closed container. Cheese does need to breath, suggest vent box a little.

Also, keeping natural rinds clean is very very tough, most people oil, or vacuum bag or wax.

Got it - thank you both for your helpful replies!
I have opened up the container to get the humidity down, and will wax the cheese

John - when you say that most people oil/wax/vacuum bag natural rind cheeses - do you mean right at the start of ripening, or after some time has passed?
Thanks very much!
Alex

QuoteLooks like linens, seems like the brine washing (although very strong) encouraged it.

Ditto, you have a lovely, rosy/peach color to it. Points to a bacteria such as b linens that is causing the aroma.

DA, if you look through or search in the STANDARD METHODS - Aging Cheese Board you'll find several threads on oiling rinds.

Also, there's some summary info compiled in our Wiki: Oiling Rinds article and in our Wiki: Oil Types article. Need to update 1st one that normally don't oil until air drying phase completed, which can vary depending on cheese moisture, humidity, temp, see our Wiki: Air Drying article.

Thanks cheese friends - this forum is awesome!  The aroma (if you can call it that..) fits any description of B linens I can find - will report back on how it turns out

Update:
took humidity down -- outer part of cheese cracked and looked like it was melting (see photo)
decided to harvest the cheese to have a look at the inside to see what was going on....
... looks pretty good on the inside! (I guess a bit young after only one month), and smells fine (linens was only an issue on the surface it seems)
I suspect I need to press it harder and longer next time-- cheese seems very moist, even for a havarti