Cheese Opening!

I finally couldn't wait any longer to open my first cheeses... and it was the perfect opportunity on Sunday.  My homebrew club, the Hetch Hetchy Hop Heads, were having a picnic.  I knew at least Jim would be able to appreciate them and give me some good advice going forward with my cheesemaking.

The blue was a bit strong, but after cleaning it up, it looked good.  Half of this cheese was eaten during the picnic, so I guess it wasn't too bad.  A cracker definitely helped soften the stronger bite of the cheese.  Jim likened it more to a gorgonzola than a blue.

The manchego wasn't quite a manchego.  It was a bit harder - more like a parmesan.  It turned out really salty.  I think I also left it in the brine too long, or it was the second brining that I did to help keep the mold away that really made it salty.  At the picnic only about a quarter of this cheese was eaten, so you can see the blue was more popular.  Erich had a good suggestion - that this cheese would work very well on a ceaser salad (sort of replaces the saltiness of a anchovie, right?).

At least this encourages me to continue and improve my cheesemaking... I made edible cheese after aging for a few months!   The brie fiasco really set me back as far as motivation, but this weekend helped a lot.  That dedicated cheese fridge might be justified afterall.