Cheese

[facter]

... as in, can it be used in a brew?

What are the problems associated? The major factors I can see that would be a problem would be unwanted bacteria and lactose ....


Has anyone ever done this or tried it? IF you can use a leg of lamb in cider, surely someone has tried cheese inb eer...

 

[tangent]

try a small batch and tell us how it goes

 

[Kai]

Cheesiness is a fault in beer, usually from stale hops. What sort of cheese were you thinking of adding?

I prefer my cheese on a plate, next to a tall frosty pint.

 

[facter]

Cheesiness is a fault in beer, usually from stale hops. What sort of cheese were you thinking of adding?

I prefer my cheese on a plate, next to a tall frosty pint.

Im really nto sure as yet, Im jstu trying to get an idea as to if its possible ..I do know itsa flaw, but then so are other things which make good beers- ie sourness etc ....

I was thinking of doing either a Cheese Saison or maybe a Cheese Hefe-weizen .. something with a lto of spice to it. Cheeses I thought might be good would probably be really dry cheeses ..like parmesan, or maybe some of the very dry, really sharp swiss cheeses ...

Id have no idea as to sterilisation - steeping possibly? finely grated and steeped? Where in the boil? Last? Secondary? How much? Is there too much lactose? What aboutn oils and head retention? ..also a lot of cheeses have mould on them or as a part of them ....



Im quite curious - I cant find much anywhere online about beer made with cheese ....

 

[sjc]

Hi Facter
there's a member of our brew club who makes beer and cheese and in the past has had some interesting cross infections occur. As to deliberately putting cheese into beer, I suspect at the least you'd end up with a beer with no head, due to the fat in the cheese.
I'd stick with Kai's recommendation of cheese on a plate next to your favourite sherbert.
Cheers
Stephen.

 

[Voosher]

Cheesiness is a fault in beer, usually from stale hops.

Yep.
Stale Northern Brewer are the cheesiest hops I've ever tasted.
A truly versatile hop
(Cheesy grin)

Ages ago I remember some mad brewers brewing Chicken Beer or Egg Beer or something similar. A search and a read through their antics may help you make up your mind as to how far you wish to pursue a Cheese beer.

Edit: Here's the Chicken Beer Blog
More fun and games elsewhere on the site.

 

[KoNG]

seth.... ? :lol:

 

[tangent]

i'm with you Kai
cheese-on-plate is one of my favourite dishes

 

[Kai]

Im really nto sure as yet, Im jstu trying to get an idea as to if its possible ..I do know itsa flaw, but then so are other things which make good beers- ie sourness etc ....

I'd call sourness a conditional flaw, it's only a flaw in some styles. 'Cheesiness' I would consider a flaw in any beer (except maybe cheese & onion ale? :blink: ). If you're after pungency or cellarlike mushroom character associated with aged or surface-ripened cheeses, I'd explore lactic, brett and those other strage belgian cultures.

 

[Screwtop]

Go for it, throw some pickled onions and nobbys nuts in as well, why have all that washing up to do, just have it all in a glass.

 

[DJR]

Cheese hefe-weizen? Are you serious?

There's a reason that cheese beer isn't made today - that's probably because somebody crazy enough to try it has already tried and didn't like the results.

I don't know why you'd mix a slightly sweet drink (beer) with a very savoury, fatty thing like cheese, but hey, if you want to try it, go ahead. My advice would be to pasteurise the cheese again to kill any white mold spores by putting your grated parmesan/pecorino/gruyere into some warmish water and keeping it at 75C or so for a good 15 minutes before you add it to minimise bacterial contamination.

I think the only style it could complement would be some sort of sour bacterial beer like a Faro, Lambic or Gueze...

Les?

 

[blackbock]

Cheese hefe-weizen? Are you serious?

I agree - the whole idea is just WRONG! I can't think of anything more disgusting!

 

[kook]

I'd call sourness a conditional flaw, it's only a flaw in some styles. 'Cheesiness' I would consider a flaw in any beer

I've picked up pleasant cheese-like aromas in several commercial lambic and gueuze beers which I didn't interpret to be a flaw.


Personally, I'd stick to doing it the other way around. Use your beer to condition any home made cheeses. Chimay are one cheese maker who use beer in production. Certainly interesting cheese! Very, very stinky.

 

[Kai]

I've picked up pleasant cheese-like aromas in several commercial lambic and gueuze beers which I didn't interpret to be a flaw.

Fair point.

 

[Adamt]

It'd definitely have to be a lambic/sour beer of some variety.

You had the idea, you try it out, we ain't being the scapegoats!

 

[Weizguy]

seth.... ? :lol:

It's like the story of the guy and the goat, isn't it?

You make some grouse beers, but you brew one cheese-bier and that's what everyone knows you for. :lol:

Ok, so I made a blue cheese flavoured beer with an indeliberate infection.

The speise was frozen and thawed about 4 or more days before the bottling. Something stirred in the sour-mash speise and it started up, I assume. The flavour was "blue cheese", IMHO. I chucked it in as speise, at bottling of course, and the whole batch went spazzo. This resulted in the infamous PoMo tipping the whole bottle down the sink (just stirring, PoMo). Same brave souls tested it, and some actually took 2 stabs at it. It was allegedly a lot better the second time after a fews daze in the fridge. For some of the drama, visit the NSW 2005 Xmas case consumption thread.

I still have my bottle if someone wants to visit for a tasting?

The unanimous opinion of the consumers was that it tasted "wrong" and "not nice". Oh, did I mention that it was a sour weisse, for which I have mercifully lost the original recipe in a horror hard disk crash.

Seth

 

[Paleman]

Why not just enjoy a great beer, alongside a great cheese. Maybe with a good Pickled Onion or two.

The whole concept is rather strange for a beginner like me.

 

[Voosher]

seth.... ?

It's like the story of the guy and the goat, isn't it?

You make some grouse beers, but you brew one cheese-bier and that's what everyone knows you for. :lol:

Ok, so I made a blue cheese flavoured beer with an indeliberate infection.
...

I still have my bottle if someone wants to visit for a tasting?

Seth

With the current proliferation of radioactive incidents and poisonings I think you're missing your market

Still. At least you've made one. Most of the rest of us were just guessing.

Over to you Mr. Putin.

 

[matti]

A matter of facter
You're cheese is old and moldy.
Why don't you stick a sock in it
keep us posted if you do try.
Gorgonzola would be my tip, a real juicy one hehehehe
matti

 

[sinkas]

I believe CUB uses, "date-cheese" in a number of its products.