Name: Homemade beer cheese
Ingredients: 6 L of unpasteurised milk; 0.5 g of bacterial cultures for Gouda cheese; 1.5 g ofcalcium chloride; 6 drops ofrennetor 0.5 g ofdried rennet; 2 tsp of salt; 330 mL of porter beer (we used Żywiec); cheesemaking cloth

Beer cheese is a very popular snack in Czechia. Below you can find a recipe for a homemade version of this delicacy. Beer cheese tastes excellent with garlic croutons. Although the process of its production is time-consuming, it is really worth trying. The true enthusiasts of cheese and beer will be delighted.

Preparation:

Adding bacterial cultures and rennet:

Heat the milk up to the temperature of 32°C and add calcium chloride. After 10 minutes, add bacterial cultures. Cover everything and let the milk mature for 60 minutes in the temperature of 32°C. Add dissolved rennet and stir thoroughly. Cover the milk and leave it to curd for 45 minutes in the temperature of 32°C. Once the curd is ready, cut it into 1-2 cm blocks. Keep stirring the curd gently for 5-10 minutes.

Curd heating and draining

Heat the curd slowly up to the temperature of 39°C, increasing the temperature by 1-2 °C every 5 minutes. After this temperature is reached, stir everything to keep the curd separate for 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes, remove 1 glass of whey, and after another 15 minutes, another 1 glass of whey. After heating, the curd should be firm and offer some resistance when squeezed with fingers while crushing. Leave the curd in whey for another 30 minutes, stirring it every 5-10 minutes in order to prevent its aggregation. Remove the whey and move it with a straining ladle into a strainer lined with cheesemaking cloth. Leave it there to drain for 30 minutes, stirring it gently once in a while. Move the drained curs into another bowl or container and then pour beer over it and leave it to soak for 45 minutes. Drain the beer, add salt to the cured, and then stir it thoroughly in order to distribute the salt evenly within the curd.

Pressing:

Move the curd into cheesemaking press lined with cloth. Keep pressing for 30 minutes under pressure of 5 kg, for 1 hour under pressure of 10 kg, and then for 16 hours under pressure of 20 kg. Move the cheese and turn it over once in a while during pressing.

Maturing:

Remove the cheese from the press and store it in the temperature of 12°C, turning it over everyday and allowing the surface to dry. Once its surface is dry, line it with wax. Leave the cheese to mature in the temperature of 12°C for 4-6 weeks.

In short:

4-5 hours - inoculation and curd preparation

20 hours - pressing

1 hour - waxing

4-6 weeks - maturing

...because homemade is better!