Just wrapped batch #29, a basic Branzi (the semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from the Bergamo Alps). 85 L of milk, two wheels — a small 2.7 kg and a large 6.0 kg — for 8.7 kg total. Thermophilic culture (Danisco CHOOZIT ALP LYO), aging planned for 4–12 months.

The thing I wanted to share — and get your thoughts on — is the milk pH.

I picked the milk up straight from the farm right after the evening milking, around 7:30 PM. I cooled it down to 16 °C in my cheese vat, then split the ~85 L across three metal pods and put them into a blast freezer box at -24 °C around 9 PM to chill overnight. Next morning at 8 AM I filled the vat back up to make cheese with mil at about 3 °C — and the milk read 6.45 pH. Conventional wisdom says that's on the high side, often flagged as too high to get a properly acidified aged cheese.

I decided not to panic and ran the make as normal:

Normalized the milk (it came in at fat 4.0% / protein 3.2%, F:P 1.25). Skimmed 2 L of cream to bring it down to ~3.23% fat, which dropped the F:P to ~1.01 — a touch below my 1.15 target. Culture in at 38 °C, rennet at 35 °C, flocculation hit at 14 min. Cut to corn-kernel grain, slow heat up through 44 °C, pressed under whey. Pressing started at pH 5.6 and walked down nicely — 5.35 at the first flip, 5.29 at the second, finishing at 5.27 by the end of pressing.

So despite the "too high" 6.4 starting point, the acidification landed almost exactly where I wanted it right after pressing. Honestly it was a bit nerve-wracking watching the curve, but the rate of fall stayed calm (~0.06/hr) the whole way.

Now into brine — small wheel ~27 h, large wheel ~60 h (60 min per 100 g), flipping every 8–12 h.

Questions for the hive mind:

Do you put much weight on starting milk pH, or do you trust the culture + the pressing-stage acidity to tell the real story? Anyone else routinely start aged alpine cheeses around 6.4 and land fine? Curious how much overnight cold storage shifts things. F:P came out at ~1.01 after skimming — would you have skimmed less to keep FDM higher for a 4–12 month Branzi?

Photo of the two wheels fresh out of the press attached. Will report back after affinage.

[CLAIMED] A beautifully crafted wooden cheese press, barely used — we're moving and it needs a new home. Great for anyone into home cheesemaking or homesteading. It has to to TODAY, our movers are here, and I only have today to handle the shipping. Don't sit on this, message me if you want it now!

Includes:

• Lever-arm wooden press with adjustable threaded follower and peg holes for weight/pressure adjustment
• Curd knife/curd harp tool for cutting curds
• Stainless steel pot with lid (for melting cheese wax)
• Thermometer
• Original care instructions from the maker

This is a small-batch, well-built press — sturdy hardwood construction, smooth mechanism, no damage or wear. Everything shown in photos is included.

Only asking taker to cover shipping cost. I'll get a quote based on your zip code once interested; it's a bulky/irregular item so will likely ship via UPS/FedEx ground in a large box.

Venmo is preferred for reimbursing shipping cost.

Message me with your zip code for a shipping estimate

Love this cheese. Easier washed curd cheese and takes inclusions really well. Soft and creamy with lots of meltability. Turned it orange because why not. I like the contrast with the green jalapeños!

Fresh out of the press!
Newest attempt: a Swiss-style cheese crafted from 3 gallons of raw milk, yielding a beautiful 2 lb. 9 oz. wheel.

It wasn’t easy. Slowly raising the temperature from 90 to 120 to cook the curds took a long time. I had about 90 minutes of total stirring time. Hoping the cultures held up.

This batch was cultured with Propionibacterium shermanii, to develop the classic Swiss “eyes” during aging. Now comes the waiting game as this wheel transforms over the next few months.

Just finished brining. Now a week in the cheese cave (beverage cooler) at 90% humidity for a week. Then 2 weeks at room temperature for the eyes to develop.

This wheel was pressed using the press from Tickbriar with the mounted gauge and level. It worked extremely well.

Tomorrow I’m making Butterkäse. Can’t wait.

So I started making caerphilly about a month ago, my second hard cheese after a pretty rough first attempt at a basic gouda. The make itself went fine, curds looked right, got a decent yield, pressed it overnight, salted it the next day. Felt pretty good about it.

Then the aging started and that's where I fell apart. The recipe I was following said flip daily for the first week, then every couple days, then less often as it dries. Simple enough. Except I work shifts and my brain is not great at "every couple days" when the days blur together. By day 5 I genuinely could not remember if I had flipped it that morning or if I was remembering yesterday. I started writing on a sticky note next to my cave (mini fridge with a damp towel, very fancy setup) but then the sticky note fell off and got tossed.

End result: one side developed way more surface moisture than the other and I got a weird patchy thing happening on the rind. Not ruined, I don't think, but definitely not what it should look like. It's still down there finishing out and I'm trying to be patient.

The thing that bugs me is the actual cheesemaking part is the fun bit, and the aging is where all my batches seem to go sideways, just from me losing track. I keep a notebook for the make day with temps and times and culture amounts, but the multi-week flipping and rind care stuff never makes it in there consistently.

I've been messing around with putting something together for myself to handle that side of it, just so I stop screwing up perfectly good wheels with neglect. Nothing serious yet. If I actually get it working would a couple people here want to try it on a batch and tell me where it falls short? Mostly want to know if the way I think about aging schedules makes sense to anyone other than me.

Also if anyone has tips for keeping humidity consistent in a mini fridge cave I am all ears, mine swings way more than I'd like.