Beer with Norwegian cheese, need input

[Syvfjell]

Hi all.


I had the crazy idea to add cheese to beer. I live in Norway, and here you can find Gamalost, a hard, pungent and strong cheese that only old people eat. As a frenchman I really like it and use it for food. So why not beer?

You can find some info on the cheese here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamalost

https://translate.google.com/transl...fagartikler/2009/gamalost/newsitem&edit-text=

http://www.skogoglandskap.no/filearchive/gamalost_oxford_1999.pdf

Even if the names means "old cheese", the process is very quick. 50% proteins, 1% fat
The mold used for the cheese is called Mucor Mucedo.

I did a Kölsch base with pilsner, vienna malts and hallertauer hops. Dry hopped with cascade.
Fermented 2 weeks (was maybe to little) and then i added some roasted cheese. I roasted it to kill bacteria and to avoid the cheese disintegrating into the beer.
10 days in, no problem. When I opened for bottling 5 days later I was infected.

I don't know if it's Lacto, Brett or Pediococus. See here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attach...6-post-your-infection-2014-08-14-20.07.52.jpg

The beer has been in bottles for 4 weeks now. It's very strong in taste because I added to much cheese, and funky, but not good funky.
BUT I will try again because the taste is complex and interesting. A blind test makes people detect notes of coffee, chili and licorice.
Color turn brown, with a dark red robe in the light. No head. Little carbo, stout like. Don't know if it's because of the bacteria, or not enought yeast, or not enought time.

What I wonder is: What went wrong and how to do it well.

Is an infection unavoidable? Does it comes from the cheese or something else?
Would more hops avoid it?
Should i boil some cheese with the wort?
Should I boil it and add it after wort boil?
Should I boil it and add it after first fermentation?
Should I soak it into vodka, or cognac, or whisky??
Would the infection, if unavoidable, turn "well" after some months?

I started a new batch of kölsch which is in its 3rd week fermentation. Do you recommend anything for the cheese? Use it now (how?) or wait for a new batch and do it earlier in the process?

Spoke about this with some guys at the Bergen Beer Fest in Norway and didn't get any real input... so I'm out in the blue.

PS: Please move this thread if I posted it in the wrong category, was not sure if I should put it in wild fermentation category.

Any advice and feedback is appreciated
I talked about this with guys from Nøgne and Voss Breweries in Norway, and none came with an idea.

 

[guazzabuglio]

You may run into trouble using actual cheese in your beer. That much fat will kill was retention, not to mention may be a carrier for all sorts of nasty microbes. I'd experiment with making cheese tinctures. Take a look into fat washing. http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2014/...g-spirits-cocktails-how-fatwashing-works.html

It's a technique used for cocktails, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for you.

 

[Syvfjell]

Thanks. Is 1% fat too much already?

So letting it sit in vodka should do the trick? Maybe kill the microbes too?
When should I had this to the batch?

 

[guazzabuglio]

I'm really just speculating here, so take all of my recommendations with a grain of salt. I'd either do a tincture or make a fat wash and then add it during secondary. Figuring out how much to add will be a matter of personal taste.