American Farmstead Cheese

Question 1

Accoutrements

Answer 1

Walnut sourdough (gluten, nuts)
Plum preserves

GF crackers (sesame, flax, pumpkin, and sunflower seeds)

Question 2

Grayson

Answer 2

Meadow Dairy Creek in Grayson, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mtns

Raw cows milk

Animal rennet

Aged for 60 days, released at 90

Intense, beefy, pungent, consistency of buttercream, and hay colored as reflects their diet

Traditionalists, only making cheese when the cows are out to pasture “grass-fed” April to October

Question 3

Calderwood

Answer 3

Jasper Hills Farm from Greensboro Bend, Vermont

Raw cows milk firm alpine cheese

Animal rennet

Aged 9-10 months

Wheels are brined for 6 months, coated in hay and aged for an additional 4-5 months

Firm, nutty, complex with hints of earth, chestnut, honey, caramel, toasted bread, and tropical fruit

Question 4

Willoughby

Answer 4

Jasper Hills Farm in Greensboro Bend, Vermont

Raw cows semi-firm alpine cheese

Animal rennet

Aged 6 months

Buttery wash-rind cheese with aromas of peat, roasted beef, and onion with subtle milky, herbal, and ripe peach flavors. Thin, tender, rosy-orange rind which adds earthly dimension

Question 5

Bailey Hazen Blue

Answer 5

Jasper Hills Farm in Greensboro Bend Vermont

Raw cows milk soft/crumbly blue cheese

Animal rennet

Aged 3-4 months

Dense, fudge-like texture with toasted-nut sweetness, anise spice, and unusually peppery taste

Named after an old military road commissioned by George Washington during the revolutionary war that brought Greensboro Bend its first settlers

Question 6

Winnimere

Answer 6

Jasper Hills Farm in Greensboro Bend, Vermont

Raw cows milk soft alpine cheese

Animal rennet

Aged 9-10 months

Decadent cheese made only in winter months when their Ayrshire cows are giving rich, hay-fed raw milk. Young cheeses are wrapped in strips of spruce cambium, washed in salt cultured brine to help rind develop. Spoonably soft and tastes like sweet bacon

A take on Jurassic classics like Vacterin Mont d’Or or Forsterkase

Named after the corner of Caspian Lake where the Kehler’s grandfather had an ice-fishing shack

Question 7

Nancy’s Camembert

Answer 7

Old Chatham Sheephearding Co. from Old Chatham, NY

Pasteurized sheeps milk soft cheese with bloody rind

Vegetarian

Aged 8 weeks

Silky, buttery, bloomy rind. Sheep’s milk is naturally the highest in butterfat around 7% (cow/goat is 4-5%). Rind lends mushroom, earthy flavors with sweet cream insides

Question 8

Merry Goat Round Reserve

Answer 8

Firefly Farm from Accident, Maine

Pasteurized goats cheese with soft, bloomy rind

Vegetarian

Aged 4-6 weeks

Bark wrapped gooey goats milk cheese. Rich, mustardy, juniper flavors from the bark marry with gooey, mushroomy cheese.

The spruce reserve was made special for Firefly’s 15th anniversary and has one multiple awards all over the country