Edelweiss Cheese

Edelweiss Cheese: State-of-the-art tech meets Old World technique

At Edelweiss Creamery, the star of the show is emmentaler cheese – massive, 180-pound, award-winning wheels of emmentaler, to be exact. Combining state-of-the-art technology with tried-and-true traditional techniques, Edelweiss cheesemakers have accomplished something remarkable: They've brought back to Wisconsin the lost art of producing big-wheeled Swiss emmentaler cheese in copper vats. Operating in the same location since 1983, this small artisan cheese factory in Monticello, Wisconsin also produces havarti, muenster, butterkäse, gouda, and lacy swiss varieties.

An extraordinary cheesemaker

Bruce Workman of Edelweiss Creamery is the highest certified Master Cheesemaker in the U.S. He has graduated seven times from the Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Program™ and holds certifications in 12 different cheeses. While Bruce is an old school cheesemaker at heart – he starts the day at 1 am and wraps up production by 4 pm – he runs a state-of-the-art operation. Advanced technologies for pasteurizing the milk, separating the curd, pressing the cheese, and sterilizing the equipment help Bruce and Edelweiss cheesemakers produce traditional cheeses of the highest quality.

Wisconsin Cheese: Tradition and innovation

Like the makers of Edelweiss cheese, Wisconsin cheesemakers have a long history of perfecting Old World recipes and inventing new ways to make and enjoy cheese. We've been making cheese here since before we were even a state, and we've won more awards for our cheeses than any other state or country in the world. Alongside emmentaler and other Edelweiss varieties, our refrigerators are stocked with beauties like Dunbarton Blue cheese from Roelli Cheese Haus, which combines aged white cheddar and blue cheese. Widmer brick cheese from Widmer's Cheese Cellars is a stinky cheese – and a Wisconsin Original – that's still made with traditional techniques. And Chipotle Cheddar from Henning's Cheese is a white cheddar blended with roasted jalapenos – and a winner of both U.S. and international competition awards.

All about Edelweiss Cheese

It all starts with milk

Edelweiss cheese is made with milk sourced from only five farms. Edelweiss cheesemakers know the herds well – how they're cared for, what they eat – giving them the highest confidence in the quality of the milk and assurance that it's free of growth hormones (rBGH).

Authentic Swiss equipment

To produce authentic Swiss-style emmentaler cheese, Edelweiss imported an entire cheese plant from Switzerland, including a massive copper vat. Copper causes a reaction as milk and curds are stirred, resulting in the rich, nutty flavor that's the hallmark of emmentaler cheese. While copper vats were once the standard for producing authentic Swiss-style cheeses in Wisconsin, they disappeared as cheesemaking became industrialized in the 20^th century. Today, Edelweiss is one of only a few American cheesemakers making big wheel Swiss cheese in a copper kettle.

How Edelweiss emmentaler is made

Edelweiss cheese is made by filling a copper vat with cow's milk, then adding a starter culture and the rennet that coagulates the milk. After the curd is formed, cheesemakers cut it to release whey, then cook it for an hour. The cheese is poured into large forms and pressed for 18 hours before it is immersed in a salt brine for two days. After cooling for a week, the cheese is moved to a warm room for 2 to 3 months where it is flipped and washed twice per week. It's during this phase that the emmentaler develops its iconic “eyes” or holes, which should be the size of a quarter.

How to enjoy Edelweiss cheese

From emmentaler to muenster and butterkäse, Edelweiss cheeses pair beautifully with all sorts of wines, beers, and ingredients on the cheese board.

Swiss Emmentaler

This classic cheese is best enjoyed with substantial reds, light fruity whites, and old-world beers. Try zinfandel, syrah, merlot, riesling, grüner veltliner, and sauvignon blanc. For beers, reach for a bock, stout, porter, or weiss beer. Along with gruyere cheese, emmentaler is the very essence of traditional fondue, but it's also great melted over potatoes, hashbrowns, and home fries. On a cheese board, pair it with apples, pears, and grapes.

Tuscan Dream

This semi-soft, mild, ultra-creamy cheese appreciates a gewürztraminer, a light red wine, or a lager beer. With charcuterie, Tuscan Dream pairs nicely with apples, grapes, sausage, pickles, onions, mustard, and whole-grain breads and crackers.

Muenster cheese

Stouts, pilsners, pale ales, porters, brown ales, lagers, and Belgian ales all go down great with this washed-rind cheese. If you prefer wine, try a chardonnay, pinot noir, merlot, red zinfandel, riesling, sauvignon blanc, beaujolais, pinot gris, or grüner veltliner. Muenster melts like a dream, making it the perfect cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeseburgers, and egg scrambles.

Edelweiss Havarti and Dill Havarti

As a mild-mannered cheese, havarti pairs easily with almost anything. A weiss beer, doppelbock, stout, or extra special bitter are all good choices. Wines that match up with havarti include a buttery chardonnay, beaujolais, riesling, sauvignon blanc, or a lighter pinot noir. In the kitchen, these Edelweiss cheeses are delectable when sliced for sandwiches, melted on paninis, shredded in egg dishes, or diced on salads. On the cheese board, havarti likes to hang out with fresh fruits and veggies, honey, jams, nicely crusted breads, and crispy crackers.

Edelweiss Grazier Aged Gouda

With Edelweiss aged gouda, consider beers like bock, brown ale, or farmhouse hard cider. If you're pouring wine, a gewürztraminer, müller-thurgau, riesling, champagne, or cava will do nicely. Goudas are always tasty on hot chicken or turkey sandwiches, with grilled meats, or cubed up for an afternoon snack.

Butterkäse

The creamy flavors of Edelweiss butterkäse are best paired with white wines like semillon, chardonnay or rhine, or with a pilsner or light lager. Butterkäse melts beautifully over vegetables and sandwiches. On the cheese board, pair it with sausages and cured meats, melons, plums, and grapes.

Lacy Swiss

The light nutty flavor of lacy Swiss is complemented by slightly sweet beverages – think bock,

weiss beer, riesling, gewürztraminer, ice wines, port, or sherry. Fruit brandies or grappa are great if something stronger sounds good. Lacy Swiss melts beautifully over roasted potatoes, hashbrowns, gratins, and Swiss-style rösti potatoes. Slice it up for a sandwich on dark pumpernickel or rye or grate it into fondues and casseroles.