Roelli Cheese Haus

Roelli Cheese Haus: going small to get big

It's not often you see a business make it big by going small. But that's been the blueprint for success at Roelli Cheese Haus. After shutting down the company's commodity cheese factory in 1991, Roelli reopened in 2006 as a small artisan factory with a cheesemaking plant 11 times smaller than its predecessor. Focusing on handcrafting and cellar-curing small batches of original recipe cheeses, Roelli Cheese Haus is now known for award-winning cheddar blues, Alpine style-cheeses, and fresh cheddar curds, among others.

Chris Roelli, a Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker

Helming the ship at Roelli Cheese Haus is Chris Roelli, a fourth-generation cheesemaker whose love of the craft led the company to an artisanal transition. Chris is one of Wisconsin's distinguished Master Cheesemakers, with certifications in cheddar, blue, and Alpine-style cheeses. His cheeses have won Best in Show awards at the American Cheese Society Juding & Competition, and the “Top 20” award in the 2022 World Championship Cheese Contest.

Part of a cherished Wisconsin tradition

Cheesemakers like Chris Roelli have been innovating and creating new products for as long as cheese has been made in Wisconsin. That's why there are more than 600 varieties, types, and styles of cheese made right here in the State of Cheese. And it's why, alongside cheeses like Roelli's Red Rock and Dunbarton Blue, Wisconsin is home to many brilliant originals like Sartori BellaVitano, Chipotle Cheddar from Hennings Cheese, Widmer brick cheese from Widmers Cheese Cellars¸ and Grazier Aged Gouda from Edelweiss cheese.

What's in store at Roelli Cheese Haus?

Roelli Cheese Haus makes a dozen varieties, producing roughly 100,000 pounds of cheese each year.

Dunbarton Blue

• Red Rock is a bloomy-rind cheddar cheese with striking blue veins. Cave-aged to maturity, Red Rock is richly colored with annatto and boasts a mild American cheddar flavor with a creamy texture.
• Little Mountain is a traditional washed-rind Alpine cheese fashioned in the Appenzeller style. Made with raw cow's milk, it's aged at least six months and has a smooth and nutty flavor.
• Roelli Haus Select Cheddar Cheese is hand-selected from the very best batches of cellar-aged cheese. With robust flavor and meaty texture, these cheddars are ripened between 90 days and three years.
• Gravity Hill cheese is Roelli Cheese Haus's version of an English farmstead-style acid crumbly cheese. Made from raw cow's milk and aged around one year, Gravity Hill cheese has a sharp and tangy flavor with a smooth, clean finish.
• Lowlander Goudse Kaas is a Dutch-style gouda with a sweet and nutty flavor profile. Made with pasteurized cow's milk, this gouda is aged a minimum of 90 days and has a coated edible rind.
• Farmhouse Colby Style cheese has a rich, full flavor like the traditional colby cheeses of Wisconsin's early cheesemaking days. Made with milk from a local family farm, this cheese has a mild flavor and perfect texture.
• Monterey Jack is made with pasteurized cow's milk for a smooth, creamy jack-style cheese with sweet buttery notes.
• Mild, medium, and sharp cheddars are block-style cheddar varieties that are cellar-aged, handcrafted in small batches, and cellar-aged for 30+ days (mild), 6+ months (medium), or 12+ months (sharp).
• Cheese curds are a fresh and squeaky Wisconsin treat of young cheddar, handmade weekly by the Roelli Cheese Haus Master Cheddar Cheesemaker himself.

What to drink with Roelli Cheese Haus products

Alpine-style cheeses like Little Mountain are best with a robust drink with slight sweetness – Belgian style ales, brown ales, ambers, bocks, and stouts. When drinking wine, any fruit-forward white or red will make these cheeses proud – try a cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel, beaujolais, Riesling, or grüner Veltliner. For a bit more punch, pour a glass of port, madeira, scotch, or rye whiskey.

Cheddar blues like Red Rock are best paired with bigger beverages – think a cabernet sauvignon, chianti, port, or madeira. For beer, try a porter, cider, or fruit beer.

Dunbarton Blue is the kind of cheese that needs a hearty drink with a bit of sweetness. Enjoy it with a brown ale, porter, stout, or amber ale. If you're pouring wine or spirits, try a cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, barrel-strength bourbon, or port.

With a young gouda like Lowlander Goudse Kaas, you can't go wrong with a slightly sweet beverage that complements the nutty, slightly fruity flavor profile. For beer, that might mean a bock, brown ale, or farmhouse hard cider. With wine, a gewürztraminer, müller-thurgau, riesling, champagne or cava are all possibilities.

Aged cheddar cheeses need a drink that can stand up to the powerful flavors of the cheese – mature beverages with a touch of sweetness like saison ale, cider, bock, and Belgian ales. For white wine, go with a riesling, chardonnay, or champagne, or with a syrah, pinot noir, or chianti if you're pouring red. Younger cheddars are more forgiving – a frosty pint of American pale logger, IPA, or pilsner are all great bets, as are glasses of chardonnay, pinot gris, rosé and merlot.

The mild flavors of colby cheese allow it to pair well with all sorts of drinks. For beer, try a pilsner, pale ale, brown ale, or lager. Wines that complement colby include cabernet sauvignon, chianti, pinot noir, red zinfandel, champagne, riesling, and malbec. Or for stronger stuff, tequila reposado and rye whiskey are good bets.

With Wisconsin cheese curds, all you really need is a frosty light pilsner, pale ale, or lager.