by Andrew Chalk
Older cheese is better cheese -- at least, it is 99% of the time (aging can go OTT). On a recent visit to Veldhuizen Cheese, Stuart Veldhuizen pointed out an effect of the recent pandemic. Because of pandemic restrictions on visits to his cheese shop at his family farm and to restaurants, sales in 2020 and 2021 were down - drastically. There were numerous consequences, many very bad, such as a culling of the herd. However, cheese keeps, and cheese he would have sold as fresh cheese (less than 60 days age) had to be stored, in some cases up to two years, and a surplus of one- and two-year-old (i.e. deeply-aged) cheese is available now, to you!
Above is a 2019 wheel of their Ol’ Redneck, a sharp cheddar made with soaking the curds in Spindletap ‘Aciete Crudo’ (Crude Oil), a Texas-made 11% Russian Imperial Stout. It yields a deeply flavorful cheese that is “mild and creamy with malty sweetness and flavors of buttered toast”, to quote the web site.
Order on their web site or reseller Scardello Artisan Cheese.