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Cheese from Austria, Vorarlberg

Großwalsertaler Bergkäse ('Walserstolz')Großwalsertaler Bergkäse

Großwalsertaler Bergkäse is a hard mountain cheese from raw, part-skimmed hay milk of mostly Brown Swiss cows. Each dairy uses its own whey and lactic culture with calf rennet, cooks the curd above 50 °C to apple-seed grains, presses 28–32 kg wheels and brines them three days. They ripen 8–12 months in shared cellars, brushed twice a week with salt water.

Fully documentedCheese8.1 months – 12 monthsAustrian traditional-food register (BMLUK no. 69); Walserstolz is a registered trade mark (1998)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe register describes the method, not amounts. The cheese is made only as wheels of 28–32 kg.
Raw cow milk, partly skimmedMainly Brown Swiss cows fed herbs, green fodder or hay, grain allowed, no silage; delivered daily and made the same day; not thermised, pasteurised or centrifuged[bmluk]
The dairy's own whey and lactic cultureThe register says this sets the cheese apart from similar products[bmluk]
Natural calf rennetNo substitutes or genetically engineered rennet[bmluk]
SaltAbout 20% brine, and salt water for rind care[bmluk]
Starterthe dairy's own whey and lactic culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 8.1 months – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: raw, partly skimmed milk from hay-fed Brown Swiss cows

Step 1 of 6
Collect raw hay milk daily
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk is partly skimmed and made into cheese the day it arrives.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Großwalsertaler Bergkäse is a hard mountain cheese from raw, part-skimmed hay milk of mostly Brown Swiss cows. Each dairy uses its own whey and lactic culture with calf rennet, cooks the curd above 50 °C to apple-seed grains, presses 28–32 kg wheels and brines them three days. They ripen 8–12 months in shared cellars, brushed twice a week with salt water. Made in 6 steps over 8.1 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen, brushed with salt water, takes 8–12 months (Austrian Federal Ministry BMLUK) and runs at 12–15 °C (Austrian Federal Ministry BMLUK). Salt is 20 % (Austrian Federal Ministry BMLUK).

Key numbers
Main step8–12 monthsReported[bmluk]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Temperature12–15 °CReported[bmluk]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Salt20 %Reported[bmluk]Brine for three days
AciditypH 5.3Reported[bmluk]Ripen, brushed with salt water

What makes this one different

Each dairy sours the milk with its own whey and lactic culture, which the register says sets it apart from similar cheeses. It is made from raw part-skimmed hay milk, cooked above 50 °C, and ripened 8–12 months in shared cellars. The Vorarlberger Bergkäse PDO, whose area names the Großwalsertal, says the cheese is ready at 3–6 months at the earliest.

Size
Wheels of 28–32 kg
Rind
Granular, yellow-brown to brown

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk cheese. ANSES names Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli as hazards of raw-milk cheeses and advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat them, except cooked pressed cheeses such as Gruyère.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Cheese was already made in the valley in the 14th century, and more settlement raised milk and cheese output. By the mid-18th century fat cheese was exported, mainly to Italy. The first cooperative dairy opened in 1905. Ripening and sales were pooled in 1997, the Walserstolz word mark was registered in 1998, and the valley became a UNESCO biosphere reserve in 2000.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [bmluk] Austrian Federal Ministry BMLUK, Traditionelle Lebensmittel register no. 69, Großwalsertaler Bergkäse (E. Sommer and E. Höbaus)gov
  2. [walsertal-tourism] Großes Walsertal Tourismus (Alpenregion Bludenz Tourismus GmbH), 'Walserstolz Mountain Cheese & Alpine Culture' (web page)web
  3. [eamb-vbk] Vorarlberger Sennenverband, Application for registration of the PDO Vorarlberger Bergkäse under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (1997), eAmbrosia attachment 62970spec
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov