Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Austria, Tyrol

Tiroler Almkäse/Alpkäse PDOTiroler Almkäse

Raw milk from cows on Tyrolean alpine pastures is part-skimmed, soured with cultures and set with calf rennet at 31–32 °C. The curd is cut to pea size and cooked at 50–54 °C, then pressed, brined for up to two days and ripened for about 4½ to 6 months with a brine smear. It is made only in the 90 to 120 days of the alpine grazing season.

Fully documentedCheese4.6 months – 6.1 monthsPDO (EU, 1997), added to the Annex of Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2325/97 of 24 November 1997Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures and times but no doses. Loaves weigh 30–60 kg; additives such as preservatives, colourings and nitrates are not allowed.
Raw cheesemaking milk from cows grazed on Tyrolean alpine pasturesThe evening milk is skimmed the next morning and mixed with the morning milk[almkase-eu1997][almkase-de]
Bacterial cultures from the Federal Office for the Alpine Dairy Industry, RotholzOften grown on further at the dairy in whey[almkase-eu1997]
Calf rennetNo rennet substitute and no genetically produced rennet[almkase-eu1997]
Brine, for the bath and for smearing the rindA red culture (Brevibacterium linens) may be added to the smear at first[almkase-eu1997]
Startercultures from the Federal Office for the Alpine Dairy Industry, Rotholz, often re-grown in whey

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.6 months – 6.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Cream rises on the evening milk and is skimmed off in the morning

Step 1 of 8
Skim the evening milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening milk stands overnight and is skimmed by hand in the morning, then mixed with the morning milk in copper vats.

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

Raw milk from cows on Tyrolean alpine pastures is part-skimmed, soured with cultures and set with calf rennet at 31–32 °C. The curd is cut to pea size and cooked at 50–54 °C, then pressed, brined for up to two days and ripened for about 4½ to 6 months with a brine smear. It is made only in the 90 to 120 days of the alpine grazing season. Made in 8 steps over 4.6 months – 6.1 months. The longest step, ripen in the cellar, takes 4.5–6 months (Application for registration 2081) and runs at 10–18 °C (Application for registration 2081).

Key numbers
Main step4.5–6 monthsSet[almkase-eu1997][almkase-de]Ripen in the cellar
Temperature10–18 °CReported[almkase-eu1997][almkase-de]Ripen in the cellar

What makes this one different

Made only from alpine-pasture milk in copper vats, cooked hot at 50–54 °C and ripened with a brine smear to which a red culture can be added at first; west of Innsbruck it is called Alpkäse, in the lowlands Almkäse.

Milk
Raw milk from cows grazed on Tyrolean alpine pastures, partly skimmed
Season
Made only in the 90 to 120 day alpine grazing period
Ripening
About 4½ to 6 months
Size and fat
Loaves of 30–60 kg, never blocks; at least 45 % fat in dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk, with preservatives, nitrates, colourings and other additives not allowed, and matured about 4½ to 6 months. The ministry's description cites a 1992 study at the Rotholz federal dairy institute that found more thiocyanate, part of the raw milk's natural lactoperoxidase system that acts against bacteria, in alp milk than in valley milk.

History and sources

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

A Tyrolean land register entry of 1544 records cheese of good keeping quality, and production statistics have been kept since 1955; 294 tonnes were made in 1969. The ministry's description of the 1544 entry (Urbar 93/5) says it concerns cows driven to the Wildschönauer Holzalm and the sharing of cheese and butter among the farmers. It reads the entry's "guet Käß" as full-fat cheese and reasons that cheese kept until the next spring must have been a form of today's Almkäse. It adds that many alpine dairies existed in Tyrol in the second half of the 19th century. The EU registered the name as a PDO in 1997.

  1. [almkase-eu1997] Application for registration, 'Tiroler Almkäse/Tiroler Alpkäse' PDO, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, national application 1299-GR/95 (EU register summary sheet, English)spec
  2. [almkase-de] Antrag auf Eintragung 'Tiroler Almkäse/Tiroler Alpkäse' g.U., Verband der Tiroler Käserei- und Molkereifachleute (EU register summary sheet, German original)spec
  3. [almkase-bmluk] Bundesministerium für Land- und Forstwirtschaft (BMLUK), Traditionelle Lebensmittel, Tiroler Almkäse / Tiroler Alpkäse g.U. (description supplied by the Verband der Tiroler Käserei- und Molkereifachleute)gov
  4. [reg-1107-1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996, consolidated Annex, in which Tiroler Almkäse/Tiroler Alpkäse (PDO) is marked as inserted by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2325/97 of 24 November 1997spec