The cheeses you can only find at Neal’s Yard Dairy – and why

There are certain cheeses you can only find at Neal’s Yard Dairy. Savoury, washed-rind sheep’s milk cheese, Riseley; flaky, smoky Brunswick Blue; 24-month Montgomery’s Cheddar; and many more. What makes these cheeses so special? 

The short answer is that extra work has gone into these cheeses to develop the flavours and textures we like best. That could mean asking the cheese maker to use animal rennet instead of vegetarian coagulant. It could mean maturing a cheese for several months longer than usual. It could even mean experimenting with washing a cheese’s rind – transforming it into something new.  

“Our access to space and different [maturation] environments gives us more options and more potential to do interesting things,” says Gareth Hewer, our Head of Maturation. “We also have a team of people ... with access to quite a large well of technical knowledge.”  

We use those resources to bring out the best in these cheeses. Read on to learn exactly how.  

Extra mature hard cheeses 

Some of the cheeses that are unique to Neal's Yard Dairy are extra-aged versions of well-loved hard cheeses: 24-month Montgomery’s Cheddar, Mature Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, and Mature Templegall. Of all the techniques that separate our cheeses from the rest, extra maturation time probably makes the most intuitive sense. The more mature the better, right? 

Shelves of Sparkenhoe mature at the arches

Not necessarily. “People conflate age with quality. They also seem to conflate age with intensity. That’s not always the case,” Gareth says. A bright, fruity Parmigiano Reggiano may be best enjoyed young. A wet, claggy batch of Cheddar will taste wild after two years of hands-off maturation – and not in a good way.  

“Each cheese, and, I suppose, each batch, is going to have its optimum age,” says Gareth. When we choose to mature a cheese for longer, it’s because we truly do think it will improve over time – or, alternatively, mature in an intriguing direction.  

Animal rennet recipes 

The Cornish Yarg and Colston Bassett Stilton you find at the supermarket is different from the versions on our slate. One reason? Ours is made with animal rennet. Most other batches are made with vegetarian coagulant. 

For thousands of years, humans have used enzymes drawn from the stomach of a young ruminant – aka animal rennet – to make cheese. More recently, we’ve figured out how to derive substitutes for those enzymes from plants and algae. These vegetarian coagulants are cheaper – and don’t involve killing an animal. So, what’s the catch?  

In short, vegetarian coagulant is not a perfect substitute for animal rennet. We’ve noticed less depth of flavour and less appealing texture in certain cheeses when they swap out rennet for an alternative. Note: certain cheeses. Other cheeses with vegetarian coagulant on the ingredient list are perfectly delicious that way.  

“It's probably quite cheese dependent and context dependent,” Gareth says. The cheeses made specially with animal rennet for Neal’s Yard Dairy are markedly different. 

Maturation experiments 

There are cheeses you can only find at Neal’s Yard Dairy because they are essentially made – or, rather, transformed – at our maturation arches. These include Brunswick Blue, the matured, rinded sister of Beenleigh Blue; Riseley, a washed rind version of Wigmore; and, most recently, Foxearle, a leaf-wrapped Pevensey Blue.  

Riseley at various stages of the maturation process

How can the maturation process can create a new cheese? Normally, it doesn’t. “Cheesemaking is a bit like curling,” Gareth said in a prior interview. “Once a cheese is made it sets off on a path, and we're a bit like the brushers who try and ensure it hits its target.”  

But sometimes, the Neal’s Yard Dairy maturation team and the cheese maker agree to experiment. The cheese maker sends a batch to our maturation arches – and we transform it into something new. So new that it requires a different name.  

That transformation could involve allowing a rindless blue to develop a natural rind (Brunswick). It could mean spending weeks washing a cheese until it develops a meaty, funky flavour and a sticky orange rind (Riseley). It could also mean meticulously wrapping a cheese in leaves (Foxearle). In each case, the cheese develops into something worth standing on its own. 

You can browse Neal’s Yard Dairy exclusives on our website.