An Interview with Molly Kroiz of Georges Mill Farm Artisan Cheese

Today’s interview is with Molly Kroiz, owner and cheesemaker at http://georgesmillcheese.com in Virginia! Our crew met Molly through the PASA conference and the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild, and she’s one of our favorite badass cheesemaking women! After studying fisheries management, Molly met her husband Sam, and the two of them headed back to his family farm in Lovettsville to raise a sprightly herd of Alpine goats. Today, Molly makes beautiful goats’ milk cheeses, raises two little ones and and welcomes their community onto this 250-year-old farm property with activities like barn dances and baby goat feeding sessions in spring. We hope you enjoy this chat we had with her at the American Cheese Society Conference in Pittsburgh over the summer!

An Interview with Matt Spiegler of Cheese Notes and Churchtown Dairy

Just about every cheese lover dreams about becoming a professional cheesemaker — but it takes real dedication to make that dream a reality. Matt Spiegler started out as a blogger in Brooklyn, exploring the world of artisan cheese and writing about it as he went on his website Cheese Notes. Soon, he was making cheese at home — and eventually, Matt quit his day job to intern and then work at one of the country’s most esteemed cheese houses, Jasper Hill Farm. Today, he’s the head cheesemaker at Churchtown Dairy, a biodynamic farm in New York’s Hudson Valley, only a few miles from where Matt grew up. Plus, we taste some delicious Churchtown cheeses!

An Interview with Peter Dixon and Rachel Fritz Schaal of Parish Hill Creamery

During the American Cheese Society Conference in Pittsburgh last month, we sat down with two of our good friend in cheese, the iconic duo of Peter Dixon and Rachel Fritz Schaal, owners and cheesemakers at Vermont's Parish Hill Creamery! They make the most enticing Alpine-style cheeses using grassfed milk from the neighboring Putney School's herd of cows, and they even create all their own cultures using milk from specific ladies in the herd. They've even gotten together with a crew of awesome cheesemakers in the Northeast (our very own Sue Miller is one of them) to create Cornerstone, a recipe for a true American original cheese that makers can use to express their own unique terroir from the milk down to the microbes. Listen in to find out how they make it all happen! 

An Interview with Brent Zimmerman of Lime Kiln Farm

We took a field trip to meet up with Brent Zimmerman of Lime Kiln Farm in Coxsackie, New York's beautiful Hudson Valley! Brent has one of the most fascinating stories of any cheesemaker we've come across: decades ago, he followed his heart to Tuscany, found a job as a herdsman, and then spent 25 years making amazing cheeses the Italian way. Several years ago, he and his partner headed back to the States and bought the 400+ acre farm in where he's making the same fantastic aged and fresh cheeses and raising goat, cows, sheep, and more. Brent welcomed us into his farm store for a chat and a tasting of his truly fabulous cheeses, which have an Italian soul adapted to American regulations. 

Find Lime Kiln's cheeses (plus pasture-raised meats, eggs, and other goodies) at their farm store, and follow them on Instagram to see when they're at farmers' markets in the region. 

Bonus Minisode! A Chat with Simran Sethi

Last week, our crew spent five magical days at Cheese Camp — a.k.a the American Cheese Society Conference in Pittsburgh! We made sure to sit down and interview some of our cheesemaking idols, and you'll hear those conversations in future episodes.

But first, since we missed last week's drop, we have a special treat: Alex sat down with journalist, author, and podcaster Simran Sethi, who spoke about biodiversity and cheese at the conference! They talk similarities between the cheese and chocolate worlds, food justice in the specialty food space, and about Simran's next project, which examines the relationship between food and identity, starting with cheese. Check out her excellent book, Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love, and give her excellent chocolate podcast, The Slow Melt, a listen! 

Bonus Minisode! Cheese 101 with Madame Fromage: Building an American Cheese Board

Join the Collective Creamery cheese dames and their pal Madame Fromage for a preview of what we're excited about at the upcoming American Cheese Society Conference in Pittsburgh, plus a chat with Madame on how to assemble a delicious cheese board of domestic artisan wedges you'll love.

Collective Creamery, Valley Milkhouse, Birchrun Hills Farm and Madame Fromage will all be at ACS in less than 2 weeks! Come say hi! And check out info/get tickets on the events we mentioned below.

Cheese & Beer at Southern Tier (ACS Pittsburgh): https://www.facebook.com/events/216965062280830/

Cheese Defects Workshop with Dr. Montse Almena (Sept. 17, 2018 in Exton, PA): https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cheese-defects-workshop-with-dr-montserrat-almena-tickets-47192224213

An Interview with David Rice of Clover Creek Cheese Cellar

In today's episode, the Collective Creamery crew has some summertime updates in addition to a fantastic interview with farmer and cheesemaker David Rice. Along with his family, David has been raising a mixed heritage breed herd of cows on pasture and making artisan cheeses in Central Pennsylvania for 26 years. We talk with David about transitioning the dairy from conventional to grass-based, how he and his family make their award-winning raw milk wheels, and bringing the next generation into the cheesemaking business. 

Bonus Minisode! Cheese 101 with Madame Fromage: Storing, Selecting and Serving Cheese

We're so excited to share our very first bonus mini-episode with our cheese community today! 

Alex sat down with our good friend and cheese queen extraordinaire Madame Fromage, a.k.a. Tenaya Darlington, for series of Cheese 101 chats! These mini tutorials are designed to help cheese lovers live their best cheese life with all kinds of valuable tips and tricks. Today, we talk about selecting, storing, and serving your cheeses so that they last long and taste their best when you enjoy them.

Get your learn on and then practice your newfound cheese care skills with your Collective Creamery share box or at your favorite cheese counter! And be sure to check out Madame Fromage on Facebook, Instagram, and on her website at madamefromageblog.com.

An Interview with Sue Miller of Birchrun Hills Farm

Our very own Sue Miller, one-third of the trio behind Collective Creamery, is featured in today's interview! Hear the story of how her first-generation dairy farm family saved their business from the brink by making cheese — and how Sue became the godmother of Pennsylvania's artisan cheesemaking renaissance (she would never say this, but we all know it's true). 

A Tasting with Sean Fitzgerald of Cherry Grove Farm

We dig into some extra-funky wedges with Cherry Grove Farm cheesemaker Sean Fitzgerald, including his pungent washed-rind baby, Rarebird, plus some special cheeses from Birchrun Hills and Valley Milkhouse. Listen for beer, cider, and wine pairing tips, too! 

An Interview with Cherry Grove Farm Cheesemaker Sean Fitzgerald

The cheese dames are back with another cheesemaker interview! This time, we sat down with Sean Fitzgerald, cheesemaker at Cherry Grove Farm in Lawrenceville, NJ. Along with head cheesemaker (and another good friend of the podcast) Paul Lawler, art student turned cheesemaker Sean creates an amazing lineup of artisan cheeses using Cherry Grove's grassfed Jersey cow's milk. 

A Tasting with Valley Milkhouse + Pennsylvania Ciders

It's time for our first tasting episode! Whenever we meet with an amazing cheesemaker, we grill them (lol) about their craft, their philosophy, their challenges, and their dreams — and then we taste some of their amazing cheeses, ideally paired with local libations. 

Take a listen to our first pairing ep, in which we dig into wedges from our own Birchrun Hills and Valley Milkhouse, plus 2018 Pennsylvania Farm Show Best in Show cheese St. Malachi from our friends Sam, Matt, and Stacey at The Farm at Doe Run! We pair these goodies with some of our favorite local hard ciders — find them at better bottle shops in southeast PA.

Episode 1: Meet Collective Creamery + an Interview with Stefanie Angstadt of Valley Milkhouse

It's the inaugural episode of our podcast all about cheese, cheesemakers and cheesemaking! First, get an introduction to the Collective Creamery team — that's Birchrun Hills farmer-cheesemaker Sue Miller, Valley Milkhouse cheesemaker Stefanie Angstadt, and food writer/cheesemonger Alex Jones.

Then, we go deep with Stef in our first featured cheesemaker interview. Hear all about how she quit her job in finance and combined her passion for cheesemaking with her Pennsylvania Dutch and Belgian roots to open a one-woman creamery and local food landmark just outside Philadelphia. 

Like what you hear? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Stitcher so you don't miss an episode! 

Our first full episode drops tomorrow!

We're just a day away from the first full episode of The Collective Creamery Podcast! Be prepared for lots of cheesy chat and a deep dive into one small-scale artisan cheesemaker's story, challenges, hopes and dreams. This podcast has been nearly a year in the making, and we can't wait to share it with you!

Before the big day, here's a plug for our Collective Creamery cheese subscription, available for pickup in Southeast Pennsylvania and shipped to households across PA, NJ, MD, DE, and NYC!

Do you experience cheese anxiety?

Let the ladies of Collective Creamery soothe your cheese anxiety with their new podcast. We'll share the stories behind our favorite American artisan cheeses, tell you all about the cheesemaking process, and offer serving suggestions, and tips for selecting, storing, and pairing those precious wedges.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher now to catch our first full episode when it drops this Friday, April 6!

Get a taste of the Collective Creamery podcast, premiering April 6!

We're so excited to share our new podcast with you! On the Collective Creamery Podcast, we're crafting the conversation around American artisan cheese. We dig deep in interviews with some of the industry's top small-scale cheesemakers and dairy farmers, get the stories behind sought-after wheels, and rave about how to taste and pair our favorite artisan wedges. 

Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts to hear our first episode when it drops on April 6!