Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Switzerland, eastern and central Alps

Swiss semi-hard regional Alpkäse (Bündner, St. Galler, Urner, Nidwaldner, Schwägalp)Chaschiel d'alp dal Grischun

Small, full-fat, semi-hard wheels made on summer alps from raw cow milk, set with calf rennet and lactic cultures the herders grow themselves. The curd is cooked to 42–47 °C, pressed, brined and ripened at no more than 18 °C with a rind brushed with salt water. It is sold mild after 2–3 months. Made in 8 steps over 2.3 months – 6.6 months. The longest step, ripen in the alp and valley cellars, takes 2–6 months (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz) and runs at up to 18 °C (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz). Lactic acid bacteria cultures, propagated by the alp herders does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–6 monthsReported[patrimoine-ch][patrimoine-ch-2][patrimoine-ch-4]Ripen in the alp and valley cellars
Temperatureup to 18 °CReported[patrimoine-ch][patrimoine-ch-2][patrimoine-ch-3][patrimoine-ch-4][patrimoine-ch-5]Ripen in the alp and valley cellars
Fully documentedCheese2.3 months – 6.6 monthsnone for the cheeses; Swiss law reserves the word «Alp» for food made in the summering area (Berg- und Alp-Verordnung)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)More cooked alpine cheesesMore from Switzerland

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedAlp cheesemaking with no fixed batch size. Wheels weigh 4–8 kg.
Raw cow milk · Evening milk cooled overnight and partly skimmed, mixed with fresh morning milk[patrimoine-ch][patrimoine-ch-2]
Lactic acid bacteria cultures · Propagated by the alp herders from a stock culture[patrimoine-ch][patrimoine-ch-2][patrimoine-ch-4]
Calf rennet[patrimoine-ch][patrimoine-ch-2]
Salt · For the brine bath and the salt water brushed on the rind[patrimoine-ch]
Starter: lactic cultures propagated on the alp from a stock culture (in Grisons, from checked mother strains)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 6.6 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
68 °C

What changes: Cooled evening milk, partly skimmed, is mixed with fresh morning milk

Step 1 of 8
Mix evening and morning milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
68 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Moulds

The evening milk is cooled overnight and partly skimmed so the cheese reaches full fat. Output: cheese milk.

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

What makes this one different

These small semi-hard alp wheels are cooked to 42–47 °C, lower than Berner Alpkäse and Sbrinz, and ripened only a few months. Schwägalpkäse is made from thermised milk in one shared alp dairy, not in single alp huts.

Size
4–8 kg (Bündner 4–6, St. Galler 4–7, Urner 6–8 kg about 30 cm, Nidwaldner 6–8 kg, Schwägalp about 5 kg, 28 cm)
Fat
At least 45 % fat in dry matter (Bündner, St. Galler, Urner, Nidwaldner); St. Galler often near the upper limit of 54 %
Producers
About 115–130 alps in Grisons; 36 in St. Gallen; about 60 herders in Uri; about a dozen alps in Nidwalden; over 50 alps send milk to the Schwägalp show dairy

Related ferments

Variants

  • Bündner Alpkäse (Chaschiel d'alp dal Grischun)Cultures grown in Grisons from checked mother strains; 4–6 kg.
  • St. Galler AlpkäseCooked to only 42 °C; 4–7 kg.
  • Urner Alpkäse6–8 kg wheels about 30 cm across.
  • Nidwaldner AlpkäseMade on about a dozen alps; 6–8 kg.
  • SchwägalpkäseThermised milk at 68 °C; made in one cooperative dairy on the Schwägalp; 24 h in brine.

Safety

Raw-milk cheese, sold after 2–3 months of ripening in cellars kept at or below 18 °C.

History and sources

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

Cheesemaking in Grisons stayed small until the late 19th century, although Engadine hard cheese was exported from about 1530. Courses for alp cheesemakers, advisory services and cooperative alps later raised quality.

  1. [balv] Swiss Federal Council, Verordnung über die Verwendung der Bezeichnungen «Berg» und «Alp» (Berg- und Alp-Verordnung, BAlV), SR 910.19, 25 May 2011 (status 1 January 2021), Art. 8gov
  2. [patrimoine-ch] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, 'Bündner Alpkäse'web
  3. [patrimoine-ch-2] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, 'St. Galler Alpkäse'web
  4. [patrimoine-ch-3] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, 'Urner Alpkäse'web
  5. [patrimoine-ch-4] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, 'Nidwaldner Alpkäse'web
  6. [patrimoine-ch-5] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz, 'Schwägalpkäse'web