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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Austria, Vorarlberg

Bregenzerwälder Alpkäse and BergkäseBregenzerwälder Alpkäse

These are the hard raw-milk cheeses of the Bregenzerwald, made from silage-free hay or alp milk in copper vats with calf rennet and each dairy's own whey or lactic culture. The part-skimmed milk is set, cut to pea size, cooked to about 51–52.5 °C, pressed and brined for two to three days. Wheels ripen for months at 12–15 °C, brushed with salt water, and are judged from six months to two years. Made in 8 steps over 6.1 months – 2 years. The longest step, ripen, brushed with salt water, takes 6 months – 2 years (BMLUK (Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture)) and runs at 12–15 °C (BMLUK (Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture)). Salt is 20 % (Vorarlberger Sennenverband 2081). The dairy's own whey or lactic acid culture, grown by the cheesemaker does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6 months – 2 yearsReported[bmluk-151]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Temperature12–15 °CReported[bmluk-151][eamb-vbk]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Salt20 %Set[eamb-vbk]Brine
Fully documentedCheese6.1 months – 2 yearsAustrian register of traditional foods (no. 151); the area lies within the Vorarlberger Alpkäse and Vorarlberger Bergkäse PDOsFamily: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)More cooked alpine cheesesMore from Austria

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedVillage and alp dairy cheese with no fixed batch size. Wheels are usually 55–60 cm across.
Raw cow milk · From silage-free grassland farms; not thermised, bactofuged or pasteurised; Alpkäse uses alp milk only[bmluk-151][eamb-vbk]
Calf rennet · No genetically engineered rennet[bmluk-151][eamb-vbk]
The dairy's own whey or lactic culture[bmluk-151][eamb-vbk]
Salt · Brine bath and salt-water rind care[bmluk-151]
Starter: each dairy's own whey or lactic culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.1 months – 2 years

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw milk from cows fed hay and alpine grass, no silage

Step 1 of 8
Collect raw hay or alp milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk comes from farms that feed no silage, is delivered at least once a day and is made into cheese on arrival, never moved between dairies. Alpkäse uses alp milk only, during the 3–4 month summer season.

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

Bregenzerwald cheese comes from one of Europe's largest silage-free hay-milk regions and is made in small village and alp dairies with their own whey cultures. Alpkäse is made only in the summer alp season from alp milk, while Bergkäse is made all year from alp or valley milk.

Composition
Over 45% fat in dry matter
Size
Wheels usually 55–60 cm across

Related ferments

Variants

  • AlpkäseSummer alp milk only, made by hand in copper vats during the 3–4 month alp season
  • BergkäseAlp or valley hay milk, made all year in village dairies

Safety

The cheese is made from raw milk that is not thermised or pasteurised, and it ripens for months at 12–15 °C. No safety study of this cheese was found.

History and sources

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

Until the late 17th century only sour cheese from skimmed milk was made, and butter paid the taxes. During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) herders from Appenzell brought fat-cheese making, and in the early 18th century farmers won out against bans on fat cheese. From 1816 Schwarzenberg was the main cheese market, and cheese went across the Habsburg lands to Italy and Greece.

  1. [bmluk-151] BMLUK (Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture), Traditionelle Lebensmittel register no. 151, 'Bregenzerwälder Alp- und Bergkäse' (information from KäseStrasse Bregenzerwald)gov
  2. [eamb-vbk] Vorarlberger Sennenverband, Application for registration of the PDO Vorarlberger Bergkäse under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 (1997), eAmbrosia attachment 62970spec