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Cheese from Spain, Asturias and Castile-León border

Queso Los Beyos

A small cheese of cow, sheep or goat milk, never mixed, set mainly by lactic acid with a little rennet over 12–24 hours at 23–26 °C. The uncut or lightly cut curd drains and presses itself in small moulds while it is dry-salted on both faces. It ripens at least 15 days, or 60 days when made from raw milk.

Fully documentedCheese17 days – 20 daysPGI (EU, 2013), PGI-ES-00806Family: Ripened acid-curd cheese family (Harzer, Olomoucké tvarůžky, Gamalost)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives no doses. Cheeses weigh 250–500 g.
Cow, sheep or goat milk, one species only, raw or pasteurised[beyos-pliego][beyos-sd]
Lactic ferments (not needed with raw milk)[beyos-pliego]
Rennet, a small amount[beyos-pliego]
Calcium chloride (optional)[beyos-pliego]
Refined salt, sprinkled on both faces[beyos-pliego]
Starterlactic ferments (omitted with raw milk), a little rennet, optional calcium chloride

Total time across the recorded steps: 17 days – 20 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 6 °C

What changes: Milk of one species waits in a cold tank

Step 1 of 6
Keep the milk cold
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
up to 6 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

A small cheese of cow, sheep or goat milk, never mixed, set mainly by lactic acid with a little rennet over 12–24 hours at 23–26 °C. The uncut or lightly cut curd drains and presses itself in small moulds while it is dry-salted on both faces. It ripens at least 15 days, or 60 days when made from raw milk. Made in 6 steps over 17 days – 20 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 11 days (Ministerio de Agricultura 2020) and runs at 8–12 °C (Ministerio de Agricultura 2020). Lactic ferments added to the milk with a little rennet (not needed with raw milk); the specification names no species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 11 daysSet[beyos-pliego]Ripen
Temperature8–12 °CSet[beyos-pliego]Ripen

What makes this one different

A lactic-curd mountain cheese, set slowly over 12–24 hours and drained by its own weight in small moulds; milk of the three species is never mixed and the label must name it.

Ripening
At least 15 days in all; at least 60 days for raw-milk cheese
Composition
Dry matter at least 50 %; fat at least 45 % and protein at least 30 % of dry matter
Size
Cylinder 3–9 cm high, 7–11 cm across (± 0.5 cm), 250–500 g (± 5 %)
Rind
Thin, rough; creamy yellow (cow), pale yellow (goat) to light brown (sheep)

Related ferments

Variants

  • de vaca
  • de oveja
  • de cabra

Safety

The specification asks for milk from healthy animals, hygienically milked, meeting the microbiological criteria, and stored at 6 °C or below for at most 48 hours. It salts during moulding to steer bacterial growth for ripening, and cheese made from unpasteurised milk must ripen at least 60 days, not 15. The original 2010 text allowed at most 24 hours of milk storage at 6 °C or below and required at least 20 days of ripening, or 60 days with unpasteurised milk. For raw-milk cheese, ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid it unless it is a pressed cooked cheese such as Gruyère, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

History and sources

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

The 2010 Spanish decision to register the name was made on an application by the Asociación Promotores de Queso Los Beyos; the original specification asked for at least 20 days of ripening, while version 6 (2020) asks for 15. The cheese is named after the Los Beyos gorge cut by the river Sella. It is mentioned in Miñano's Diccionario (1827) and earlier in the Catastro de Ensenada (1752); Ponga has held a Los Beyos cheese contest since 1984.

  1. [beyos-pliego] Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Pliego de condiciones de la Indicación Geográfica Protegida 'Queso Los Beyos' (version 6, 2020; web.archive.org copy)spec
  2. [beyos-sd] Amended single document 'Queso Los Beyos', PGI-ES-00806-AM01, Official Journal of the European Union C 347, 19.10.2020 (2020/C 347/13)spec
  3. [beyos-boe2010] Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, y Medio Rural y Marino, Dirección General de Industria y Mercados Alimentarios 2010, Resolución de 4 de febrero de 2010 por la que se publica la decisión favorable al Registro de la Indicación Geográfica Protegida «Queso Los Beyos», with the original pliego de condiciones, BOE núm. 48, 24 February 2010, pp. 18128–18138gov
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov