Tubby

Producer

Spring Brook Farm / Crown Finish Caves

Country

United States

Region

Vermont / New York

Weight

30 lbs

Website

crownfinishcaves.com

Milk

Cow

Treatment

Raw

Classification

Firm

Rennet

Animal

Rind

Natural
Washed

Style

Alpine-style

According to Crown Finish Caves co-owner Benton Brown, the essence of this fatty Jersey cow’s milk wheel with rounded, pudgy sides is best encapsulated in its colorful label, which depicts a rather Rubenesque woman reclining in a milky bubble bath al fresco, eating cheese.

To create the design, Brown tapped artist Mike Perry, best known for his graphic title sequences for the Comedy Central show Broad City. It was a local collaboration for the artist—based in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights—and the nearby cheese cave, where affineurs experiment with maturation methods and as diverse array of washes in a former layering tunnel under the Nassau Brewery building. (The tunnels here stay at about 50 degrees Fahrenheit year-round, the perfect climate for ripening cheese.)

The copper cauldron doubling as a bath in the illustration is a nod to the traditional Alpine cheesemaking practices respected at Spring Brook Farm in Reading, Vermont, where Tubby is produced from raw cow’s milk. When young, the 30-pound wheels are sent to the caves in Brooklyn, where they’re washed in brine as they age for a year.

Tasting Notes

The resulting tawny wheels have a smooth paste studded with crystals, yielding flavors of buttermilk and piña colada.

Pairings

Pair it with a brown ale, a vin jaune, or a glass of dry sherry.