Cheddar (Beecher's Flagship Reserve)
- Producer
- Beecher's Handmade Cheese
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Washington
- Size
- 8-9 ins diameter, 12 ins high
- Weight
- 18 lb
- Website
- www.beechershandmadecheese.com
- Milk
- Cow
- Classification
- Firm
- Rennet
- Vegetable
- Rind
- Cloth Wrapped
Located within Seattle's famous Pike Place Market, Beecher's Cheese was founded in 2002 and is a great example of a successful collaboration, in this case between owner Kurt Dammeier and cheesemaker Brad Sinko.
Beecher's works closely with two local cow dairies in Duvall, Washington, that provide excellent quality milk for production.
When making Flagship Reserve, Brad creates a curd with a slightly lower moisture and higher salt content than Beecher's regular Flagship cheese. This results in a richer taste and texture, while maintaining a clean, creamy finish.
Cheeses are wrapped in cloth, which allows them to breathe, and helps the flavors concentrate during the maturing process. Each wheel is rubbed with butter and hand turned on a daily basis for the first two months of aging. The schedule then changes to three times per week for the next two months, and once a week thereafter.
Aged for about a year, the texture of the Flagship Reserve is firm and smooth, with a slight brittleness to it. Flavors are robust and bold with sweet vegetal notes of earth and butter.
