Walland, Tenn. – The Good Food Awards have announced Blackberry Farm’s Ryan Burger, Head Cheesemaker and Livestock Manager, as the winner for the Good Food Awards cheese division for Blackberry Farm’s Downer Brown Cheese. Burger accepted the award at the 4th annual Good Food Awards in San Francisco on January 16.
Criteria for admission of cheese into the Good Food Awards contest includes that thecheese must be made using good animal husbandry, without the use of hormones, and without the use of herbicides and pesticides on the pastures. Blackberry Farm’s approach to all it’s food products is to produce the greatest quality products with the highest regard to the ingredients.
The new Downer Brown Cheese is a fall seasonal cheese made with Blackberry Farm Beer. The cheese is made from pasteurized sheep milk cheese that is washed for a week in Blackberry Farm’s beer. After a good bathing, it gets dusted with a layer of dehydrated spent grain that was saved from the beer making process. When the dusting is complete, it is left to mold for three weeks, which creates a beautiful white rind.
“My philosophy is to take natural flavors of milk and accentuate through the seasons of the year using different elements in nature and the farm,” said Blackberry Farm Cheesemaker Ryan Burger.
“Our Larder team and head cheesemaker are honored to have been chosen for the Good Food Awards. We are excited about the direction our cheese making programming is taking and look forward to introducing new cheese products to the marketplace this year,” said Blackberry Farm Proprietor Sam Beall.
The selection process began in July 2013 by completing the online entry form after passing several blind tastings through expert industry judging and being highly vetted. Those with the highest scores in each region, after the blind tasting, thatmeet the vetting process and the minimum tasting scores, were awarded. The vetting process is done to ensure that each winner meets the authenticity and responsible production criteria.
For more information or to purchase Blackberry Farm’s Downer Brown Cheese, visit www.blackberryfarm.com.