Beenleigh Blue Cheese is made in Totnes, Devon, England, from sheep’s milk from January to July.
Crumbly in texture, it is pale yellow with greenish-blue veins, and has a taste that is salty, sweet and tangy.
The sheep’s milk is curdled with vegetarian rennet. The curd is then cut, let stand for 15 minutes, packed in moulds for 2 days, then unmoulded. The surface is salted, and after a few days holes are poked in it to allow air into the cheese. When blue mould has started, the cheese is wrapped in foil to stop a rind developing any further.
Beenleigh Blue Cheese is aged for up to 7 months.
The cheeses will be 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) wide by 4 3/4 inches (12 cm) tall, and weigh 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 pounds (2.5 to 3 kg.)
History Notes
Beenleigh Blue Cheese was developed by Robin Congdon. It was the first sheep’s milk blue cheese made in Devon in a long time. He started with milk from two flocks of Dorset & Friesland cross sheep next door to his dairy.