Irish Porter Cheese on a cutting board. Picture Partners / Getty Images via Canva Pro.
Irish Porter Cheese is a firm white cheddar cheese made with porter added to it.
It is made by at Cahill’s Farm in Limerick, Ireland, from pasteurized Holstein Friesian cow’s milk curdled with vegetarian rennet. One pint of porter is used per wheel of cheese. The stout has to be hand worked in to the curd.
The porter comes through as dark brown marbling in the white cheddar .
The rind of Irish Porter Cheese is coated with brown wax.
The porter used is brewed by Guinness in Dublin. For this reason, the cheese is sometimes sold in cheese shops as “Guinness Cheese”, which isn’t quite accurate. “Guinness” is normally taken to be the stout called “Guinness”. This cheese uses a Porter, not a stout, though it is made by the same Guinness company.
Trader Joe’s in the United States in the past has sold the cheese off-and-on under its own label, branding it “Irish Porter Cheddar Cheese.”
Irish Porter Cheese label. Kiliweb / Open Food Facts / CC BY-SA 3.0
Cooking Tips
Good on crackers, with an accompanying pint of stout.
History
The cheese was created by Marion Cahill.
Sources
Irish Porter Cheese Making. Retrieved August 2010 from http://www.howcast.com/videos/55211-Irish-Porter-Cheese-Making
Irish Porter Cheese on a cutting board. © CooksInfo / 2009