Episode Details
Back to EpisodesSpirits From Whey: How Milk Becomes a Distilled Spirit in About a Week
Description
Takeaways
- Make what you love, because it is easier to sell and talk about, and Alise's best-selling brie came from that.
- Ask specialty shop buyers what is missing before you choose a first product, which is how the farmstead cheddar started.
- Mixing soft cheeses that age in weeks with cheddars that age for months helps cash flow because products reach the market at different times.
- Whey, the byproduct of cheese, can become a distilled spirit in about a week, and it opens new ideas like boozy ice cream.
Summary of the Episode
In this episode of The Ice Cream Social, host David Boyer wraps up his visit with Alise Sjostrom, founder of Redhead Creamery, in Part 3. Alise explains how cheese ages. Some cheese can be eaten fresh, soft cheeses like brie and muenster age about two weeks, cheddars age at least six months, and others age up to two years. She says that variety helps cash flow.
Alise shares how she chose her first cheeses. She asked specialty shop buyers what was missing in Minnesota, and a buyer from Lunds & Byerlys asked for a Minnesota farmstead cheddar. That became Lucky Linda Cheddar. Later she and her mom started making brie, which is by far the creamery's best seller. Her advice is to make what you love, because it is easier to sell. David says he likes using young brie in ice cream, and the two trade flavor ideas.
The conversation turns to spirits made from whey. Alise explains that whey still has lactose, which is broken down with an enzyme, fermented with yeast and then distilled, all in about seven days. She calls the result a smooth, slightly sweet white whiskey, while her husband Lucas compares it to tequila or mezcal. David says he plans to apply for a grant to try boozy ice cream with her spirits. He also talks about not pasteurizing at his shop, wanting to make ice cream from scratch, and keeping a very clean kitchen.
Finally, Alise talks about what is next: a blue cheese that is about a year old, and lactic-set cheeses like bove, a cow milk version of chevre. She is learning by trying them rather than reading about them. David jokes that it sounds like an ice cream cheese. The conversation continues in Part 4.