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Gailtaler Almkáse

Hard cheese made from raw milk from alpine pastures.

Gailtal mountain cheese is a hard cheese made from raw milk from cows and possible goats (maximum content 10%). The milk used to make the cheese is obtained solely from those alpine pastures in the Gailtal which comply with the following specification.

The use of milk from the valley is strictly prohibited. The only additives allowed in making the cheese are rennet and lactic acid cultures.

The fat content of the dry mass is at least 45%, the water content at least 40% and dry mass at least 60%.

The cheese is in the shape of a cart wheel and weighs between 0.5 and 35g. It has a dry, golden yellow, closed natural rind. The body of the cheese is yellow in colour and smooth in consistency, with a small number of round, uniformly distributed eyes, and free of off-tastes.

The minimum ripening period for Gailtal mountain cheese for commercial sale is seven weeks. A shorter ripening period of not less than five weeks is allowed for cheese for use in catering establishments on Gailtal mountain farms. If the cheese is vacuum-packed, the minimum ripening period may not be less than 75 days.

The production area consists of the mountain sides of the north and south of the Upper Gailtal. The area is delineated by the boundaries of the communes of Kotschach-Mauthen, Dellach, Kirchbach, Hermagor, Gitschtal, Weibensee, St. Stefan im Gailtal, Feistritz an der Gail and Hohenthurn and the mountain ranges of the Estern, Central and part of the Western Karnic Alps, the Reibkofel range and the central Gailtal Alps.

Records of the production of mountain cheese in the Gailtal region go as far back as the 14th Century. A detailed description of alpine grazing in the Gailtal around the middle of the last century is contained in a report dated 1876, with a precise geographical classification of the alpine pastures and including geological meteorological and botanical factors which provide valuable clues as to why the production of mountain cheese has developed so well in the Gailtal.

There is roof that the collective terms "Gailtaler Almkase" (Gailtal mountain cheese) and "Gailtaler Alpkase" (Gailtal alpine cheese) have been in continuous use since the 1950's. "Gailtaler Almkase" has become the accepted term, especially during the last three decades.

The method of production is based on the "Gailtaler Almprotokoll" (Gailtal lpine Protocol) in order to ensure lasting quality. This lays down guidelines on alpine farming, husbandry, milkability, the ripening of milk and cheese production.

The milk obtained in the evening is put into round, wooden ripening vessels, known as "Stotzen" and placed in a ripening room at a temperature of 12-17 °C to allow it to ripen. This triggers microbiological processes in the milk which are essential for successful chesemaking. A proper ripening temperature is essential.

The next morning, the ripened, skimmed milk is mixed with that mornings fresh milk. The degree of acidity of the milk is measured using a pH meter and, and if necessary, increased by adding pure yoghurt or whey culture.

Immediately afterwards, the milk is heated in the cheese kettle to the renneting temperature of about 32°C. Pure, natural powdered rennet is added, according to the quantity of milk, and stirred in, causing the milk to coagulate slowly. After coagulation time of about 30 to 45 minutes, a uniform coagulum is obtained and this is cut into small cubes by means of a cheese harp. The cheese curd is then broken into lentil-sized pieces using a stirrer. Cutting and fragmentation of the curd allows the whey to drain form the cut surfaces and be separated from the curd. The cheese curd floating in the whey is then heated to about 50-52°C and stirred at a constant heat for about 45 minutes. This process causes the small pieces of cheese curd to solidify.

The cheese curd is then lifted out of the kettle, and thus the whey, using a cheese cloth, hooped and pressed. The cheese is turned several times a day and the pressure increased after each turn. Two days later, the cheese loaf is put into a tank of brine for two to three days to allow it to develop the natural rind of a hard cheese.

The cheese is then left for about four weeks in a ripening room at a temperature of between 15 and 20°C (where it is turned and the rind checked daily) and then transferred to a store room, where it is kept at a temperature of between 5 and 15°C for full ripening.