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Tiroler Bergkáse

Tiroler Bergkáse is produced in wheel form with a painted-on and dried-on rind ranging from yellowish-brown to brown in colour. The minimum weight of each wheel is 12 kg. Occasional pea-size eye's may be matt or shiny and are distributed evenly throughout. The body ranges from firm to more supple and from ivorycoloured to light yellow in colour. The flavour ranges from mildly aromatic to slightly sharp.

Minimum fat: 45% fat in the dry matter

Maximum water content: 40%

Minimum dry matter: 60%

The raw material (cow's milk) for Tiroler Bergkáse is Alpine or valley milk obtained from herds in North or East Tyrol that are not fed any silage fodder. Calf rennet (no substitutes or genetically modified rennet) is used in the cheesemaking process.

The milk is partially skimmed (leaving a fat content of around 3%). Rennet is added to this preprocessed milk producing precheese, which is then scalded at a temperature of around 52 "C.

The cheese is then placed in presses and the wheel transferred to the brine compartment (around 20% sodium chloride, pH-value 5.25). If the necessary microorganisms are not present (e.g. in new equipment or following disinfection), accelerator cultures are added to the brine  compartment. Tiroler Bergkáse is ripened at a temperature of between 12 and 16"C and relative humidity of between 90 and 95%. The cheeses are treated with brine twice a week, producing a special growth on the surface of the wheels which contributes to the sharp, aromatic flavour.