WESTBY, Wis. – Hidden Springs Creamery, which earned a record nine awards for its cheeses at the 2015 American Cheese Society Competition – the most of any farmstead dairy operation in the nation – is gearing up to host more than 100 visitors during a national symposium in November.
Members of the Dairy Sheep Association of North America will gather November 5-7 for the 21st annual Sheep Symposium in Madison. With its cluster of sheep dairies and cheese plants making sheep and mixed milk cheeses, Wisconsin is considered by many to be the dairy sheep mecca of North America. Twelve presentations by 16 animal scientists, dairy sheep producers, veterinarians, and sheep milk cheesemakers will be held at the Pyle Center, along with a sheep milk cheesemaking course at the Center for Dairy Research at UW-Madison.
On the final day of the symposium, members will board a tour bus to visit Wisconsin dairy operations, including Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain, and Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby, where cheesemaker Brenda Jensen will lead a tour of her farmstead creamery operation. Brenda and her husband, Dean, milk 450 sheep. Since launching their farmstead creamery nine years ago, Hidden Springs Creamery has earned more than 70 national awards for original sheep milk and mixed milk cheeses.
At this year’s American Cheese Society Competition, Hidden Springs Creamery earned a record nine awards, including three coveted first place awards for Manchego Reserve, a new, nutty aged sheep milk cheese; Meadow Melody, a mixed milk cheese combining cow and sheep milk, which also placed in the top 16 at the World Championship Cheese Contest last year; and Driftless Honey Lavender, a fresh sheep milk cheese.
Nearly every cheese Jensen crafts won an award at the contest. Driftless Cranberry Cinnamon, Driftless Natural and Timber Coulee Reserve, Jensen’s version of an aged French Ossau-Iraty, all took second places. Capturing third place ribbons were Hidden Springs Creamery Farmstead Feta, Driftless Basil Olive Oil, and Meadow Melody Reserve.
“To have my cheeses earn awards in the same realm as some of the nation’s greatest cheeses and most famous cheesemakers is always truly an honor,” Jensen says.
To learn more about Hidden Springs Creamery farmstead cheeses, contact Jensen at 608-606-3840 or email hiddensprings@mwt.net .
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Hidden Springs Creamery handcrafts award-winning farmstead cheeses in the heart of Wisconsin’s Amish country. After starting with 50 sheep in 2006, Cheesemaker Brenda Jensen and her husband Dean today milk more than 450 sheep to craft artisan sheep’s milk and mixed-milk cheeses nearly year-round. For more information, visit www.hiddenspringscreamery.com
Source: Hidden Springs Creamery