Jasper Hill Farm Reaps What They Sow – The Best Raw Milk Cheese in the Country

Jasper Hill Farm's Withersbrook Blue, credit Samuel Rheaume

The Vermont Cheesemaker took top honors at the American Cheese Society Competition after investing in quality from the ground up.

GREENSBORO, VT, UNITED STATES, July 31, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jasper Hill Farm took home 8 Best of Class wins, including the 1st Runner-up Best of Show Award for Withersbrook Blue, along with five other top three Best of Class placements. This represents an 80% win rate for cheeses entered by Jasper Hill. Notably, Alpha Tolman, the farm’s Alpine Style made with natural cultures, was cited as the Highest Scoring Raw Milk Cheese in the competition. Three of their other raw milk cheeses were named among the top ten cheeses in the competition—Bayley Hazen Blue, Withersbrook Blue and a collaborative cheese, Barnstorm Blue, which is cave-finished and exclusively sold by Murray’s Cheese. The results of the American Cheese Society (ACS) Competition were recently announced at the annual conference in Sacramento, CA.

Withersbrook Blue is made from the raw milk of a single herd of cows. This cube-shaped cheese is cave-ripened for 2-3 months and then marinated with locally made Eden Ice Cider in a custom-shaped pouch for at least several more months. The result is a densely creamy texture and pronounced fruity, briny flavors with subtle notes of classic blue and floral notes. Withersbrook Blue is Jasper Hill's newest cheese, having just been launched in early 2024.

After more than two decades of crafting raw milk cheese from pastured cows, Jasper Hill Farm is a leader of the New American Artisan Cheese Movement, which emerged as a response to the corrosive effects of commodity market forces on rural communities. Vermont is a hotbed of this value-added production model, evidenced by the fact that nine cheesemakers from a state with fewer residents than Brooklyn nabbed a total of 49 ribbons—about 12% of the total awards. By focusing on quality over quantity, Vermont cheesemakers have managed to keep family farms afloat throughout decades of market volatility, bolstering the state’s reputation for bucolic charm.

The organizers chose give accolades to the Highest Scoring Raw Milk Cheese for the first time this year. All three Best of Show winners are raw milk cheeses, as are seven of the Top 10 finishers. Raw milk cheesemaking is a specialized feat, requiring a dedicated milk source and extremely high standards of quality throughout the process. This ultimate attention to detail can yield exceptional results made possible, in part, by the natural flora preserved in the milk. Jasper Hill Farm is proud to have cultivated a positive working relationship with regulators and policymakers by demonstrating that raw milk cheese can be made safely, especially when the latest scientific understanding is integrated with traditional methods.

A key consideration for raw milk cheese production is access to high quality dry hay to supplement seasonal grazing. Fermented feed is a more conventional, economical approach, but the microbial profile poses serious risks to cheese quality. Jasper Hill Farm has invested in the expertise and equipment necessary to ensure a consistent, year-round supply of locally harvested dry hay. This agricultural practice is so low impact that the state considers dry hay harvesting to be ‘a provision of ecological services’ to the landowners whose nearly 1,000 acres of pastureland comprise the hayshed. Jasper Hill Farm has also undertaken an unprecedented reversal of hundreds of acres of feed-cornfields back into grazable land; grazing cows can fix up to 300 tons of carbon per annum, while feed-corn cultivation can release 600 tons.

Notably, Vermont’s Canadian neighbors to the north earned many awards, including two of the Best of Show cheeses and three in the Top 10. The Best of Show Winner, Fromagerie la Station, is located about an hour North of Jasper Hill Farm in Quebec. The unique ability for artisan cheese to exemplify and support a landscape creates affinity that transcends borders. Jasper Hill Farm is proud to be a part of an international community of world class cheesemakers that share an ethic of place-based quality craftsmanship. "We see ourselves on the same team, philosophically and in market-building for fine cheese, which makes this podium sweep that much more meaningful."

Jasper Hill Farm Awards Summary.

Zoe Brickley
Jasper Hill Farm
zoe@jasperhillfarm.com
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