Drunken Burt

Claire Burt began making cheese in her kitchen in Cheshire as a hobby in 2009, while working for a large dairy company. It soon developed into a full-time business, operating from a small unit in Altrincham before moving to larger premises on Ash Farm, near Knutsford – the same year in which Burt was named Best Producer in the Observer Food Monthly Awards.

Today, Burt and chef-turned-cheesemaker Tom Partridge make a range of soft blue cheeses using whole, pasteurised milk from local farms. Drunken Burt is made in a similar way to the company’s flagship Burt’s Blue cheese, but is not pierced and is washed in cider as it matures.

The curd is not scalded and is cut into 10cm cubes before being hand ladled into moulds, where it drains overnight without pressing. The cheese is hand-salted and aged for around five weeks. Penicillium Roqueforti is added to the milk, but the cheese is not pierced so does not have the same pockets of blue (although some veining may appear). It is washed twice in oak-matured Gwatkin cider (no water or brine added) as it matures, before it forms a natural rind.

The ivory paste takes on some of the golden colour of the cider, and also some of the flavours – a smokey note from the oak barrels can sometimes be detected. Expect younger cheeses to have a chalky centre, which softens as they mature. Some internal blueing may occur, but not always. Younger cheeses have more acidity, while the flavour mellows and develops to become smoother and more rounded during maturation.

A glass of Gwatkin’s cider, which is matured in oak barrels, is the recommended drinks match.