Sweet Grass Dairy Griffin Cheese

Griffin is a rustic farmhouse-style firm cheese, with the addition of beer into the cheese. Georgia's Sweet Grass Dairy made this cheese as a beer-soaked variation of their bestselling Thomasville Tomme. During cheesemaking, the cheese curds are soaked in Terminus Porter Beer from Gate City Brewing. After 120 days of aging, the texture is firm and becomes more dry and crumbly as it continues to age, forming a texture similar to an English-style cheddar. Griffin has aromas of malt, earth, maple syrup, and coffee beans. Flavors of malt, hops, and brown sugar are followed with notes of bitter cocoa and hazelnuts on the finish. The rind is generally smooth off-white to beige to light orange in color with speckled, random-colored surface flora ranging from black and brown to blue and gray. Each wheel is washed with Terminus Porter after 2 weeks of aging. The rind is generally dry, but has sometimes shown a slight tackiness and increased cave-aged aroma when aged for longer periods of time. Griffin pairs well with Porter, Syrah, Rhone White blends.