American Craft Beer The Best Craft Beer, Breweries, Bars, Brewpubs, Beer Stores, And Restaurants Serving Serious Beer.
Savory. Sweet. Festive. – And it saves small Pennsylvania dairy farms!
An award-winning beer maker has teamed up with one of Pennsylvania’s largest food chains to deliver a cheese that celebrates the state’s dairy roots and its beloved Mad Elf seasonal ale.
Here’s the deal…
Central Pennsylvania is as famous for its dairy products as it is for its breweries.
And over the years, Hershey, PA-based Tröegs Independent Brewing has embraced those rich traditions with specially branded artisan cheese featuring the award-winning brewery’s most famous beers.
In 2019 Giant Food Stores brought together Tröegs and Caputo Brothers Creamery of Spring Grove, Pa to create Troegenator Beer Cheese. The limited release cheese which was made with the brewery’s Troegenator Double Bock became a huge hit for all parties involved.
In 2020, with COVID-19 compounding problems for dairy farmers in Pennsylvania, the partnership launched another beer cheese collaboration. Perpetual Beer Cheese was made with another Tröegs bestseller, Perpetual IPA.
And now in anticipation of the holiday season, Giant, Caputo Brothers and Tröegs have released limited edition cheese offering that will be available at the retail chain’s 181 stores as well at the creamery and brewery.
Made with 100% Pennsylvania cow’s milk, Mad Elf Beer Cheese might be the best of the bunch.
Brewed once a year with cherries, dark malts and 25,000 pounds of Pennsylvania honey, Mad Elf is a flavorful 11% ABV Belgian Strong Dark Ale that brings an chocolate and cherry complexity to the cheese.
It’s chocolate tones are heightened with the addition of freshly ground espresso from Little Amps Coffee Roasters in Harrisburg. And the semi-soft cheese wheels receive a special cinnamon, nutmeg and clove spice rub developed by Calicutts Spice Co. in Hershey, Pa.
This cheese connects so many different Pennsylvania makers,” says John Trogner, brewmaster and founding brother of Tröegs….
“Brewers, cheesemakers, coffee roasters, a spice company. And it helps farmers find sustainable ways to survive and thrive.
“On top of all that, it’s really, really good.”
