Redhead Creamery

PFC Supplier Since: 2017

Location: Brooten, MN 200 miles from Rochester

Redhead Creamery’s Alise Sjostrom knew from a young age that she wanted to grow up to work on her parents’ dairy farm. On a high school 4-H visit to Crave Brother’s Farmstead Cheese, she found her calling. After study at the University of Minnesota and work for cheese makers Grafton Village in Vermont and at Crave Brothers in Wisconsin, she came home to Minnesota and started her own business.

They are a farmstead creamery, which means they use the milk from their own dairy herd to make their cheese. Alise’s parents’ 187 dairy cows supply her adjacent creamery with a literal pipeline of fresh milk for her operation.

The family dairy herd has been bred for high butterfat and protein production since the 1980s. Alise also credits the quality of the cheese to the nutrition of the cows. The high fat and proteins in the milk are ideal components for the cheeses Redhead Creamery produces. The cows produce exceptional milk in the fall and this is the creamery’s busiest time of year.

“We are all about full-fat, full-flavor foods,” Alise says. “And we do our best to highlight those qualities in our cheeses. We continue to learn how to be better cheese makers and Redhead Creamery how to best use the milk that our cows produce.”

PFC—Rochester carries the creamery’s Little Lucy Brie—named after Alise and Lucas’ daughter, Lucy. Redhead Creamery says the cheese is delicious baked, grilled, or simply at room temperature. Enjoy with a glass (or two) of Chardonnay or Frontenac, or perhaps a glass of St. Pepin wine from Rochester’s Salem Glen Winery.

Besides their brie, the creamery also makes a cloth-bound cheddar, a whiskey washed Munster, a honey chipotle cheddar, and other adventurous varieties. Don’t forget the cheeses for your holiday gatherings!

Find a selection of Redhead Creamery’s fine cheese in PFC’s Rochester Cheese department