Widmer’s Aged Brick is a semi-soft, washed-rind cheese rooted in an American tradition dating to 1877, when Swiss-born cheesemaker John Jossi developed the style. Cheesemaker Joe Widmer continues the traditional process by pressing each cheese with the same bricks his grandfather used in 1922.

After pressing, the cheese spends eight to nine hours in salt brine before entering a warm, humid curing room, where it is washed and turned daily for seven days. Each wheel is then wrapped in parchment and foil to continue aging. At around two months, the cheese is relatively mild; between three and five months, it develops a fuller, earthier and more robust flavor.

Widmer’s Aged Brick is also available with caraway seeds.