Jun 26

Jun 26 Meet The Redhead Behind Redhead Creamery Cheese

Carol Stender

Products

Instead of “Got Milk?” Alise Sjostrom will most likely ask “Got Cheese?”

Alise is the redhead behind Redhead Creamery located on her family farm near Brooten, MN

Partnering with her in the cheese operation is her husband, Lucas, and her parents Jerry and Linda Jennissen.

At her cheese making facility, Alise makes brie, munster, cheese curds and a variety of cheddars. All cheeses are sold on the website redheadcreamery.com, at the Alexandria, MN farmers market, through specialty stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin and through their on-farm Cheese Store.

Due to Covid-19

When COVID-19 hit, they re-thought how to market their product and came up with a plan that’s proven successful. They promoted their website store and began two cheese runs in Minnesota. People could pre-order cheese for delivery along the route that included a Twin Cities run to Minneapolis-St. Paul and communities along the route and another to Northern Minnesota including the towns of Fergus Falls and Alexandria.

A cheesy start at just 16

Alise got the idea to make cheese when she was just 16. She’d attended a 4-H youth gathering in Wisconsin which included a trip to a cheese plant.

“It was at that moment that I thought, ‘This is what I could do,’” Alise said. “I could come back to the farm, but not necessarily to milk cows. I could make cheese.”

She announced her plans to her parents when she returned from the trip.

“They were encouraging, but they also didn’t know how to make this dream a reality,” she added.

Alise was determined. After she graduated from high school, Alise enrolled at the University of Minnesota where she developed her own college curriculum focusing on cheese and dairy food quality. She also trained at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese.

After college, she worked at retail grocery to learn the food chain of cheese. Then, for five years, she and Lucas moved to Wisconsin and Vermont where they worked with cheese makers/owners. Alise says they took her under their wing and helped her build more knowledge and understanding of the cheese making tradition.

During the couple’s time in Vermont, she gained a knowledge of European cheeses.

“There was this diversity of cheese,” she said of acquiring more cheese knowledge. “And it continues to evolve and change.”

Her father, Jerry, told her to bring home some of the stronger flavored Vermont cheeses and he grew to like those varieties, she said.

Returning home to start a business

By 2012, Lucas and Alise made plans to head back to Minnesota and start their cheese making venture on the Jennissen farm known as Jer-Lindy Farms.

While the plans for her dream cheese facility were complete, it required moving existing farm structures, building a pipeline under the existing milk parlor so milk could flow directly to the cheese room, a new septic system and a new cheese plant and storage caves. Needless to say, such an undertaking was costly.

Leave it to the ingenuity of the family, they started a Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $41,000. That money was used as seed money to secure loans and grants to fully fund the facility. Many of the farm’s cows have been named after the many contributors through Kickstarter.

Milk finally flowed into the cheese room from the milk parlor for the first time in the fall of 2014 with the first batch of cheddar going into the caves that Halloween.

Today they make cheese 2 to 3 days a week and have expanded their operation to include the on-site Cheese Shop. The farm is also open for tours on Fridays and Saturdays where individuals can learn more about where their food comes from and about the cheese making process.

It all starts with the cows…

The story of the cheese starts with the cows of Jer-Lindy Farms. Jerry and Linda farm 240 acres and milk 200-head of Holstein and Brown Swiss in their modern dairy facility.

They have had a passion for dairy throughout their lives. The two met at a calf show when they were young. By 1979 they were married and started farming together. Their first herd of 32 cows were purchased through a Beginning Farmer loan and were housed in a rented barn. But, by 1983, they purchased a farm and modeled a few outbuilding to start their dairy adventure.

They continued to milk cows and farm the land while maintaining off-farm jobs for 19 years. During the early years of their operation, they also raised four red headed daughters.

Linda works with Alise in the cheese making facility.

“My mom works as much as I do,” Alise said. “I have someone who makes cheese. Before that, I was the sole cheese maker. It’s refreshing to work more on the business, but still, I have my hands in the cheese making process.”

There are additional part time workers who help with production and working in the Cheese Store on weekends.

Lucas and Alise have three children, ages 7, 4 and under 12 months. It’s a busy dairy loving and cheese loving household.

Redhead Creamery Cheese

Redhead Creamery’s variety of cheese offerings is award winning and quite tasty!

Little Lucy Brie is a great, soft brie. The North Fork Whiskey Washed Munster is washed with locally produced Minnesota 14 Whiskey made at the Panther Distillery in Osakis, MN.

The munster has taken top placings at the Minnesota State Fair earning a fourth place in 2017, first place in 2018 and third place in 2019 in the artisan cheese division.

Alise’s cheddar is also a winner. The St. Anthony Cheddar, with its meaty undertones of cured salami, took a first place in the artisan cheese division at the Minnesota State Fair and, that same year, earned a second placing in the American originals category by the American Cheese Society.

Other cheddars include Tipsy Tilsiter, a sharp cheese in Margie Cheddar, Cave Aged Garlic Cheddar (I’m currently eating this and it’s GREAT!), and Red Temper which is a honey chipotle cheddar. And don’t forget the Rav’n Mad Redhead Cheddar.

Linda has a cheddar named after her, as well. Lucky Linda is a clothbound cheddar which is another award winning cheese. It took 6th place at the World Championship and fourth in 2019 at the U.S. Cheese Championship.

Redhead Creamery also offers cheese and meat platters as well as cheese curds.

My own Redhead Creamery cheese experience…

My Hubby and I are kind of cheddar cheese snobs, in a way. We love cheddar, especially sharp varieties. So, when COVID-19 hit and stay-at-home orders were issued. I sought some locally grown options through online shopping. Redhead Creamery certainly didn’t disappoint.

The ordering was easy and the cheese arrived within days of the order.

Although my husband said it was my cheese, he always asked for a chunk when I was slicing some for a snack. What a treat!

Even in the flavored varieties, like the Cave Aged Garlic, there is a hint of the garlic. It’s not overpowering, but is a nice note in the cheddar.

I strongly encourage you to try some Redhead Creamery cheese. It’s a great, locally grown cheese!

We’ve also purchased cheese at the Alexandria Farmers Market where they also sell ground beef.

Check out their story at redheadcreamery.com and tell them The Local Growers sent you!