18: Beer and Cheese - Not such a Peculiar Combination

Most people immediately think “wine and cheese,” but what about beer and cheese?
This has recently proved to be a winning combination for Brewery TR Theakstons and the Ribblesdale Cheese Company, a small artisan cheese producer.

Theakstons brewery uses the age old process of Cooperage to produce wooden casks on site. Their Deputy Head Brewer David Sopko contacted Why Waste manager Emma Hill in 2009 about a range of wastes including the waste oak shavings resulting from this process.
After some early success via Why Waste finding an outlet with a company growing gourmet mushrooms Theakstons still had surplus shavings. So David contacted Why Waste again in 2010 to revisit solutions for this waste stream.  It was then that Emma and David had the idea of using the oak shavings in a traditional food smoking process. 
After a few phone calls Why Waste tracked down Iona Hill at The Ribblesdale Cheese to discuss options of using surplus shavings in their smoker.  Iona was thrilled with the idea and an exchange was set up quickly
Iona said
“We’re very keen on recycling and this is a fabulous way of dealing with another local business.  The wood shavings we get are a real quality item and I love the idea of using somebody else’s output as our input.  I also think it’s a nice form of assurance for our customers that we’re using quality produce and that we’re passionate about sourcing recycled materials.  Basically it’s good news for us and for Theakstons and they have been a joy to work with.”
The oak shavings they receive from Theakstons are used as a bed for fine oak chippings that are used in their smoker.
“The smoking aroma is wonderful with warm, caramelly tones and gives our cheese a lovely yellow appearance and a distinctive taste, not too pronounced but subtle enough.”