Historians believe the recipe for Cheshire is one of the oldest cheese recipes in England, and until the 1900s, the many farms across the northwest English countryside produced their own version of the cheese. But when advances in mechanized cheesemaking took hold, smaller farms converged into larger operations that produced Cheshire more quickly, but with little flavor. This is where the Appleby family comes in with Abbey Farm at Hawkstone in Shropshire, England. They have been making farmhouse, clothbound Cheshire since 1952, and are now the only producer to still use raw cow’s milk. Thus, Appleby’s Cheshire is the complete opposite of the large production Cheshire, lovingly made by hand by the third generation of Applebys to operate their farm and cheesemaking facility. It is tart, savory and flaky (sometimes, we get wheel with blue veining making it peppery!), with a long sweet finish, just asking for a good malty beer.