Description: The Guggisberg Deutsch Kase Haus Cheese Factory located in Middlebury, IN was originally founded in 1979 by a local Amish man and was called "Deutsch Kase Haus" which translates to "German Cheese House". It was purchased in 2009 by Guggisberg Cheese, an Ohio company founded by a young Swiss immigrant Alfred Guggisberg in 1950 with local ties to the Amish farming community there.
The Guggisberg Deutsch Kase Haus Cheese Factory in Indiana produces mostly Colby, Marble, Yogurt and other curd-type products. During my visit, they had two vats of Colby being made. It was nice to see mostly Amish and Mennonites working the store and factory. As I pulled into their driveway just before they opened at 8:00am, two Amish men were arriving to work by bicycle. A continued reminder of a pace of life so different than what we have in "English" communities.
Today visitors coming to take in the Amish experience of NW Indiana, can stop here to see how cheese is made using today's modern "stirred curd" method through the viewing windows in the store. Hours for cheesemaking are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 12:00noon. I did snap a couple of photos which are attached to this review, but as you will see, the viewing windows does get yucked up making photos less than clear. Hopefully, you will get the gist of how the milk is processed and made to form the cheese curds that are later pressed into blocks or barrels.
In addition to their world class cheeses, they sell a number of locally made Amish food items and handcrafts in their store. I picked up a couple of jars of jam made by Fry's, a local Amish producer of food products. The 20 oz. jars (a peach and a blackberry) were $4.99 each . . . and seemingly a good value considering that other places sell homemade Amish jellies and jams for that price but in smaller (16 oz) jars.
While they do have seasonal hours (summer and winter) visitors can shop at the store Monday through Saturday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. During the summer (May through October), they are open until 5:30pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Keep in mind however, that to view the cheesemaking operation, you will want to arrive before noontime, Monday through Friday.
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