Hopelessly Bleu
- Producer
- Pure Luck Farm and Dairy
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Texas
- Size
- 5 ins diameter, 1.5-2 ins high
- Weight
- 1.5 lbs
- Website
- www.purelucktexas.com
- Milk
- Goat
- Classification
- Soft
- Rennet
- Microbial
- Rind
- Mold Ripened
One of the few artisan cheesemaking operations in Texas, Pure Luck Farm and Dairy is located near Dipping Springs.
The company’s story begins in 1979 when Sara Sweetser purchased eleven acres together with an old homestead on Barton Creek with a view to raising her daughters.
The land had fomerly been a working tomato farm in the 1930′s and Sara’s appreciation of well-tilled soil led to a productive vegetable garden. While taking care of a friend’s goats, Sara fell in love. Her affection for animals resulted in the acquisition of various pets together with a small herd of dairy goats. Shortly afterwards, inspired by tasting another friend’s cheeses, Sara started to experiment with making her own.
About ten years later, Sara and her husband Denny were one of the first farms in Texas to file the necessary paperwork with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) as a “Certified Organic Farm.” Sara came up with the farm name, decalring it was “Pure Luck that it worked”!
The batches of cheese that Sara made for family and friends were so well received that in 1995, she made the major transition to start a Grade A Goat Dairy. Since then, Pure Luck’s dedication to quality and the family’s love for the goats have resulted in several national cheese honors. Although tragically, Sara died in 2005, her passion and love of the farm remains with her family, with her daughter Amelia heading the cheesemaking operation.
Pure Luck Dairy’s Hopelessly Bleu is named for Amelia’s sister Hope, who always refused to eat this particular cheese.
Hopelessly Bleu is produced between March and October each year. It is made from pasteurized milk, innoculated during the heating process with Pencilium Candidum and P. Roqueforti cultures. Cheeses are then ripened for between 8-12 weeks before release. At this point, each wheel has an attractively mottled, undulating, blue-grey rind.
The interior is ivory white in color, shot through with pale blue veins. The texture is soft and yielding with a full, cream-like mouthfeel.
Tasting Notes
In terms of flavor, this cheese is renowned for being a “gateway blue”. In other words, its mild and slightly sweet flavors appeal to many people either trying goat’s milk cheeses or blue cheeses for the first time. Rich notes of butter, milk and gentle hint of blue are characteristic of this cheese.
