A BRIEF PRESENTATION OF ALMNÄS BRUK     ●    OUR HANDMADE ORGANIC CHEESE      ●     BACK TO THE SWEDISH WEB PAGES


Welcome to Almnäs Bruk
- one of Sweden's largest organic farms

Almnäs Bruk is situated on the west coast of the lake “Vättern” south of the small town “Hjo”. It is one of the largest organic farms in Sweden producing organic milk certified by the Swedish organization KRAV. In addition to grass, wheat and barley we grow the ancient wheat “European spelt – Triticum spelta”.

The farm consists of 4 400 acres of forest and 2 000 acres of farmed land. In addition to the manor there is a number of buildings, many which are several hundred years old. The old distillery from 1770 has recently been rebuilt to house our new production of handmade quality cheese.

Organic farming means that a natural cycle of farming is used which does not exploit the soil. Furthermore no artificial fertilizers or chemical pesticides are used. Our livestock is kept in a natural way, letting them graze in the large pastures for as many months as the weather permits, keeping them inside only in the cold winter months. This gives us happy and healthy milking cows!
 

Almnäs has always
been a farm with a vast number of activities

For several hundred years people have farmed the land at Almnäs as well as selling lumber from its forrest. Almnäs has also had its own iron works, brick factory, saw mill, distillery, mill and a dairy.

Founded in 1225
The first mention of Almnäs is in a document of 14 August 1225 defining its borders. The first owners were the monks of the “Alvastra monastery” across the lake.

KRAV-certified production
At present the farm is a certified organic farm with milk production from 350 cows and an equal number of younger animals. We grow grass, wheat, barley, canola and European spelt. Most of it goes to feed our cows.

The kitchen of Cajsa Warg
The manor at Almnäs was built around 1750 and in the basement it is said that the legendary Swedish cook of the period Cajsa Warg worked for the first family living in the house.

Experience our hand-made organic cheese

The rebirth of our cheese production is one of our most exciting projects ever. Production started on 20 October 2008 after a building period of two years. The cheese is made in the old distillery from 1770.

We have restarted production of a cheese we call Wrångebäck Sweden®. This cheese is Sweden´s first officially registered cheese and was produced on our farm from 1860´s until 1961. After a break of 47 years it feels good to have them on the shelves again. A number have already been sold to Swedish customers.

Two other exciting cheeses are also being made by our experienced cheese maker Elisabeth Andersson and her assistant Thomas Nolberger. One is called Almnäs Tegel™ with a shape and colour associating it to the former brick production on the farm. The other is called Anno 1225™ a smaller cheese made in baskets which were the first used cheese moulds in Sweden.

All of our cheeses are made using our own organic milk only. Treating them with salt and no artificial products gives them a natural rind. more►
 

  

ALMNÄS BRUK AB, SE-544 94 HJO, SWEDEN ● TEL +46 503 160 05 ● E-MAIL