You are strong and mature and best enjoyed in thin, thoughtful slices. The mountain character comes with it.
Cheese profile
- MildBold
- SoftFirm
- HomebodyExplorer
- SoloFondue crowd
- ClassicWild
The real cheese facts
- Origin
- Alps of the Bernese Oberland
- Milk
- Raw alpine milk
- Type
- Hard cheese made in a copper vat over a wood fire
- Ripening
- Alpkäse at least 4.5 months; Hobelkäse at least 6 months plus 12 more
- Season
- Made in summer only
- Best for
- Alpkäse in slices, Hobelkäse shaved
Source: cheesesfromswitzerland.com · Last checked 28.10.2026
Taste and texture
Berner Alpkäse is the younger of the two and is sold after at least four and a half months. Hobelkäse is the same cheese given a year and a half more to dry, until it is hard enough to shave.
How to eat it
Slice Berner Alpkäse like any hard cheese. Hobelkäse is named after the Hobel, a plane: you shave it into paper-thin rolls, the same way people eat Sbrinz.
Did you know?
The Stumpf Chronicle of 1548 already praised the cheese from the alps of this region. The dairy instructions that today’s methods closely follow date from 1872.
Alpkäse or Hobelkäse?
They start as the same cheese. Berner Alpkäse is sold after at least four and a half months. For Hobelkäse, selected wheels of the best quality spend at least six months in the cellar and then at least twelve more months drying, until the cheese is hard enough to shave.
How to keep it
Wrap it in cheese paper or waxed paper rather than cling film, so it can breathe, and keep it in the vegetable drawer of the fridge. Take it out about half an hour before you eat it.
Questions about Berner Hobelkäse AOP
Which wheels become Hobelkäse?
Only wheels in the top quality class, surchoix. The rind smear is removed before the long final ripening.
When is Berner Alpkäse made?
Only in summer, on the alps of the Bernese Oberland, in copper vats heated by a wood fire.