Buholzer Brothers Brick Cheese - For Pizza-Making - January 2025

Over the years, I've posted about various cheeses that I've been using for pizza-making here on the blog.   The first one (I think) is back in 2011 when I posted about how I had been using Chellino Scamorza Cheese (a low-moisture, non-smoked scamorza from Joliet) in my pizza making at home.  In 2022, I posted about a full-fat low-moisture mozzarella + Fontina combo that I was using at the time.  Today, I'm adding another chapter to my pizza cheese archives:  Buholzer Brothers Brick Cheese.  I've been using Brick cheese for a long time, but never documented the details.  

Below is the brand of Brick Cheese as seen in the deli case at the local Jewels (Right next to a Muenster, of course).  This was $7.49 per pound (not on sale) this week:

Buholzer Brothers Brick Cheese is from Monroe, Wisconsin.  Here's their product page.  Their listing describes their Brick Cheese as:

Brick is a Wisconsin original, first made by John Jossi around 1877. Brick was named for its shape and because cheesemakers originally used bricks to press the moisture from the cheese. Wisconsin leads the nation in the production of brick and surface-ripened brick. Brick has an earthy flavor that has just a touch of nuttiness when young but turns pungent and tangy when aged.

They also crow about a number of awards this Brick cheese has won over the years.  

I use brick in combination with a few other cheeses on my pies these days:  whole milk low-moisture mozzarella + brick + some white cheddar (for Frico) and finishing with a lot of SarVecchio.