A new generation of cheesemakers is reshaping Britain and Ireland’s cheese landscape blending heritage with bold innovation. Meet Mike Thomson, the “accidental cheesemaker” behind Young Buck, the raw milk blue that put Northern Ireland back on the cheese map.

While many of our favourite cheese stories are steeped in tradition - with ties to the land going back through generations - a big and exciting chunk of the UK’s modern cheese landscape is made up of much newer entrants into the curd community.

Whether rediscovering forgotten recipes or creating styles never before seen on our shores, these cheesemakers have done their bit to breathe new life into our cheese scene – part of a golden age of cheese in Britain and Ireland that enjoys heritage and innovation in equal measure.

In Northern Ireland, where artisan cheesemaking vanished for decades, following the effects of rationing and the shift towards industrial cheese production, fresh faces and fresh ideas were needed.

Among the plucky few who answered the call was Mike Thomson, the maker of this month’s hero cheese, Young Buck.

“I always call myself an accidental cheesemaker”, says Mike. “Whenever you're not from any kind of farming background, it's kind of extra accidental, and I just fell into it. It started when I worked in a shop in Belfast called Arcadia. We were hearing all kind of great stories about Irish cheese, and there was just this big gap up North.”

Young Buck is the result of this very happy accident. We visited Mike to hear the story behind Northern Ireland’s first and only raw milk blue cheese.

Mike Thomson - Cheesemaker & Cheesemonger

THE STORY

On a mission to put Northern Ireland back on the artisan cheese map, Mike set about gaining the knowledge, experience, and inspiration to make it happen.

Mike recalls, “It was perfect timing, as The School of Artisan Food was just starting, and I was veery fortunate to get on for the first year.” Mike learnt from renowned experts like Val Bines and Ivan Larcher, before landing work placements with cheesemakers.

“I was able to work with people like Joe Schneider at Stichelton and Jamie at Montgomery’s for a couple of weeks, and then ended up at Sparkenhoe for about a year and a half. So that was great to get real hands on experience and they kind of threw me into it. But I’m a bit of a home bird, and wanted to move back and get started.”

With no traditional territorial styles in Northern Ireland to lean into, Mike had a blank slate to work with. “There's no real history of Northern Irish cheesemaking. In mythology, there’s a Queen Maeve who was killed with a slingshot of cheese to the eye, and another mystic King with buttocks like rounds of cheese. But not much aside from murder and arses.”

Inspired by his time at Sparkenhoe and the idea of “making a historic cheese, but in a new way”, Mike started narrowing down his options. He ruled out soft cheeses, as there were no markets to sell to customers quickly and directly, and hard cheeses, because he couldn’t afford to keep their milk on the shelf for that long.

“We kind of knew that we needed something that was aged for no longer than three months, and I really liked the process of making blue cheese. I spoke to Andy Swinscoe at The Courtyard Dairy, and he said ‘if you can make a good blue, then we’ll buy a chunk of it’. So that’s what we did.”

When it came to choosing a business name, Mike drew inspiration from a little further afield, having always been a fan of American diners that carry the owner’s name. “And there was this American cheese writer from the 1800s, who called anything that wasn't cheddar ‘fancy cheese’. We knew we weren’t going to make cheddar, so we ended up with Mike’s Fancy Cheese.”

Ready to begin his cheesemaking adventure, Mike needed premises, milk and money. “I was about 26 at the time, so no-one was about to give me any money! So we used crowdfunding.”

With some pretty serious startup costs to cover, including buildings, equipment, and a specialist cold room, Mike managed to attract around 100 different investors, throwing in anything from £10 to £10,000, In just a few weeks, he secured £80,000 worth of funding, and was ready to start making Northern Ireland’s ever first raw milk blue cheese.

Mike’s Fancy Cheese - Belfast - an exceptional Cheesemongers

THE SET UP

Mike found a unit in Newtownards to call home – based around 10 miles east of Belfast for easy access to the city. But he quickly realised that the unit was surrounded by small scale dairy farms to source milk from, set among the rolling hills that are visible from the dairy.

As a raw milk cheesemaker, Mike’s Fancy Cheese currently works with two farms, to help mitigate any risk of losing milk supply as a result of TB outbreaks. Milk is collected from the farms on alternative days, with each batch of Young Buck always made with a single herd’s milk.

The merits of raw milk remain a constant topic of debate in cheese loving circles – with many lauding its ability to impart complex flavours through the retention of natural bacteria, moulds, and yeasts, but Mike has his own perspective on it.

“We get the milk from farms 10 minutes away, we turn it into cheese, and sell it in a shop 25 minutes down the road. It’s such a simple food chain. And pasteurisers are ridiculously expensive. But using raw milk also means we’ll always stay small. At the time we set up, you had the ‘punks’ of craft beer selling up to massive companies, and I didn’t want that. Raw milk means I can never sell out.”

Having committed his life to making one cheese, Mike decided to diversify in 2018 and open a cheese shop in Belfast. “We didn't know which way Brexit was going to go, and had lots of cheese going over borders, so we opened the shop as a way of becoming more resilient. The more that we sold directly, the less we'd have to worry.” The shop on Little Donegall Street has since become a go-to destination for top notch Irish cheese – a must-visit for any cheese fan visiting the city.

Resilience is an essential characteristic for any small cheesemaker, and Mike’s resolve was given an almighty test towards the end of last year, when a malfunction in his aging room sent temperatures soaring overnight. The team returned to find truckles exploding and spilling out over the shelves and floor.

“Obviously it was a bit of a shock, but things go wrong and you learn. We’ve basically put two cheap things in place that will stop it ever happening again. One is a little thermostat cut off, and the other is a temperate reader which we can check on our phones.”

Bolstered by an outpouring of support from his customers, colleagues and the wider cheese community – and living up to his reputation as a determinedly positive force of nature – Mike dusted himself down, cleared out the aging room, and started again with the next day’s milk.

THE CHEESE

The name ‘Young Buck’ gave a nod it’s status as a newcomer when the cheese first launched, with Mike explaining how, “In Northern Ireland, you'd call someone a wee young buck if they were an up-and-comer” – but it’s more than earned its place as one of the UK and Ireland’s most treasured artisan cheeses.

Starting from a recipe found in a book published in 1917 called Practical Cheesemaking, Young Buck is a raw milk blue cheese, close to a Stilton, aged for a minimum of 12 weeks, and pierced late to encourage more blueing.

With a fairly gnarly rind, holding a paste with a smooth and satisfying mouthfeel, Young Buck is robust, rounded and well salted, while also carrying delicate tropical notes and a peppery spicing. A highly accomplished blue from our self-proclaimed ‘accidental cheesemaker.’

While entering a life in cheese through an untraditional path, Mike seems to fit the mould.

“I think you need a certain personality type to be a cheesemaker. A bit unhinged, passionate, but enjoying a good time. I get to work with a lot of friends and we’re part of a great community, so it’s easy to stay jolly!”

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