The Demise of Limburger Cheese

Photo credit: Clark Street Blog

Limburger cheese was once popular, in spite of its smell, but now is only produced by one cheese maker (h/t The Dish):

Since 1911, Limburger makers have stood their ground to the point where there is but one Limburger man left in the United States—Mr. Myron Olson of Monroe, Wisconsin. They had help, to be sure, from the intractable cheese itself. Limburger’s odor—caused by a unique bacteria that decomposes it in a few months time from a fresh, bland, feta-like cheese into a sharp, stinky one that eventually gives off ammonia tones—has proven impossible to remove without dulling its taste. Still, that smell was no secret. So how did a working-class cheese, one of the most popular in America, dwindle to but one producer? Not every immigrant’s story is a happy one, and such a tale is Limburger’s.

For several years at our neighbor's party during the Ohio State-Michigan game, one of the guys would bring some Limburger cheese.  I was always tempted to try some, but never did.  I do remember guys complaining about who "cut the cheese" when they were near it.  Now that he hasn't brought any for a couple of years, I feel like I missed out on something.  I know that at one point, the only major plant making Limburger (or Liederkranz) cheese was in Van Wert, Ohio.