The Maine Cheese Guild is thrilled to announce our Second Annual Maine Cheese Awards celebrating the many talents of our Maine cheesemaking community. Winners will be announced on the Main Stage at the Maine Cheese Festival on Sunday September 11, 2022. In addition participants and winners will be featured in our post event media follow up including social media outlets and press campaigns. The Guild is proud of the many talented artisans and we are excited to celebrate and the many delicious Maine cheeses.
This year, in the first round of judging, we invite any cheesemakers to take part in judging any categories they have not entered. The top five from each category will then be judged by our panel of expert judges from across the state. This is a great opportunity to learn about competitions, judging and taste new cheeses from the community.
Award Instructions and Rules
• Creameries must be licensed in Maine.
• All cheese entries must be made within the state using Maine milk.
• Cheesemakers may submit up to a total of 8 cheeses, but only 3 per category
• Submit a minimum of .5 lb per entry,
• Wrapped and labeled cheese must include the category they are entering.
Entry Information
• Submissions will be accepted beginning Monday, August 29, 2022
• Deadline for cheese submissions will be Thursday, September 8, 2022
• First round judging will take place on Friday, September 9 in the morning (open to all cheesemakers who want to take part)
• Second round judging will take place on Friday, September 9 in the afternoon
Ship cheese entries to:
Broken Arrow
545 Congress Street
Portland, ME 04101
or contact Holly Aker to coordinate delivery (207) 595-2344.
Judging
Judging will be anonymous and tastings conducted blind by a panel of judges. In the first round, cheeses will be scored by your peers narrowing the field to the top five cheeses from each category. The second round of judging will occur in the afternoon by our panel of expert judges.
Categories of cheese will include all milks
1. Fresh Cheese
2. Flavored Fresh Cheese
3. Feta
4. Bloomy Rind
5. Washed Rind Cheese
6. Aged Cheese natural rind
7. Cheddar
8. Blue Cheese
Cheese will be assessed based on appearance, texture, consistency, and taste.
Judging will consist of a 10-point scale, rating each assessment on a scale of 1 to 10.
Each category will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, based on judges scores.
Awards for overall Best-in-Show and a Special Recognition will also be determined.
Please register for this event to be contacted about your submission. If you are interested in participating in the first round of peer-to-peer scoring, please email mainecheeseguld@gmail.com. You do not need to enter cheese to participate but you need to be a cheesemakers.
Questions? Contact Holly Aker at the email address above.
View a list of our 2021 winners here.