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The Ilchester Cheese Company is a British cheese company. They do not actually manufacture any cheese, but specialise in blending a variety of British cheeses with other ingredients, such as beer and fruit. In 1962 Ken Seaton, owner of the Ivelchester Hotel in Ilchester, found that too much cheese was sitting unpurchased in the hotel’s dining room. To create demand for the cheese, he decided to try combining it with spices and beer. After several months, he settled on a recipe including chives, Worthington E Bitter beer and a secret blend of spices. He had created his now-famous beer cheese.

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Caerphilly cheese is a hard, white cheese that originates in the area around the town of Caerphilly in Wales, although it is now also made in England, particularly in the South West and on the English border with Wales. It was not originally made in Caerphilly, but was sold at the market there, hence taking the town’s name. It has a mild taste, but perhaps its most noticeable feature is its saltiness. It is rumoured that the cheese was developed over time to provide the coal miners of the area with a convenient way of replenishing the salt lost through hard work over ten hour shifts underground and so was a staple of the diet of the coal-miners.

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Gloucester cheese is a traditional, unpasteurized, semi-hard cheese, which has been made in Gloucestershire in England since the 16th century. Gloucester cheeses were at one time made only with the milk from Gloucester cows, which are now almost extinct. There are two types of Gloucester cheese: Single and Double. The main difference is that Single Gloucester is made with skimmed milk combined with a small amount of whole milk. Double Gloucester is made from only whole milk. Both types have a natural rind and a hard texture, but Single Gloucester is more crumbly, lighter in texture and lower in fat. Double Gloucester is allowed to age for longer periods than Single, and it has a stronger and more savoury flavour. It is also slightly firmer. Both types are produced in round shapes, but Double Gloucester rounds are larger.

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Cheshire cheese is one of the oldest recorded cheeses in British history and is referred to in the Domesday Book. This is no surprise given that even today the county is one of the main dairy regions of England, and has a long history of salt production. Cheshire was the most popular cheese on the market in the late 18th century. In 1758 the Royal Navy ordered that ships be stocked with Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses. By 1823, Cheshire cheese production was estimated at 10,000 tonnes per year. Until the late 19th century, the different varieties of Cheshire cheeses were aged to a sufficient level of hardness to withstand the rigours of transport (by horse and cart, and later by boat) to London for sale. Younger, fresher, crumbly cheese that required shorter storage – similar to the Cheshire cheese of today – began to gain popularity towards the end of the 19th century, particularly in the industrial areas in the North and the Midlands.

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Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard, pale yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originating in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset. Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom, accounting for 51% of the country’s £1.9 billion annual cheese market. Cheddar cheese has been copied widely, both in the United Kingdom and in other countries, including Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. In all of these ‘Cheddar’ cheese, in many forms, is readily available, ranging from mild lower-fat cheeses to the more mature higher-fat and sharper cheeses

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