Face Rock Creamery is proud to bring home five medals from the 2023 American Cheese Society (ACS) award ceremony, held on July 19 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Their awards include three 1st place gold medals for Clothbound Cheddar, Peppercorn Harvest Clothbound Cheddar, and Smokey Cheddar. Face Rock’s newest specialty cheddar, Truffle Cheddar, was honored in its inaugural competition with a silver medal.

Face Rock Creamery, which is celebrating the 10^th Anniversary of its 2013 founding, was honored to receive ACS awards for the following cheeses:

• 1^st: Clothbound Cheddar, Cheddar wrapped in cloth, linen with a natural rind – aged 13 or more months – all milks
• 1^st: Smokey Cheddar, Smoked Cheddars – all milks
• 1^st: Peppercorn Harvest Clothbound Cheddar, Cheddar with Flavor Added – all milks
• 2^nd: Truffle Cheddar, Cheddar with Flavor Added – all milks
• 3^rd: Face 2 Face Clothbound Cheddar, Cheddar wrapped in cloth, linen with a natural rind – aged 13 or more months – all milks

“We are thrilled to have our newest Truffle Cheddar win a medal alongside all three of our signature clothbounds and smoked cheddar,” said Greg Drobot, Face Rock Creamery President. “The competition is always fierce with the amount of cheesemaking talent that is in our industry, and we never know how the categories will shake out. Gathering and catching up with our peers from around the country is a highlight of our year and we congratulate all the winners of this year’s competition.”

ACS hosts the nation’s largest annual cheese competition. The 2023 competition attracted 1,454 entries from cheesemakers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Each entry is judged using taste, technical and aesthetic criteria. Face Rock Creamery has brought home medals from every ACS competition it has entered since it began making cheese in 2013 at their Bandon creamery on the Southern coast of Oregon.