For years, Stuart Veldhuizen sold milk commercially, watching tanker trucks drive away without any clue about how his yield would be used. He wanted to have a say in what became of it. To do that, he learned how to make cheese and started Veldhuizen Cheese in 2002.
A man who was born in Minnesota keeps Guernseys, Jerseys, and Normandes on a farm just outside Dublin, located less than two hours northwest of Waco. He has raised dairy cows there since 1990, with assistance from his extended family.
From Milk Tankers to Cheese Wheels
Stuart found selling milk no longer profitable. He took a short course at the University of Wisconsin before traveling to workshops in Virginia, Alabama, and Georgia, where he studied how small farms approached cheesemaking. Upon his return to Texas, he founded Veldhuizen Cheese in 2002. Since then, he has been experimenting with it continually.
He spoke those very words, saying “I can be creative,” “which I really didn’t know I had in me until I got into cheesemaking.”.
Stuart’s father, Bill Veldhuizen, dug the cheese cave into the side of a hill, making it much bigger than Stuart had requested. “I figured you’d need some extra room,” he told his son at the time. The elder Veldhuizen was correct.
Redneck Cheddar and Ashes of My Ex
SpindleTap Brewery is a business run by Stuart’s tinkering has produced a range of distinctive wheels. The Redneck cheddar is creamy and mild, melting easily, with a malty flavor from being steeped in a Russian imperial stout from Houston’s, and it makes a beer known as Ol’ Redneck, which is an older variant of their standard product.
Among the standouts is a triple-cream blue, along with a rich Brie variety that a native Wisconsinite may not have met before. Spring Fling is produced only during the season when the cows graze on tender grass, yielding a sweet milk prized by cheesemakers. Ashes of My Ex is a complex cheese featuring notes of “cherry and vanilla cream soda,” marked with ground bourbon-barrel ash that results in striking gray streaks.
The dairy relies on unheated, raw milk and an aging technique known as affinage, a traditional French method involving storage in a cellar or cave-like setting. The operation runs on a farmstead basis, with the milk sourced from cattle that reside on the premises.
Chefs Who Swear by Veldhuizen
Chefs across the state appreciate Veldhuizen’s quality. Kendall Antonelli, cofounder of Austin’s Antonelli’s Cheese, notes the company’s longevity compared with other Texan cheesemakers. She calls its merchandise “inspired by European traditions yet unmistakably Texan in character.” Antonelli also notes that it is one of the few Texas farms raising sheep and making cheese from their milk.
Jason Adams, owner of Vagabond Pizza in Abilene, has used Veldhuizen’s cheeses for years. “To me, [it’s] one of the best cheeses in the state, if not the entire South, if not in the entire country,” he said. He particularly likes the Redneck cheddar for pimento cheese, which he serves with biscuits as a starter.
In 2025, Chef Stephan Pyles opened the Seeker in Stephenville and began searching for Texas products before finding Veldhuizen. There, he serves Bosque blue cheese paired with poached Bosc pears. Ol’ Redneck cheddar appears in the mac and cheese. A cheese inspired by Holland, topped with whole cumin seeds, covers the burgers.
Pyles, a longtime champion of Texas ingredients, says you cannot separate the location from the product. Veldhuizen’s cheeses are “Texan inherently,” he said. “It’s Texas cattle; it’s Texas sheep.”
A Family Operation
The farm is a family undertaking. Stuart’s father was “still on the tractor at ninety-one” before he died at 96 last year. A 17-year-old grandson works at the cheese stand and “likes to get buff” for football by flipping cheese wheels in the aging room.
Of the total 70,000 pounds of cheese produced each year, 80 percent is sold to restaurants. The remaining portion reaches customers through shops, online sales, and the tasting room on the property, where tours are offered year-round.
The cheeses include:
- Redneck cheddar — steeped in stout from SpindleTap Brewery
- Ol’ Redneck — the aged version of the cheddar
- Bosque blue — paired with poached Bosc pears at the Seeker
- Ashes of My Ex — marbled with bourbon-barrel ash, notes of cherry and vanilla cream soda
- Spring Fling — made only when cows graze on tender grass
- Triple-cream blue — a rich Brie-style variety
- Dutch-inspired cheese with whole cumin seeds — a burger topping favorite
Key Facts
- Founded: 2002
- Location: near Dublin, Texas
- Annual output: some 70,000 pounds of cheese
- Sold to restaurants: 80 percent
- Stephan Pyles opened the Seeker in Stephenville in 2025
Stuart views the farm as the culmination of his life’s work. Meanwhile, for Texas chefs, restaurants, and diners, the cheeses hold their own appeal, just as much as the cows themselves do.
Texas Monthly published the piece in its September edition, with the headline reading “The Happiest Cows in Texas.”. The article included several markers, including 2026, which were used to note quotations and figures taken from elsewhere.
Source: texasmonthly.com