Lilith Spencer | DZTA 2025
Lilith Spencer DZTA Vision for 2025
It’s September 2031, and I couldn’t be more relieved — my suitcase full of salt made it through Customs! I thought for sure it would scan suspiciously. I’m driving home to Vermont from the Montreal airport, back from another briny bop through Europe. What started back in 2025 as a focused investigation into washed-rind brine concentrations and their impact on rind quality has expanded into a multifaceted conversation about the ways in which science, culture, and geography influence our brine-making practices, ingredient choices, and rind-washing techniques.
This is my third follow-up trip since the research I completed during my initial Daphne Zepos Teaching Award period in 2025-2026. Two years later in 2027, I traveled to Belgium, France, and Germany for a deep-dive into flavor-infused brines, and in 2029, I returned to the Alps to research inoculated brines. I believed from the beginning that my initial DZTA topic would continue to captivate me long-term, but I had no idea it would grow so many branches over the years. A highlight reel plays in my head and I smile with satisfaction as I think about how long I’ve wanted to take this particular trip.
Each salt in my suitcase is naturally-sourced from a unique location, where it is also utilized by local cheesemakers. This time my travels took me to France, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece; to glittering coasts and dark mountain mines and blinding flats. I witnessed traditional and modern salt harvesting and drying processes and tasted dozens of distinctive salt products. I can’t wait to start updating my website, The Brined Rind, with everything I’ve learned so far. My brain is buzzing: I need to connect with Dr. Wolfe and Dr. Dutton, I need to edit my photos, plan experiments, transcribe and translate interviews; I need to put together a proposal for an ACS presentation..! I quickly realize that I’m far too tired to focus on what’s next, and instead find myself ruminating on how I got here:
At the very core of my original DZTA project in 2025 was one simple question, which I aimed to ask as many cheesemakers as possible: How do you make your washed-rind brine? I had no strong hypothesis—I wondered with genuine curiosity whether we were all washing our rinds with the same kind of brine, how similarly or differently we might be making said brine, and how our methods affected our finished products.
I thought it would be equally fascinating to discover either a surprising amount of variation or a remarkable degree of alignment among approaches. I imagined there would likely end up being a few sweeping similarities, along with a number of nuanced anomalies. I was also interested in the degree to which affineurs’ brine-making methods were influenced not just by rind science, but by geographic conditions and cultural preferences.
Modern cheesemakers and affineurs can, of course, safely rely on the washed-rind brine recipes listed in textbooks and suggested by professional consultants. The reliability of these standardized recipes is built on a strong foundation of both history and science. Nevertheless, I wondered: do these rules always work as written in real life? Are we all following them to a tee? When, how, and why might an affineur deviate from an established norm?
Leading up to my first trip, I surveyed cheesemakers and affineurs in the US and abroad, collecting as much preliminary data as I could on actual brine concentrations being used for washed-rind affinage. I also asked a number of questions about how they made their brines: did they make it fresh each day, or in larger batches to use over a period of time? What kind of water and salt did they use? Did they add any other ingredients? Did they make their brine using cold or heated water? Did they allow the brine to rest for a certain period of time before using it? Did they always use the same recipe, or did they ever alter their concentrations in response to specific conditions? To what degree of success?
During my 2025-2026 DZTA travel period I visited a number of washed-rind producers, including Bio-Käserei Wiggensbach in Bavaria; CasArrigoni in Bergamo, Italy; Ortodoxo Queijo in Setúbal, Portugal; and Fromagerie Le Séchey in Le Lieu, Switzerland, among others. These producers collectively offered a dynamic selection of washed-rind styles and formats, all informed by distinct geographies, histories, and cultural factors. Through these visits I was able to witness a wide range of brine-making and application techniques practiced on both modern creations and traditional cheeses.
In my preparatory research, I was unsurprised to learn that most U.S. cheesemakers treat brine as a sterile ingredient. But on my travels, in addition to fresh, sterile solutions like we use here, I also witnessed long-maintained mother brines and pungent morges. I watched cheeses get washed by hand using all sorts of brushes and cloths, and by meticulously-engineered machines. I saw cheeses simply get spritzed, and even witnessed delicate wheels being gently patted with bare brine-dipped hands. I saw brine made with standardized cheese salt and brine made with naturally-sourced local salt; brines infused with herbs and fortified with spirits. As I collected these experiences, I found it easy to imagine future follow-up trips focusing on each of these tempting tangents.
Another crucial experience I arranged for my 2025-2026 DZTA travels was a series of visits to Agroscope research stations in Bern and Fribourg. The experts at Agroscope provided me with data and research about salt and smear-ripened cheeses that I hadn’t had access to before. They also connected me with local off-the-beaten-path cheesemakers, some of whom I was able to visit briefly and would eventually return to for future research.
Once my travels concluded and I returned to my work at the Cellars, I began planning and conducting experiments on small amounts of some of our own cheeses, observing the impact of various brine concentrations on the quality of their rinds. I worked with our sensory team to evaluate and compare the finished cheeses. I was able to connect with Dr. Ben Wolfe to complete more complex analysis, which allowed me to draw clearer correlations. What I was getting at, ultimately, was — could brine concentration adjustment be an underutilized affinage tool? Should we be experimenting more with brine concentrations to create customized solutions for specific challenges?
As I organized my notes, analyzed data, and documented results, I began building The Brined Rind – a website designed for cheese professionals featuring my writing, videos and photography, digestible data, and forums for community discussion, all centered around brine and the role it plays in affinage. The Brined Rind began as a simple blog documenting my initial DZTA travels, and has since become a go-to resource for many members of our industry — from basic brine knowledge to tricky troubleshooting techniques, it serves as a reliable guide for budding and seasoned cheesemakers alike. Through my ongoing travels, I have been able to grow a robust media archive documenting brine usage and washed-rind processes from all over the world. On my Instagram account, @TheBrinedRind, I share my favorite photos and stories with a wider audience, attracting not only industry members but casual curd-nerds and cheese enthusiasts.
Since establishing my initial DZTA topic in 2025, the scope of my ongoing research has widened based on the feedback and follow-up questions I’ve received from colleagues over the years. Attendees from presentations I’ve given at ACS, the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival, the Northeast Dairy Innovation Summit and Bra, comments on The Brined Rind forums and Instagram posts, and conversations with fellow curd-nerds at industry gatherings motivate me to keep taking my topic farther. It’s been a joy to see American cheesemakers using the materials I’ve developed, conducting their own experiments, sharing their successes with the broader community, and growing our collective knowledge base around brine. The Brined Rind has a whole team behind it now – I frequently get to collaborate with colleagues, bringing in fresh perspectives and outside expertise that inspire further exploration.
Earning the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award in 2025 set me off on a journey that may never truly conclude – every answer I’ve found has inevitably prompted a new list of questions. This is what has kept me so engaged with something as seemingly simple as brine for the last six years: always being able to find a new angle, never knowing exactly what I will learn next, and ultimately, connecting with my community around new discoveries. It is a privilege to help carry out Daphne Zepos’ mission with the support and mentorship of the DZTE board, and I am honored to serve as a lifelong educator alongside my fellow DZTA recipients.