Cheeses of Gudbrandsdal
A long Norwegian valley of summer farms where a dairymaid added cream to whey and created brunost, the brown cheese.
Made, aged and sold here
Best time: June to August, the seter season.
Gudbrandsdal is a long valley in central Norway, running from Lillehammer north towards the Dovre mountains. Its farms send cattle and goats up to summer mountain farms, seter. In 1863, at a summer farm in the valley, a dairymaid named Anne Hov added cream to whey as it was boiled down, creating the rich brown cheese that became Gudbrandsdalsost, the best-known brunost.
Brunost
Brunost is made by boiling whey, often with added milk and cream, for hours until the sugars caramelise and it thickens into a brown paste. It is stirred as it cools and pressed into blocks. The taste is sweet, like caramel, with a tangy edge, especially when goat's milk is used. It is sliced thin with a cheese slicer onto bread or waffles.
Valley and seter
The valley is lined with old timber farms, stave churches and the landscape of Peer Gynt, whose legend Ibsen set here. The Peer Gynt road climbs from near Vinstra to mountain pastures, where some seter still make cheese in summer and sell brown cheese and sour cream porridge. Lillehammer, at the southern end, has a large open-air museum of farm buildings.
A trail idea for Gudbrandsdal
- Peer Gynt road Drive into the mountains past summer farms.
- A seter Taste brown cheese and porridge at a summer farm, where open.
- Ringebu stave church A medieval wooden church in the valley.
- Maihaugen The open-air museum of old farms at Lillehammer.
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Gudbrandsdal" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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