Soft-Ripened

Soft-ripened cheeses ripen from the outside in. They are soft even when chilled and can be runny when at room temperature​. The outside of a soft-ripened cheese is often a white, bloomy rind that has been added to the milk or sprayed with a mold (penicillium candidum) before a short aging period​.

Types of soft-ripened cheeses include Brie and Camembert, both French cheeses, and Limburger, which originated in Belgium. In the U.S. most of these cheeses are made from pasteurized milk ​while in Europe many are still made from raw milk​. FDA regulations require raw milk cheese to be aged at least 60 days, so most European cheese makers make both raw milk and pasteurized versions of their cheeses that fall into this category​.