"This little red head is excited for Fresh Curd Friday!" WW Homestead Dairy wrote on their Facebook page on October 20, 2017.

by Kelli Boylen

In July 2017 WW Homestead Dairy, Waukon, Iowa, added the "Coffee Barn" to their existing retail store and ice cream parlor.

“There were no specialty coffee shops in Waukon and we felt that it would be a great complement to our ice cream parlor,” says Liz Murphy of WW Homestead Dairy.  “It also allows us to feature our milk and some great locally roasted coffees. Currently, we serve Verena Street Coffee out of Dubuque, Iowa and Impact Coffee out of Decorah, Iowa.”

In addition to their delicious ice cream, cheese, butter and milk, they now offer a full line of espresso drinks, fresh brewed coffee, tea, and seasonal options such as hot apple cider and hot chocolate made with their own chocolate milk.  

“The response has been great from the community and visitors passing through,” Liz says.

WW Homestead Dairy is a family-run dairy processing plant operated by the Walleser and Weighner families. They  began producing their first cheese curds the summer of 2011 and has since adopted the title of “The Cheese Curd Capital of Iowa.” All the milk used to produce their dairy products comes from the Walleser and Weighner family dairy farms, located in Allamakee County.

This past year they expanded their markets by working with colleges and schools, and are currently working on introducing cottage cheese into their product line.

In 2017, WW Homestead Dairy won awards at both the American Cheese Society judging, in Denver, CO, and the Iowa State Fair Iowa Quality Dairy contest. In the ACS flavored cheese curd class, WW Homestead Dairy placed first with their Chipotle Morita cheese curds, and second with Jalapeno Ranch cheese curds. At the Iowa State Fair, WW Homestead Dairy placed first in the Cow Milk Cheeses class with their Bloody Mary cheese curds and third with their White Cheddar cheese curds. In the Butter class their Salted Butter placed third.

Their slogan “Where Does Your Milk Come From,” has become a mission statement for the WW Homestead Dairy crew and they enjoy giving tours of their processing plant and farms to visitors. They have given many tours to school groups and have enjoyed teaching the students how milk gets from the cows into a gallon of milk. Anyone who stops by their retail store is encouraged to walk down the processing hallway, which has large viewing windows, and take a self-guided tour.

You can meet some of the friendly faces from WW Homestead Dairy as they sample their cheese, curds, deep fried curds & milk at Feast! Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester, Minn., from 10 am to 4 pm. The day will be well spent, with scores of different food businesses exhibiting in addition to chef demos, workshops and kids activities.

Related:

Dairy Done Right