Montafon_Sommer_2021_EN

E-BIKE & HIKE TOUR UP THE MUTTJÖCHLE
4 QUESTIONS FOR
HANS SCHULER
HOW IS LIFE UP BY
THE ALPINE PASTURES
It is a life in and with nature. Life here is
wonderful. We live in quite a confined space
and there is no television, just a radio. The
alpine pasture is located some distance
away in a beautiful valley basin. But it is
close enough to the Sonnenkopf for many
mountain bikers and hikers to pass by. We
go with time here and not against it. And we
pass that on to the cows. Because there are
times when they don’t even come close to a
barn for five weeks. They are even milked on
the pasture. And are only fed with grass and
hay. I’m convinced that it’s possible to taste
this tranquillity and this natural approach
to things in the milk and the Sura Kees.
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL
ABOUT THE WASSERSTUBENALPE?
The Lower and the Upper Wasserstubenalpe
belong together, but only the upper one is
farmed. Namely from the middle of June
until the middle of September. The Wasserstubenalpe
is a typical Montafon alpine pasture
that specialises in the art of producing
“Sura Kees”. We are located at 1,734 metres
above sea level in the Silbertal and cultivate
approximately 120 acres of pasture. We
have dairy cows, breeding cows, calves, cattle
and alpine pigs. Last summer, we produced
3,500 kilos of Montafon Sura Kees
and 1,400 kilos of Montafon alpine butter
from 35,000 litres of milk. And managed to
sell all of it by the end of September.
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT
PRODUCING SURA KEES?
Well, Sura Kees is a low-fat cheese that is
slightly sour but mild. It is very healthy and
can be used in multiple ways. Making it is
an easy process. After milking the cow, the
milk is separated into cream and skimmed
milk in a centrifuge. The skimmed milk is
refrigerated and then heated to 28 degrees
Celsius in a copper kettle and soured with
a bacterial culture. Twelve hours later, the
cheese curd is cut and another two hours
later it is extracted from the kettle and put
into moulds. Within the next twelve hours,
it has to be salted and then it’s already
ready to be bought and consumed.
HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR TIME
DURING THE WINTER MONTHS
Most people are curious about that (laughs).
That’s when I work as a snow groomer
driver on the Golm. I enjoy the snow and
look forward to the next summer on the alpine
pasture.
Thank you very much, Hans!
Warm, authentic and strong as a bear. That’s how the alpine dairyman
Hans (Johannes) Schuler is often described. What is life like as
an alpine dairyman, what is so special about the Wasserstubenalpe,
how is Sura Kees produced and what does he spend his time doing in
the winter? He was happy to answer all of these questions.