The automated affineur at Park Farm in Kelston, near Bath, is an unusual addition to a UK artisan cheesemaker, with most still doing the age-old task by hand. 

Basil has been made specifically for Bath Soft Cheese by Somerset-based Barvick Engineering and is used for the business's award-winning Wyfe of Bath Cheese.

The semi-hard, Gouda-style cheese - which takes its name from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - is matured for five months, or 12 months for the extra mature version, and needs to be regularly 'brushed' with brine as it ripens to ensure its distinctive flavour. 

That task, part of the "affinage" process, is usually done by hand but Bath Soft Cheese is taking a step forward by enlisting the help of Basil to brush thousands of cheeses as they ripen. 

The robotic affineur has five large brushes - two on either side and one for the circumference of the cheese - which do the same job in much less time, freeing up human staff for the more skilled task of making more batches of the cheese.

Managing director Hugh Padfield said: “Until now we've always brushed our Wyfes by hand, but with several thousand now in our ripening rooms, we needed a bit of extra help. 

“Robotic affineurs are used in some countries, with a Swiss firm making them for turning and brushing cheese, but we think this is fairly unique in the UK. The fact we've had Basil specifically made by a local company is even better and he's doing a brilliant job. 

“At Bath Soft Cheese we've always been proud of the traditional, manual methods we use when it comes to our cheese, and while we will never stray from that, we also know when we need a bit of help, and Basil the Brush is the perfect way to ensure we can keep these thousands of cheeses exactly as they need to be and continue to produce the Wyfe of Bath that everyone knows and loves.”

Wyfe of Bath is one of Bath Soft Cheese's award-winning products, with its Extra Mature version scooping a 3 Star Great Taste Award in the Guild of Fine Food's Great Taste Awards in 2020. The cheese was among just 205 products to receive three stars in the awards last year, out of a total of 12,777 products, just 205 were awarded three stars - including Extra Mature Wyfe of Bath. 

Wyfe of Bath also won 'Supreme Champion' at Nantwich International Cheese Awards in 2019, beating off competition from more than 5,000 other cheeses, while Bath Blue triumphed over nearly 2,600 cheeses from 33 countries to take the top prize at the World Cheese Awards in 2014.