Have a question about our farm? Read our top FAQ’s.

Raw Milk FAQ’s

  • Creambrook's high quality, wholesome raw milk is sweet and creamy.  We work very hard to keep the cows on pastures and forages that make delicious milk and has consistently amazing flavor. No onions for the cows to get into here ;) And each farm's raw milk has a unique flavor! 

  • Yes! Creambrook raw milk is not homogenized so the cream rises to the top. Pour it into a wide mouth jar with a lid and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, and then you can scoop the cream off the top to enjoy in your coffee or other fun recipes. 

  • Creambrook raw milk should be sweet and fresh for 7-10 days in the fridge. The cartons block light, which speed up the aging process.

    As milk ages, the sugars in the milk are “eaten up" and the milk will become sour. If opened on delivery day, it should taste sweet and fresh for 7-10 days. If you wait 1-2 weeks to open the milk, it should be sweet for about 5-7 days.

    Raw milk does not turn rancid like pasteurized milk, but sours over time. It can still be used in cooking and baking or to make yogurt or butter once it is sour and makes a great substitute for cultured buttermilk. 

    If you find that your milk is not lasting very long before it begins to taste sour, the first thing to check is your refrigerator temperature. We recommend keeping the milk between 34 - 36 degrees Fahrenheit (36 - 38 degrees is also fine).  Keeping the milk towards the back of the fridge and away from the door will help extend the milk’s freshness as well.  

    Also, as the raw milk gets lower in the carton, it allows more oxygen to be in the bottle which can also speed up the souring process - pouring any remaining milk into a smaller jug/jar may also be helpful to extend its freshness.

  • Raw milk can be frozen for up to 3-6 months. We have found that the creaminess isn't as lovely, and the cream and milk may taste "separated" afterward.  However, if you are wanting to bake or cook with it, it should be just fine.
    You can freeze (upright, to avoid leaks) in the original carton.  We do not recommend freezing in glass, as it easily breaks since the milk expands when freezing. 

    Please click here for more info:  https://rawfarmusa.com/blog/can-you-freeze-raw-dairy-products

  • Our half gallon cartons can be recyclable!  Be sure to check with your local community / recycling vendor to make sure they accept milk cartons.

    The cartons are in compliance with the Health & Safety regulations in the USA, and use 90% less plastic than plastic jugs.  The use of all substances in the cartons are in full compliance with relevant food contact regulations.  Bisphenol A, B, F, and S (BPAs) are not used by our vendor during the manufacture of these cartons, nor are they listed as components or starting substances.  PFAS are not used as components in any of the raw materials, nor are they used as processing aids by our vendor’s suppliers.

  • At our creamery, we run two population tests (Rapid Aerobic Place Count and Coliform Count) which indicate both the cleanliness of the raw milk as well as our equipment and systems.

    We test every batch of milk on-site the day that it is bottled into cartons, and the test results are ready within 24 hours.  (For example - when we bottle on Monday, the test results are ready on Tuesday.  That batch of milk is delivered on Tuesday or Wednesday of that same week.) 

    Currently, we cannot test for pathogens on site, as that would negatively compromise our creamery. We send lab samples from every batch of milk to two independent, third-party labs and the lab results are sent to us every Friday. It takes a few days to culture potential pathogens in a lab.

    We test for the four primary dairy pathogens Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria, and E coli H0157. We also run multiple non-pathogen tests for coliform (10 counts/milliliter), aerobic plate count, somatic cell count, butterfat, protein, and mastitis cultures. These tests combined give us the highest chance for risk mitigation in our food safety program. We have never had a positive pathogen in our milk. 

    We have voluntarily chosen to follow the same standards as licensed Pennsylvania raw milk dairies, so that is why we chose these particular lab tests. The raw milk has to test as clean as pasteurized milk. For over eight years, we have had incredibly clean lab tests that are well below the standard limit. 

    We are members of the Raw Milk Institute and report all of our monthly testing averages to them. You can find the results here under our farm name. https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org/listed-farmers 

  • Raw milk is a nutrient-dense whole food that contains proteins and healthy fats in their natural state, and all of the bioactive enzymes, vitamins, and minerals are readily available for the human body to easily digest. 

     Raw milk was perfectly designed for us to enjoy and nourish our bodies. Read more about the nutrition facts of Creambrook's raw milk HERE. 

  • Thanks for wanting to start enjoying raw milk from Creambrook! Please visit our How it Works page for all the details to sign up.

Membership FAQ’s

  • We offer several different payment plan options through a member’s online herd share account.  

    You may choose an automatic payment option which charges your card for each week’s delivery, or you may choose an automatic prepaid credit amount in increments of $20, $50, $100, or $200.  Once the prepaid amount is used up, your card would be automatically charged that same lump sum again.  

    You may also choose to log into your account to manually process a payment instead of automatic charges to your card.  

    We accept a credit or debit card including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover.

    To activate automatic payments / update your card:

    1. Log in to your account here:  https://csa.farmigo.com/pay/creambrookfarmservices and go to the “Manage Payments” screen.

    2. Under “Select Payment Amount”: select the bubble next to your preferred payment plan.

    3. Under “Select Payment Method”: select the bubble next to “Automatically Recurring Payments.  

    1. Click the green “Continue” box at the top of the screen.

    2. Enter in your credit / debit card details.  (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are accepted.)

    Experiencing any issues? Our platform works best using the Safari browser on a mobile device;  or using the Firefox or Chrome browser if on a computer or other device.  

  • Going out of town? Please send us an email to yourfarmers{at}creambrookfarm{dot}com at least 7 days before the delivery date that you need to skip and we will be glad to assist. Thanks!

  • To view a list of our pick-up locations, please click HERE.

    If the above link logs you into your membership account, you can either log out or try using a different browser to view the list.  There is a "Map" tab near the top of the screen that may provide a more helpful view.  Please note that all available pick-up hours for each location are listed under the right-hand "Comments" column.

    Please let us know which location is your preference, and we will respond with next steps.  If there is space available, we will be glad to move your share;  if the site is full, we will place your name on the location's waitlist and then follow up to let you know when space opens to move your share.

    We look forward to hearing how we can best serve you!

  • A lot of people think of milk to lighten their coffee or wet their cereal, but raw milk is a superfood of nutrition! It's full of vitamins such as A and D, minerals, proteins, enzymes, and good, delicious butterfat. 

    Drinking a cup of raw milk each day would use up about a half gallon each week, and you can easily enjoy all the benefits. 

    Since raw milk is a whole food & a single ingredient, you can enjoy it many ways! 

    Gently shake it in the carton to mix the cream in and pour a glass of delicious, cold raw milk. 

    Blend it up in a smoothie with frozen banana, protein powder, peanut butter, frozen berries, etc! 

    Scoop the cream off and make butter, ice cream, and enjoy in lattes. 

    Make homemade yogurt! Here's our family's recipe and we make this on a weekly basis. 

    Make yummy soups like chowders or hearty stews with raw milk, create delicious pasta sauces. 

    Use in baking, homemade waffles, pancakes, dutch baby pancakes, muffins, & more!

    Please see our blog post to read about the top 10 reasons to enjoy raw milk or click here for Tips for Enjoying Your Raw Milk Herd Share

  • Please send us an email to decrease your weekly herd share. You will continue to own the total # of half share(s), but you will only be charged the weekly price of half share(s) that are delivered each week.

    We can’t guarantee a spot at your pick up site should you decide to increase your herd share again. Please keep this in mind if choosing to decrease. Thank you!


    However, please note that we are unable to hold a spot at your pick-up location for the canceled _______ share(s).  If you would like to request the extra ___DECREASED AMOUNT____  for either a one-time delivery or to resume as a weekly subscription, we may need to place your name on the waitlist for the additional amount if your pick-up site is full.

  • Please email us and we will place your share on a permanent hold until further notice from you, so no further charges or deliveries will be made. 

    When you are ready to resume, please email us. At that time, we will check available pick-up locations in your area. We will be glad to resume your share if we open capacity, or we will add your name to the waitlist and then follow-up once space opens to resume your share.

    Please feel welcome to contact us when we can further assist you.

  • Click HERE to learn all about your membership portal!

The Farm & the Cows

  • At Creambrook, a large portion of our cows’ diet is by grazing on fresh grass during the growing season on our farm’s pastures.

    Throughout the season, the grasses will change and this can have an effect on milk flavor. For example, summer, fall, and winter grasses are completely different from the springtime. 

    If our farm experiences an extensive heat wave, lack of moisture, and/or abundance of moisture, the changes will be more acute. We strive to keep our milk as consistent as possible but since we run a natural system, seasonal changes are unavoidable.

    Our herd grazes on our pastures 365 days of the year, but we are not 100% grass-fed. Our systems are always changing and being developed as we learn more!  Leaving 100% grass-fed was a very hard and emotional decision for us years ago, but it has been one of the best decisions we have ever made. Our focus has still and will always remain the same -to feed the cows as much grass as they will eat.

    What we have learned is cows as ruminants need digestible fiber for their rumen to work properly. Gut health is very important for humans, but even more delicate and critical for cows. If their digestive system gets out of balance, they begin to experience stress which affects their overall health. Digestible fiber is largely responsible for maintaining the cow's digestive balance. 

    With this in mind, our supplement feed is made up primarily of sorghum, alfalfa, wheat midds, a little barley and canola meal. Our supplemental feed is corn-free & soy-free.These ingredients provide the cows with very high energy levels through digestible fiber and is low in starch (more on starch in a second). The ground barley is used in order for the feed to be pelleted, which works a lot better in our auger-feed system. 

    Starch is the enemy of balanced cow rumen since it lowers the PH of the rumen and changes it from a fiber digester to a starch digester. Starch primarily comes from whole grain products, corn, corn silage, soybeans, oats, etc. When the rumen switches to a starch digester the omega 3, 6, and 9 ratios get out of balance and the nutritional benefits of the milk begin to drop. Believe it or not, grass contains a small level of starch so the goal isn't to be 100% starch-free. Research has shown that if we keep the starch level below 10% of total Dry Matter Intake then the rumen will remain in the fiber digester state keeping everything in balance. This is our goal with our feed which usually is somewhere in the 6-8% range.

    Again the goal is to keep a balanced rumen throughout the seasons as the grass changes including the dormant season. This mix has worked wonders assisting the cows with grass digestion, not replacing it like a high starch diet. We don't change the mix throughout the season keeping it consistent year round. 

    Last summer, I (Ben) was helping with deliveries and our raw milk was being placed next to a competitor's 100% grass-fed milk. To my surprise, our milk was more yellow and had a thicker cream line than the other milk. This confirmed the importance of a balanced diet showing up in the final product. Spring grass is very low in fiber and it is a major challenge to balance the grass and keep the cow functioning properly. 

    This may have been more than you wanted to know, but thanks for reading! :)

  • Our cows are outdoors 365 days a year. They rotationally graze fresh pastures during the growing season (approximately March - November) and live outside through the winter and eat a chopped forage mix and dry and fermented hay.

  • We do not use pesticides or herbicides on our farm or pastures. While we cannot guarantee that the feed we buy is chemical (or glyphosate) free, we do work hard to source the cleanest ingredients possible.

    We try to use as little purchased feed as we can, but that is highly dependent on the type of season we have.

    We do not use any GMO products, and our feed is corn-free and soy-free.

  • We have been breeding with only A2/A2 bulls for the past 9 years, and the majority of the cows we have purchased during the past year have been A2 cows.

    Per marketing standards, a farm can claim their herd is “A2/A2” as long as 75% of the herd meets this criteria. 

    However, we personally do not feel comfortable publicly stating that our herd is A2/A2 since we have not yet reached the 100% threshold; and to determine the exact percentage would require testing every cow which would be an extensive and costly process.

    While we do not know the exact percentage at this time, we are confident that over 75% of our herd is A2/A2.  

    We have found that many people who are concerned about having a digestion issue with our milk have not had issues because of the clean, raw state of the milk and the mostly grass diet of the cows.

  • We appreciate your interest in visiting our farm.  Unfortunately we do not have the capacity to host farm visits / tours as we are both full-time farmers with five young children.  

    In previous years, we have hosted “Farm Day” which provides the opportunity to welcome Creambrook members and friends for a visit to our farm.  When this is offered in the future, we will announce this through our email newsletters, so please stay tuned!  If you are not yet a subscriber to our newsletter, please click HERE to sign up.

    Thank you for your understanding.  We are grateful to serve you!