Brevibacterium linens forms hydrolytic enzymes which can be used to accelerate the ripening of cheese without causing bitterness. B. linens ATCC 9172 was grown to a high cell density (50 g dry wt l(-1) after 60 h) in a mineral medium containing lactic acid, soy-peptone and ammonium sulphate by applying a continuous feed of nutrients. The maximal activities of L-leucine aminopeptidase and cell-associated proteinase were 286 U l(-1) and 202 U l(-1), respectively. The cell-associated lipolytic activity exhibited a strong and sudden increase at 46 h, resulting in a maximum of 9.5 U g(-1) dry wt; thus the volumetric productivity of proteolytic and lipolytic activity was 4220 U l(-1) h(-1) and 7.3 U l(-1) h(-1), respectively.