State Line Beer

State Line Brewing Company
Trader Joe’s Store Brand, brewed at Cottrell Brewing, Stonington

Beer List:


Amber Ale, A+
IPA, A

sl amberWhat to write, what to write… The most important thing with the two State Line beers is that they are cheap. Awesomely cheap. One dollar a bottle. No, these beers aren’t barrel aged Hill Farmstead stuff, but they are straight-up Cottrell beer, and for a dollar, I’m not really sure you can do better than that with Connecticut craft beer.

I’m being serious.

I’d heard about these beers, bottled for and sold only at Trader Joe’s in Connecticut and maybe Rhode Island and Massachusetts, a couple years ago and I was intrigued. I love the law that forces every bottle of beer to give up its provenance. Some contract brewers seem to forget that and try to pretend their swill isn’t sloshed together at Paper City in (gasp!) Massachusetts or wherever, which always cracks me up.

Cottrell has done some interesting contracts over the years. They’ve done Mohegan Sun’s Mohegan Ale and they’ve helped Newport Storm out in their beginning. Currently they brew that GW beer and The Great New London Beer Company’s stuff. (Not to mention their own perfectly fine beers.)

But this deal with Trader Joe’s is pretty cool. And I’m sure it’s pretty lucrative as well. Although wait… TJ’s sells these things for a dollar a bottle. I’m so used to paying $8 to $20 for 22 ounce bombers, that this fact is still just sort of blowing me away.

untitledAnd what you are getting is Cottrell’s flagsip Old Yankee (amber) Ale and Mystic Bridge IPA. For less than half the price. Solid.

“State Line” is an imprint used across our 50 states. Well, 48 of them anyway. But my favorite store for high end beer is State Line Liquors in Elkton, Maryland. No, they don’t carry this beer (duh, it’s not a Trader Joe’s), nor do they carry any Connecticut craft actually, but man oh man, that place rules. It’s right off of 95 on the first (or last) exit in Maryland near the Delaware border. Go there, you won’t be disappointed.

Alright, so let’s see what you get for a buck. To the beers!

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Cottrell Brewing Company
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