Cottrell Stonington Glory Pilsner

Stonington Glory Pilsner
1 pint, $6?, 4.7% ABV

Purchsaed at Westbrook Lobster, Wallingford

“Send the King our regards”

That’s what it says on the bottle – a very handsome bottle, recalling the Battle of Stonington during the War of 1812. More on that in a minute, as I must now pay homage to the King of Beer Advocate:

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Ah yes, beefy pilsner. Y’know, I make fun of the beer review sites fairly often for crap like this, but it’s just too easy. For the record, I had this beer twice: once on tap and once from a bottle. I have a decent palate and my olfactory system is fine. And try as I might, I got no beef stew. None.

cottrellOh – I’m also not insane, nor do I strive to write beer reviews for the insane who accept insane ramblings as legitimate.

Ok, I am a little insane. Insane enough to have had this beer with lunch at Westbrook Lobster (v.Wallingford), getting this cute picture with my son Calvin, not liking it all that much, but then buying a bottle of it for 2 bucks simply because I thought the label was cool.

And in doing so, forcing my other son Damian to try to recreate a soldier’s salute, which turned into an angry tantrum, the beginnings of which is captured in the picture below.

What is wrong with me?

Cottrell says:

This Czech-style pilsner sports a light golden color and a firm white head. Crisp and refreshing, it has a dry mouthfeel and a pleasant floral aroma with a hop finish. Its Czech authenticity is grounded in the Czech-yeast we use, and the Aromatic malt and Sterling hop give it its distinctive dry, flavorful taste. Stonington Glory celebrates our town’s victory against the British in the 1814 Battle of Stonington, when we turned away a British fleet’s 160 guns with a mere two cannons. Great with: chicken, salads, salmon, bratwurst, berries.

Bratwurst, sure, but what about beef stew?

gloryThere was a time, not too long ago, during which I’d write off this pilsner as “just another pilsner.” But then I grew up and realized that there actually ARE good pilsners that differentiate themselves enough from run-of-the-mill pilsners. Our NEBCO Elm City pilsner is a fine, local example of how good a pils can be.

The Cottrell pils is… not as good as Elm City, but it’s not as bad as the green bottle stuff from Europe. It is clean and a bit refreshing, without all that grassy funk that I happen to hate. I didn’t get these bright hop notes I was promised, but perhaps that’s because I’ve had enough DIPA’s in 2014 to have ruined me for all lightly hopped beers for a good two years.

And can I take a moment to give props to Cottrell? There they are, on the Rhode Island border pumping out their standard fare – for more years than anyone in the state not named Hooker – and that’s only when we include the pre-Hooker Trout Brook days. Through the craft beer boom, they’ve held steady, creating a few new distributed brews here and there, as well as some more creative stuff available only in Stonington.

(We can also give props to Cottrell for allowing Mr. Aaron Simoncini to apprentice there which begat his own Beer’d brewery which has begotten a plethora of top quality beer of which I am now completely besotted.)

Thanks Cottrell!

And thanks for bringing some of Stonington’s wonderful history to the fore. The 1814 Battle of Stonington was, straight up, bad ass. It wasn’t enough that the little town repelled the British in 1777, but they did it again in 1814.

Completely outgunned, little Stonington inflicted enough damage on British warships to send their limey arses scurrying away. The town displays a lot of the artifacts of this battle right in the middle of Stonington Borough for you to enjoy. I highly encourage you to do so.

I also encourage you to read the full account of the battle. It’s pretty beefy.

Overall Rating: C+
Rating vs. Similar style: B-

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