Kirkland brand beer

Anyone tried Kirkland brand beer from Costco yet? First of all, I found it weird that cotsco had it's own name brand beer in the first place. I guess Costco does have everything from tires to diapers so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise. I tried all four varieties tonight (a buddy of mine had them in his refer). There was a pale ale, an amber ale, a hefe, and a German lager. They were all pretty basic. Nothing exciting to mention about any one of them. They did seem like good camping beers. You know, the halfway decent, cheap beer that you can drink eighteen of next to a camp fire. That's about the only good thing I can say about them. I'll never buy any, but if I'm offered one and there's nothing else to drink I won't refuse it (sort of like Bud Am. ale). That's about as high as the praises get for me. Is anyone else around here familiar with it?

No, but Trader Joe has Firestone Walker Brewing Co. make beers for them I am told.

There's a bit of a discussion in an old thread of mine, I think some people reviewed a bucnh of their beers...I bout a mixed sixer from TJ's and IIRC they were unremarkable....not bad, drinkable, but not anything to get too excited about.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f5/costco-beer-53812/

The nice thing was that I emailed the brewmaster for Gordon Biersch who brews them and they are brewed according to Reinheitsgebot...Which is pretty cool.

Wow! Costco sells beer? I shop at Costco all the time, but since I'm in Pennsylvania, the state with the bass-ackward alcohol laws, they don't sell it at our Costco.
I'll give them a try next time I'm in New York.

Oh yes, they sell beer. The usual suspects plus some local/specialty. In Michigan it is usually Bud, Heineken, Mich Ultra, Labatts, Molson, Bells, Corona, occasionally Red Stripe, A German beer or two, etc.

Besides beer they have a fantastic wine selection and enough hard liquor to float a boat.

BrianP said:

Oh yes, they sell beer. The usual suspects plus some local/specialty. In Michigan it is usually Bud, Heineken, Mich Ultra, Labatts, Molson, Bells, Corona, occasionally Red Stripe, A German beer or two, etc.

Besides beer they have a fantastic wine selection and enough hard liquor to float a boat.

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One of the two things I miss about michigan (1 winter there) - Being able to buy HA in a grocery store, and coney dogs.

Back on topic - costco beer - decent but nothing special...

Apparently, Kirkland beer is made my Gordon Biersch. (edit: oops never saw revvy's comment above)

I usually find Goose Island seasonals at Costco which I like to buy.

BlackDogBrewing said:

Wow! Costco sells beer? I shop at Costco all the time, but since I'm in Pennsylvania, the state with the bass-ackward alcohol laws, they don't sell it at our Costco.
I'll give them a try next time I'm in New York.

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I'm in Utah we have bass-ackward alcohol laws here as well. Although our Costco's are allowed to sell beer here they can not sell anything over 3.2% by weight (4.0 ABV). So they are unable to sell their own brand of beer here.

brrman said:

Apparently, Kirkland beer is made my Gordon Biersch. (edit: oops never saw revvy's comment above)

I usually find Goose Island seasonals at Costco which I like to buy.

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Same brewery as the Trader Joe's beers I believe. I've never tried the Kirkland brand stuff but the Trader Joe's hefeweizen I bought was ok. Especially at $4.99 for a 6 pack.

In my province in Canada you can only buy beer at "The Beer Store" or the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) a Gov't owned chain of retail stores. They're actually the largest retailer of Alcohol in the world which is wild but unfortunately we don't get all the brands I'd like to have. So no Kirkland brand stuff for us.

Still haven't seen the Kirkland label stuff here... Just the usual BMC, their Canadian equivalents, Sierra Nevada Pale, Sam Adams Holiday packs and a few selections from Alaskan Brewing Co.

CptMyCpt said:

No, but Trader Joe has Firestone Walker Brewing Co. make beers for them I am told.

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Trader Joe's has a really nice dark abbey style beer made for them by Unibroue. I think they call it Vintage Ale 2008.