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Costco sells the last of its premium beer priced like Budweiser

admin September 22, 2026

Costco’s Kirkland Signature line has built a reputation for quality, and that reputation extends to its alcoholic offerings.

Its offerings include a wide array of wines.

“Selections are uniformly excellent across price points, regions, and categories, but Kirkland brand table wines are some of the best bottles you can get at retail, bar none,” Danielle Callegari, a Wine Enthusiast writer-at-large, said.

Costco’s liquor assortment has been similarly celebrated.

“If you live in one of the states that allows Costco to sell its Kirkland Signature booze, consider yourself lucky, because spirits experts say the store-brand spirits are dead ringers for the top-shelf stuff — and they’re usually 20 to 40% cheaper,” The Ktchn shared.

Costco partners with well-known brands, which are often not named, to make their wine, spirits, and, until recently, beer.

Now, however, its last remaining beer partner has stopped producing the final two Kirkland Signature beers. Production ended in July, and many warehouses have depleted their stock, which was expected to run out by October.

Costco ended its beer partnership

Costco has ended a co-branded partnership with Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery that launched in December 2024. The brewery made Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager and Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale for the retailer.

Costco Wine Blog, which is not affiliated with the retailer, reviewed the Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager when it was released.

“The beer is a pale gold in the glass; it is slightly sweet, lightly hopped, malty and yeasty, well made with a great body to it, and has a nice crisp finish,” the site reported.

It was also sold for $13.99 per 12-pack, not much more than $1 per can.

On a price basis, Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager has been described as a premium beer at Budweiser prices.

My local Target sells a Budweiser 12-pack for $13.99 while the nearest Total Wine & More charges $14.99.

Guru of Brew reviewed the Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale.

“Aged for nine months in a mix of bourbon barrels. This robust imperial stout was meticulously crafted by Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, with notes of dark chocolate and roasted coffee,” the site shared.

Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale sells for $7.99 a bottle, as it was meant to be a higher-end product.

More Costco:

Now, production has ended on both beers, and searches for both on Costco’s website, using multiple zip codes from states around the country, show the products as not just out of stock but not listed at all.

That does not mean that the beer has fully sold out, since although production ended in July, stock was expected to last into September.

Some Costco warehouses may still have the beers in stock.

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Costco has ended Kirkland Signature beer production

Costco did not make a statement on the end of the partnership.

Deschutes Brewery, however, confirmed to Fox Business that its program with Costco is coming to an end.

“We’re so grateful for Costco’s trust in Deschutes to bring our award-winning beer to their members at such a great value,” the company said. “We’ve reached the end of our volume commitment and, therefore, the program is winding down. We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for the beer from Costco members since the announcement. The feedback on the beer has been exceptional, and it’s clear that the beer has built a fanbase across the U.S. and internationally.”

These were the only two remaining Kirkland Signature beers, so when the stock sells out, Costco will no longer offer a private-label beer.

The World Beer Cup awarded Kirkland Signature Helles Lager silver and bronze medals in 2025 and 2026, respectively, according to OverProof.com.

Kirkland Signature is big business for Costco

Costco locations do not have liquor stores here in Southern Florida, but when living in other states, I have often purchased Kirkland Signature bourbon and scotch.

The warehouse club did not disclose who made their liquors, but as a fan and a bit of an aficionado who has been lucky enough to cover the liquor industry for around 30 years, these products compared favorably to everyday brands such as Jack Daniel’s or Knob Creek, at much lower prices.

None of the chain’s spirits that I tried would count as top-shelf, but they were highly drinkable and very good values.

That’s essentially how Kirkland Signature operates across all categories, and it’s hard to understate just how important the house brand is to Costco.

Costco reported total sales of $269.9 billion in its 2025 annual report, with $90 billion, roughly a third, coming from Kirkland Signature.

RTM Nexus CEO Dominick Miserandino shared that it’s not unusual for Costco to discontinue a Kirkland Signature item.

“It’s simply an economics of space. The average retailer could have 10,000 to 15,000 SKUs, but Costco could have 3,500 to 4,000,” he told TheStreet. That’s a significant difference (and a Walmart or Target could have two to three times that many products). So, yes, they’re going to be most efficient and only stock the shelves with what they think will sell.”

Costco has not commented on whether it plans to introduce a new Kirkland Signature beer at a later date