It was Good While it Lasted
The relationship between Deschutes Brewery and Costco has run its course, and a split is now imminent.
About 18 months ago, Deschutes entered into an agreement with Costco to co-brand two beers: Kirkland Signature Helles and Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale. The helles showed up at Costco warehouses across the country — everywhere except Texas, for reasons I’ll leave to the lawyers — while the Vintage Ale, a barrel-aged imperial stout, remained something of a mythical creature. I’ve never personally seen it at my local Costco. Maybe you have. Lucky you.
Savvy beer shoppers quickly figured out that the Kirkland helles was a World Beer Cup medal-winning lager from Deschutes, just wearing a different jersey, in a bigger box, and priced accordingly. If you’re one of those people — and if you are, you have no reason to hide it — it’s time to make a beer run to your local warehouse. Costco is ending the relationship, and the beers are expected to be off shelves by October at the latest.
The good news: the beer itself probably isn’t going anywhere. On Bluesky, industry insider and esteemed beer writer Jeff Alworth shared this: “I asked a source inside the brewery just a couple weeks ago if they had a plan to do something with the award-winning lager that was already in the lineup before it became Kirkland. He gave me a Cheshire Cat-smile and said they had certainly blocked out a plan if that happened.”
In other words, relax. If you love the beer and not just the Costco price, it sounds like Deschutes has a plan.
It’s Not You, It’s Me
Think of it like a coming-of-age movie. Two star-crossed kids meet at the beach, fall for each other hard, and promise forever love — both knowing, somewhere in the back of their minds, that this was always just a summer fling.
None of this should come as a shock, apparently — not even to Deschutes. “From the start Deschutes knew this would end,” said Alworth, who writes the estimable Beervana blog. “I have spoken with people throughout the company, and they always expected Costco to move on — no matter how successful the beer was.”
And by most accounts, it was successful. To a point. Reports from ProBrewer and Craft Business Daily suggest the breakup may have involved broken vows, though nobody’s talking on the record about what happened behind closed doors. In the end, this is just what Costco does. Anyone who’s shopped there long enough knows the drill — when it’s here, it’s here, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. A rotisserie chicken one week, a pallet of Deschutes helles the next. Gone like it never existed. Nothing but memories of that youthful summer of love remain.
Stock up while you can. And keep an eye on what Deschutes does next.
