Who Makes Kirkland IPA? (Are They Good? Quality + Review)

Do you know who makes Kirkland IPA beer? Well, you are at the perfect place to find the answer to such a question. This Is Who Really Makes Kirkland Beer.

If you’ve picked up beers enough times at Costco you’ve likely noticed that they sell their own Kirkland private label beers. From ales to IPAs, there is sure to be a beer that appeals to you. Have you ever wondered where exactly Costco brews their beer? Or wondered if they even brew their beer at all? We’re here to answer your Kirkland beer questions.

Kirkland IPA is likely made by either Matt’s Brewing Company or Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, also known as Hopfen Und Malz Brewing Company.

In this article, we will discuss the Kirkland IPA options available at Costco and the two companies they source their beer from.

Table of Contents

What Kirkland IPA Options Are Available At Costco?

Costco sells two different forms of IPA under their Kirkland brand:

Kirkland India Pale Ale, and
Kirkland Session IPA.

The India Pale Ale is a basic beer brewed IPA style. It is fairly hoppy and has notes of floral but retains the bitter taste you associate with IPA brews. It also has a light citrus, and grapefruit taste. The ABV level in their IPA is 6.9%, which is a pretty good level for a can of beer.

Their Session IPA has a slightly lower ABV level of 4.9%. The reference to “session” in the title refers to the fact that this is a beer designed so you can consume multiple in one sitting without getting too buzzed. It has a similar flavor profile with citrus notes and a hoppy flavor.

Who Brews Kirkland IPAs?

Costco is known to partner with two main brewing companies for their beer selection:

Matt’s Brewing Company, and
Gordon Biersch Brewing Company (Hopfen Und Malz Brewing Company).

Both of these companies are recognized for their great beers across the country, and although some of us may be hesitant to purchase convenience store beer, we shouldn’t skip over Kirkland.

The beauty behind Costco’s business strategy with Kirkland products is that they can choose established companies who already make excellent products, strike up a deal with them, and resell their products under the Kirkland private label.

This gives Costco access to a wide range of great products, without the work of developing their own.

Matt’s Brewing Company

Matt’s Brewing Company is based in Utica, New York. They are the only brewery in America to have three distinct tours of craft beer.

FX Matt, the founder of Matt’s Brewing, first started making craft beers prior to Prohibition. Most famously this included his West End IPA which he created in 1914.

Then the “Utica Club ” brand was created during the World War Two era, and finally, around the mid ‘80s they began making craft beers through their Saranac brand.

Matt’s brewing is fairly famous for their IPAs, making them a likely supplier of Kirkland IPA. In fact, in 2020 Matt’s Brewing Company was actually awarded two gold medals at the European Beer Star 2020 competition at the BrauBeviale trade fair which was held in Nuremberg, Germany.

The gold medals were given for their Saranac Pale Ale and their Saranac Legacy IPA 2.0.

Gordon Biersch

Gordon Biersch is based in San Jose, California. The brewery was started by Dan Gordon in 1997 in their current location. Their brewery is around 114,000 square feet and their specialty is recreating older authentic beer recipes.

They make authentic recipes using some of the highest quality, two-row malted barley and use modern techniques and technology. The brewery surprisingly operates s24/7 and produces large quantities of beer year-around.

Gordon Biersch doesn’t specialize in IPA, but does have four unique styles of beer, including their:

Cliff Hanger Marzen (German-Style Auburn Lager);
Cave Raider Blonde Bock (Golden Bock Lager):
Full Pressure Unfiltered Pilsner (Robustly Hopped Lager);
Hefeweizen (Unfiltered Wheat Beer).

Although they may not be the most likely to brew Kirkland IPA, they are definitely one of the suppliers of some other Kirkland beer options.

Are Kirkland IPA’s Identical To IPA’s Sold By Their Partner?

You may be wondering what the point is of purchasing a Kirkland IPA when you could purchase directly from their partner, or why their partner would even allow their unique brews to be sold for the low prices at Costco.

Since Kirkland is a well-known label that produces billions of dollars in revenue every year, they have a little bit of bargaining power. Oftentimes Costco will make special deals with their partners to acquire items specially made for Kirkland products.

So, even though your IPA may be made by Matt’s Brewing, it isn’t the same brew you could purchase online on their website, it is likely one made specifically for Costco.

Conclusion

Although there are two major suppliers of Kirkland beer products, Matt’s Brewing Company and Gordon Biersch, the most likely producer of Kirkland IPA is Matt’s Brewing.

Given that Matt’s Brewing has several of their own specialty IPAs, whereas Gordon Biersch doesn’t, we can deduce Matt’s Brewing as the maker.

No matter who the brewer is, Kirkland IPA is certainly a great choice if you’re looking for a tasty beer for a low price.

If you find yourself wishing that Costco was the brewer of their Kirkland beers, consider again how difficult it would be for Costco to produce all of their quality products if they were in charge of every aspect of production.

The reason Kirkland products are so great is because Costco relies on professionals.

References

https://www.tastingtable.com/680479/this-is-who-really-makes-kirkland-beer/