Kirkland Signature Amber Ale

Brewed by Gordon Biersch Brewing Company
Style: Amber Ale
Palo Alto, California USA

12 oz bottle from where else but Costco. Pours a semi-hazy amber color with moderate head. Aroma is floral and hoppy with some roastiness and prominent malt. Taste was bitter with some sweet maltiness. Palate was a little rough but mpressive. Nice full body and sweet aftertaste. Good option, probably the best out of the Costco sampler.

Light brown color with no head. Aroma has some caramel and biscuit sweetness and faint nutty bitterness. Flavor has some upfront hoppy bitterness and some mild caramel malts. Flavor fades fast.

12 oz. thanks, rosie! pours a clear dark amber with a light tannish film across the top. mild biscuity, toasty nose. medium body, a little fizzy. toast, biscuits, and some roast on the mid palate. mild caramel sweet finish.

Bottle, from mixed pack. Pours dark cedar brown, with a small head. Very clear and filtered, a bit unsettling. Aroma is softly malty, nutty, some toasts. Flavor is predictably mild, disappointingly so. What is there – if given time to properly warm – will greet you with buttery malt, toasty chocolate, and some minerally elements. Clean finish. Decent, but watery.

I love all things Kirkland and am also a big fan of Costco, but I was a little letdown by their Kirkland branded beers. These beers are being made for Costco by Gordon Biersch, and sadly that lineage is clear from the way these beers taste (ZZZZzzzzzz). I thought the amber was the best of the ones I tried, and is a pretty nice but very middle of the road beer. Aroma is discernible, and is lightly malty and pleasant. Color is a copper color with decent head. Flavor is again lightly biscuity with a barely detectable hop note. Mouthfeel is pretty much akin to a full-calorie macro-lager. Not bad, but I think so highly of other Kirkland products (their ham is terrific!) that I was a little let down by this line of beers. However, I felt this one was the top of the stack.

Bottle from Costco - Cincy. Poured a clear dark copper color with a large fizzy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate hop and sweet malt aroma. Medium body with a smooth texture and very soft carbonation. Medium malty sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. This is an above average sweet brew.

Bottle from friend. Actually a very nice medium amber pour, clear, with a 2 finger off-white fluffy head. Has some watered down hop and malt taste but not up to par with other ambers. Still an interesting way of doing beer from the New York Brewing Co. in Utica, NY in a belgian style.

Meh...a very average/average- offering. I rarely expect greatness from an amber. When one thinks "carpe diem", one rarely thinks "amber ale". But that’s ok...it’s a fine style and can serve as that "go to" beer when you have no clear preference. This, however, didn’t measure up in that regard. I shudder to think that only a couple of meager $$$ more might have bought a Kalamazoo Bell’s Amber or something comparable. Alas, this is where I wound up (proving that an additional rating, especially after a few hundred, is often NOT worth it!). Decent color and head, but light in the nose and one dimensional in the flavor.