Kirkland Signature Amber Ale
Coppery brown with rich, malty character-this perfectly brewed amber ale gets its good looks from the dark-roasted crystal malt that we import from England. To give it some Western flair, it is moderately hopped with hops straight from the Yakima Valley in Washington. ABV 5.7% Bitterness 25 IBU. Contract brewed for Costco by the Gordon Biersch Brewing Company under the brewer name Hopfen Und Malz (for the west coast market) and since mid 2009 by Matt Brewing as "New Yorker Brewing Co." (for the east coast market).
2.8
152 reviews
Issaquah, United States
Community reviews
Bottle. Light amber color with very small off-white head, caramel aroma, fizzy, very little hops taste, almost tasteless. Finishes abruptly with no palate at all. I am guessing that this could be a perfect blind tasting specimen, no one could find out what it was!
This was easily my least favorite of the Kirkland beers. It seemed timid, flabby, and it had an unappealing, astringent finish. Some hints of caramel and wood, I suppose, but all in all it was a miss.
Throws down pretty easy, kind of like a more maltier bud light and a little darker in color. Still not bad for the Kirkland name and party pleaser.
A nice amber ale with a good amber colour and pleasant taste. Nice maltiness and a subtle palate.
Standard brown in every way from appearance to aroma and taste, right down to a slightly cloying caramel finish. It exists somewhere between craft and commodity beer.
Smooth easy drinking bottle of extremely boring amber ale. Not awful but nothing to remember her bay.
Got this in a giant costco multipack. Pours looking like watered down coke, minimal head. Smells of butter, caramel and a bit of metal. Tastes of caramel, malt and a touch of hops. Was a little bit sweeter than I was expecting but in a good way. All in all not bad considering the price. Better than some other mass produced beers that are more expensive.
Hoppier than I expected. A bit nutty, can taste a little oak. Somewhat hoppier version of Fat Tire, with a fair bit of malt
The best part of this beer was the crystal clear amber appearance. Aside from that it was meh. Slight maltiness on this nose. Slight bitterness in the taste. That’s about all she wrote.
Smells malty and toasty. Pours clear red with thin white head. Good malt flavor, goes down smooth.
Bottle; poured a dark amber with a smallish head. Aroma of caramel and nuts; not a bad aroma. Flavor wasn’t bad and had some strength to it. Caramel and fruit; no complex, but drinkable. Palate was a tad harsh.
Amber pour with small tan head. Nose has a little roast witha touch of hop. Flavor is somewhat sweet, with just a hint of hops. Body is thin with a malty finish.
Bottle - Overall a dissapointing beer that is only barely better than the huge macro’s. I would have expected some malt profile, but very tasteless. Not really worth the work to describe and I would just avoid.
Hop light roast malt aroma. Clear red amber colour with poor head and lacing. Malt slight fruit flavour. Smooth palate.
Lightly sweet, a little tannic/caramel aroma. The mouthfeel was a bit limp and the flavor was pretty bland - not a big amber beer. Consumed in Marquis’ backyard wedding reception.
From bottle. Pours amber in color with decent head. Aroma was malty with a sweetness and caramel to it. Taste followed. Decent.
Aroma. I can only real smell caramel here, but i smell i do like.
Bottle. Poured a nice earthy amber colour.
Taste. this is beer is dominated by it’s malt flavours, i can mainly taste caramel but can also taste some flavours of nuts and coffee. in the hops i mainly taste some pine with also some herb flavours.
Overall. This beer is a nice sweet beer, but not too sweet, it could be a little better if the flavours had been blended better.
Bottle poured into glass. Deep clear amber color with little head. Small aroma of sour yeast and light malts. Bready malts with some light toast, light hop bitterness with a little citrus. Finishes fairly smooth with vanilla and sweet. Okay.
Bottle. Medium Tetley-coloured amber with an average off-white head. Aroma is simple caramel with fruity undertones. Lightly toasty caramel with a grainy edge and fruity undertones. Briskly carbonated. Decent flavour, not a bad amber, good balance-- neither too sweet nor too hoppy. For some, this may equal boredom, but for others it will mean easier drinkability. I didn’t mind it.
Poured from bottle. Roasted malt aroma. Dark amber - pretty much the bottle color. Roasted malt, caramel, a bit of hops in flavor. Slightly dry feel, very drinkable. Nothing outstanding here, but OK. .
Best thing about this beer is the copper colored pour, Hops disappoint and fall flat, leaving the beer lacking in flavor and uniqueness.
355ml bottle pours amber in color with a finger of white head that leaves a few spots of lacing on the glass. Aroma is caramel and grass. Taste is a caramel malty sweetness with some grassy hop bitterness. The best of the Kirkland series that I have tried, but not by much. Nothing special and not recommended.
Aroma is nutty with hints of caramel and smoke. Dark copper color, fairly still. Taste is nut filled pastry with coffee, with peat and wet hair on the side. Stale oat aftertaste tarnishes an otherwise smooth palate feel. I knew right away that this was a Matt product.
December 31st, 2012 - I’m torn. Beers branded for supermarket chains are rarely ever exciting. I think the goal is to save money by stripping off the brand, and handing loyal Costco shoppers a beer they can bring to a party that isn’t a macro-brew. But I also worship at Costco’s consumerist altar, finding quality in all their blandly marketed products. What to expect from the Kirkland Amber? Especially considering how boring an amber can be, I expected something staid but serviceable. It looks to all appearances like a steady amber, with a heavy, clotted head and a healthy lacing above a murky, brown-orange body. Brown sugar, bubble gum, red apples, caramel and butterscotch weave together on the nose, producing an effective and tasty aroma. The taste isn’t as elegantly balanced and enriched. It’s a thin-bodied brew with some boisterous carbonation (always a little weird to me), with dusty wood brown sugar and pine making up most of the taste, and some "muddy water" as a kind of generic label for for an earthy flavor. All in all, not bad for the price, and a better olfactory experience than a drink.
The constituent parts are often greater than the whole. This is how I perform a price calculus when faced with the option of investing in a variety pack, even if it is distributed by a brewery I’ve had bad luck with before. But Kirkland is a blank slate, and with the way they peddle high quality goods at prices even a graduate student could afford, how could I say no? First in line is the Amber. Dark brown body and a thin head, it looks the part - a nice...amber, I’d say. The smell is quiet, but shows some honeyed peanuts, some maple donut glaze, and even a little bacon - an odd mix, but not altogether bad. The flavor is where this brew falters - a thinnish palate serving up a strange, nutty mixture with a mild maltiness, a wan hop tinge and some of that brown sugar. The sweet dimension helps, but does not save this brew. A solid drink, sure, but not the star of even the limited beer selection available at Costco.
Bottle. Clear amber with an inch of off-white head. Aroma of caramel, over-ripe plums, mild cleaning products. Sweet with lots of caramel - maybe not as sweet as expected - plums and nuts, citrus notes that don’t sit well. A bit of a mess.
Poured a deep amber with a smallish head. Sweet malt aroma, taste of bread, and a smooth finish. Not complex, but a nice smooth beer that I would have again.
this is Newcastle in a different label. I like Newcastle when forced to choose between similar options. So I like this beer for what it offers.
12 oz bottle. Pours a reddish brown color with a small off-white head that has fair retention. The aroma is sweet grains, caramel and a bit of bubble gum. The flavor is front-loaded with caramel followed by piney hops and a bit more bubble gum. The palate was just a bit thinner than I preferred and the carbonation was lively. Finished short and dry. Overall: Better than BMC, but that is scant praise.
Single bottle from my brother o 09/09/2012. Colour: Darker brown with minimal head...and clear. Nose: Dark malt dominant with slight cocoa nibs and a glazed caramel presence. Trace of rubber. Taste: Medium-light sweet, medium-light bitter, light sour. Some nice roasting gives character to the malt. Caramel presence is light but does add some softness. A bit of plum late and more cocoa. Satisfactory.
bottle. clear dark amber. notes of toasted malt with hot tar. nutty flavor with toasted malt. low hops. a bit astringent for some reason. nice cocoa-like finish. medium body.