(Courtesy Costco / Deschutes Brewery)

For millions of Americans, Costco is where you stock up on paper towels, pick up a rotisserie chickens, or a solid bargain-priced wine. But over the past decade, the retail giant with an almost fanatical cult following, has also become an unlikely player in craft beer, giving independent breweries access to an enormous audience through its Kirkland Signature label.

The results have been mixed. Some of the earlier Kirkland beers were little more than disappointing attempts to capture craft beer’s magic that are best left forgotten. Then Deschutes Brewery came along and changed the conversation.

But now that success story is coming to an end according to Craft Business Daily.

Costco is officially winding down its co-branded craft beer partnership with Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery, bringing the curtain down on one of the retailer’s most successful private-label beer collaborations. According to a memo sent to distributors on July 1, Deschutes CEO Peter Skrbek said production of the Kirkland beers will begin scaling back immediately, ending a partnership that lasted less than two years but left a lasting impression on craft beer fans.

The beers affected are Kirkland Signature Helles-Style Lager and Kirkland Signature Vintage Ale, the only two beers still remaining in Costco’s private-label craft beer lineup. Production is ending this summer, and once existing inventory is gone, both beers are expected to disappear from warehouse shelves by September or October.

What makes the news notable is that these were not just inexpensive store-brand beers. They were genuinely respected craft beers brewed by one of America’s most accomplished breweries.

The Helles-Style Lager, in particular, proved that great beer and great value could coexist. It captured a silver medal at the 2025 World Beer Cup before earning a bronze medal in 2026, an impressive run for a beer sold exclusively under Costco’s Kirkland label. At just $13.99 for a 12-pack, it also became one of the best bargains in craft beer, winning over shoppers who might never have picked up a Deschutes six-pack at their local bottle shop.

The partnership also arrived at an important time for Deschutes. As VinePair reported, the brewery entered the agreement in late 2024 while recovering from an 11 percent decline in sales volume the previous year. Costco’s massive retail footprint helped introduce Deschutes to countless new drinkers, contributing to a 9 percent increase in brewery volume during 2024 and demonstrating that the right retail partnership could still move the needle for an established craft brewer.

Fortunately, the end of the Costco deal does not appear to signal trouble for the Bend brewery. Internal communications indicate Deschutes continues to post solid growth heading into the second half of 2026, suggesting the collaboration accomplished exactly what both sides had hoped.

Neither Costco nor Deschutes has publicly explained why the agreement is ending, and Costco has not indicated whether another independent brewery will step in to produce future Kirkland craft beers. Even so, Skrbek hinted that the door may not be completely closed, telling distributors that he “wouldn’t be too surprised if the lager makes a return at some point” under a different arrangement.

For now, though, fans of the award-winning Kirkland beers may want to make one more trip to the warehouse before one of Costco’s most successful craft beer collaborations becomes a thing of the past.