🍺 Kirkland Vintage Ale 2024 Review & Tasting Notes

Kirkland Vintage Ale 2024 sits on a side table in front of a blue chair and next to a poured glass

Produced by Deschutes Brewery (pronounced "Da-Shootz") for Costco, the 2024 iteration of Kirkland'sVintage Ale is an Imperial Stout that spends nine months resting in used bourbon barrels. Since being founded in 1988 as a Brewpub, Deschutes is a craft brewery located in Bend, Oregon that now distributes in all 50 states and internationally. The brewery gets its name from the Deschutes river and sells more than 225 thousand barrels per year of beer. Deschutes' Black Butte porter, Stoic Quadrupel, Obsidian Stout, and Fresh Squeezed IPA can be found on draft throughout the pacific Northwest. They currently offer eleven other barrel aged beers including 3 imperial stout editions, 3 sours, 3 imperial porters, and 2 sour brown ales. The "Abyss" is their recurring Imperial Stout recipe which checks-din around 11% ABV and 50 IBUs and features Nugget, Cascade & Delta hops though the exact hop mix has fluctuated year-to-year.

💅Style: Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout

🛒Sourced: $9.99 Costco, GA for a 22oz bottle

💥Hops: Not Mentioned sadly

🧪ABV: 12% a wee step up from the Abyss

🍋IBUs: Not Listed. Imperial Stouts are typically in the 50-80 IBU range though sweeter editions may be substantially lower.

🎨Color: Deep and dark brown/black, minimal head

👃Nose: Ample Roasted Dark Malt, espresso roast coffee, charred wood. Basic and in line with the style but with no trace of impurities or malodors.

😜Palate: Dry and earthly with some malt toasted flavors from the barrel. There is some roasted nut flavor. Palate is overall very uniform, and mouthfeel is smooth but thinner than expected from the look and nose. I don't get much bourbon sweetness, caramel, or vanilla.

💦Finish: Medium in length. I can start to pick out a little bit of what would be the oak sweetness midway through the finish though it is gone in a flash. Still very earthy though some may perceive it as more dark chocolate, high cacao.

🏆 Overall: 5/10 - Good - Just Fine - Solid for its price point and as a dry edition of the Bourbon Barrel Imperial Stout styling. Those who are looking for sweetness will be let down, but it performs solidly and delivers all the usual flavors. This 2024 vintage is well formed and drinks cleanly with no bad flavors or off notes. I liked it and will look forward to finishing this bottle but it definitely does not out perform local craft options at a similar price point.

💵Would buy again? At $10 for a 22oz barreled imperial stout, it's definitely not a bad deal. I'll probably pick up one every year as long as they continue the series. Not sure I would over-index on buying a lot of these though as there are other potentially more interesting offerings in the style.

⚖️Rating Scale:

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