The Discontinued Costco Alcohol That Actually Deserved To Disappear

Having shopped at Costco for a long time, many of us have come to equate the warehouse retailer's Kirkland Signature private label with a certain higher level of quality. There's an exception to every rule, however, and one regrettable food item Costco stopped selling was its Kirkland Signature Light Beer. After all, being not-so-lovingly compared to swamp water (or worse) by large swaths of the internet is hardly an endorsement. So, the KS Light Beer got axed in 2018 after four short years of production, despite going at a screaming deal of $22 for a heretofore unheard-of 48-pack of cans. But when even broke college students won't guzzle your swill, you know you've strayed too far from the brewing art.

Light beer already has a controversial reputation. It's beer brewed to have fewer calories and designed to be less filling — not completely unlike a session beer, which can prolong your drinking experience, although session beers normally don't count calories and are better-regarded amongst beer aficionados. Unlike most session beers, light beers have often faced accusations of tasting like they've been watered-down. While there are ways to reinvigorate a subpar brewski, like the time-honored tradition of adding some beer salt, most social media accounts confirm that nothing could save Kirkland Signature Light Beer. It was Just. That. Bad.

Sometimes you have to laugh to stop yourself from crying, and that's what many reviewers on the web did when they realized they wasted $22 on undrinkable beer and still had 47 full cans of the stuff to contend with. The brew holds an ignominious 2.04/5 stars out of nearly 10,000 reviews on Untappd, where commenters didn't hold back. "By far the worst beer I've ever drank 48 of [sic]," was one example. Over on Reddit, some Costco aficionados bonded over the epic fail that was Kirkland Signature Light Beer. "I simply don't know how they made it this bad. It feels like a choice and not an accident," one commenter snarked. Meanwhile, on Beer Advocate, one 1/5 star review put it succinctly: "Tastes like battery acid."

It's hard to mourn a product that seemingly nobody enjoyed. There's no question that beer can be divisive — especially light beer, as discussed above — because taste is highly personal and, as the saying goes, there are different strokes for different folks. When it comes to Kirkland Signature Light Beer, however, it's tough to find anybody who wanted to drink it. At least there are kudos due to Costco for realizing that it had bungled the mission and pulling the plug.