Hatherwood Winter Special Beer Review

I'm approaching this Hatherwood Winter Special with some trepidation it is from Hatherwood after all and for those of you that don't know Hatherwood Craft Beer Company is another name for cheaply produced beers Wychwood sell to LIDL and don't attach their own name to. I always find this a worry as surely if Wychwood genuinely thought the beer was good enough they would be screaming about it rather than hiding behind another name. That said though I do really like a nice winter warmer style beer, they tend to be full bodied and have a good level of taste to them. So maybe Hatherwood will have actually produced something different to their usual bland array.

Naturally as this is a LIDL beer it's pretty cheap so there's no harm trying it. Winter Special comes in a nice festive 500ml bottle, which certainly looks the part. Rather unusually for a winter warmer beer it only clocks in at 5% alcohol, rather than the usual 7+ winter warmer percentage, but I guess for the low price you can't expect too much booze for your buck. Winter Special Ale pours a nice festive dark red, with an equally nice Santa's beard coloured foamy head, it actually looks like a really nice beer. Maybe, just maybe Wychwood have put some of their razzmatazz in to this one as a special treat for us all over what looks like becoming the weirdest Christmas ever in locked down Britain.

Ooh now this smells nice, I mean seriously nice. There's certainly cinnamon in there, and some really nice spices, plenty of malts, and some hops in too. This actually smells like a winter warmer ale should, a little like Christmas Pudding, it smells sweet and welcoming, I'm starting to think I might actually end up quite liking this.  I know, I know it's still a Hatherwood beer so I shouldn't get my hopes up, after all I know if it was one of their best it would have the Wychwood name on it, wouldn't it? Well it turns out no.

The texture is exactly what a winter warmer beer should be, it's full bodied and thick, it actually feels like a much darker beer than it is. The taste is exceptional, the spices are strong, fruity, and sweet, with a mildly bitter finish. It's almost nice to find a winter warmer that tastes nice, but isn't going to knock you out after a couple of pints. Winter Special really does have a taste of Christmas to it, and I love it. It's so rare to be surprised by a beer these days, but this one is a bit special. ​The flavour is just fantastic, you get some similar beers that go too far with the spices, but this gets it exactly right. I'm not even a big fan of Christmas but if this beer's going to be available December every year then bring it on. I have to give Hatherwood Winter Warmer 10 out of ten. Oh I wish it could be Christmas everydayyyy...