Hilden Brewery

Hilden is a few minutes from the city centre, and the brewery’s not far from the Hilden railway stop– in fact, one of the beers is named after the stop, «Hilden Halt.»
Our tour started at 6pm and about 20 of us were welcomed by the owner, Seamus Scullion, who gave us a brief history of beer and also the history of the site itself (Hilden Brewery is the former home of Helen Barbour who married Thomas Andrews, Chief Designer of the Titanic!)
We then made our way into the production rooms where Seamus talked about the three key ingredients– malted barley (or «malt»), hops and water. He then told us about the work that goes into producing the drinks and how every single one gets its different flavours. He was really engaging and you could tell the distinctive taste of each craft beer is really important to them.
It was then back into the restaurant, the Tap Room, to sample a few of the beers for ourselves. We had the ‘Belfast Blonde’ (a light, crisp beer), the ‘Headless Hop’ (a ‘hoppy’ ale) and the aforementioned, ‘Hilden Halt’ (the strongest ale at 6.1%, with a ‘malty’ flavour).
Seamus came over to talk to us some more, including to tell us about where the ‘Headless Dog’ gets its name — a graffiti picture on an old brewhouse wall! It was a great tour and it was fab to get talking to Seamus who is extremely passionate about the brewery– which definitely comes across in the beers!

Great lunch. Sharing board to start and braised beef cheek for main. Absolutely delicious. Cheese board to finish. Beers are very tasty and very friendly staff

Great food, great beer and great service! The twisted hop and headless dog are my favourite of the beers. I have also been to a few corporate organised event in Hilden which have been well organised and setup.

No trip for us is complete without a visit to a brewery. We stopped at Belfast’s oldest independent brewery, Hilden, just outside the city. Unlike Americans like us who think nothing of a 45 minute commute or a 2 hour weekend drive, Belfastians consider this 15 minute drive a day trip.
We arrived a little late and thought we might miss the tour, but knowing everyone in town, our friend of course found that her cousin was working there and he let us in late. The brewery is fairly small still, truly a microbrewery, so they can only ferment a few types of ale at a time. I think I can get there with my brewing soon.
After the tour was finished, we sampled a few ales in the tasting room. I found them to be very drinkable, but a bit lacking in flavor depth compared to American craft ales. Still, the experience was great in the small tasting room with friends.
The tour wasn’t super long for the price of admission, but including the samples made it worthwhile. Both the lager and light ale were a little under flavored to me but didn’t have any unpleasant notes or off flavors.

I brought a stag group here recently for a brewery tour, beer tasting and meal. It was absolutely fantastic and I’d highly recommend it. They make terrific beers (Belfast Blonde, Titanic Quarter, etc) and the food is spectacular.
I’d say this is a must for any long weekend visit to Belfast.

As far as I’m aware this is Northern Ireland’s oldest independent brewery which produces a dense range of classic ales.
I’ve always been slightly hesitant of the brewery’s output to be perfectly honest. Their beers do not seem to travel well and therefore by the time they even reach Belfast’s city bars they have an awful sulphurous character, often down to bad cask management.
I thought however that I would give the brewery a go at the source and try their little Taproom restaurant, just to see what all the fuss was about.
The brewery has taken shape over the years and the restaurant has certainly seen a serious makeover. A very cosy atmosphere, white linen on the tables and warm lighting.
I thought, two courses seems fitting so opted for a duck leg confit with puy lentils. Perfectly cooked crispy duck served on well seasoned al dente lentils, served with a pint of their strong ale, Hilden Halt. It’s a biscuity sweet amber ale which complimented the fatty duck.
I’m a sucker for slow cooked pork belly so opted for the dish, served with red cabbage and caramelised apples. Superb with a unmistakably moist and tender texture, rich and almost gamey.
The prices are up there with the majority of half decent restaurants in the greater Belfast area so pretty reasonable considering the quality of the fair of offer. The beer I’m still not completely sold on. Their pale ale’s such as Silver and Hilden Ale are severed under hopped, have a very limited malt bill and are often slightly over carbonated. I’ve been reviewing beer for eight years but I couldn’t differentiate between half of their pale ale cask range.
That said, the Halt was tasty as is Molly’s Chocolate Stout which is produced under their sibling, College Green Brewery.