Brewery: Hilden
Location: Hilden, Northern Ireland
ABV: 5.3%
Version: 500ml bottle

Cathedral Quarter is the second of Hilden Brewery's beers celebrating revitalised sections of the city of  Belfast, dedicated this time to the area around St Anne's Cathedral. The first beer in the range, Titanic Quarter, I covered back at the end of August 2008.

Billed as a classic red ale it's no surprise when the beer pours a coppery red colour. There's almost no sign of any aroma, just the faintest hints of caramel and fruit. The inital taste is of some very light malt with a touch of biscuity caramel, quickly elbowed aside by a rough, and not particularly pleasant, bitterness. The caramel regains its footing later as the bitterness subsides a little but on the whole the taste seemed musty, as though some of the ingredients were past their best. Fortunately the finish is much better, with more of that biscuity caramel smoothing things over but to me it's still a typically average beer from Hilden and not one I'd rush out to get again.

Related posts:

1. Tasting Notes: Hilden Titanic Quarter
2. Tasting Notes: McGrath’s Irish Red
3. Tasting Notes: Anchor Christmas Ale 2008
4. Tasting Notes: Admiral’s Ale
5. Tasting Notes: BrewDog The Physics