On October 25, 1985, McMenamins' first beer was brewed in a small copper kettle at Hillsdale Brewery. It was a liquid malt extract brew, highly hopped for the era, brewed by the Hillsdale's first brewer Ron Wolf and dubbed "Hillsdale Ale." Falling loosely in the ‘Special Bitter' classification of beer styles, Hillsdale Ale became McMenamins first bona-fide company standard beer, pre-dating Terminator, Hammerhead and Ruby.
