Boasting fresh, handcrafted ales and an exciting menu, Bermuda's first and only brewpub is off to a dynamic start. Set in an authentic English-style pub, North Rock Brewing Co. has already established a loyal neighbourhood following and a reputation for excellent food, service and of course, beer. According to Heather and David Littlejohn, owners of the South Road, Smith's Parish pub, their success has come not only from a real love of the business, but through years of preparation. "I've done brewing as a hobby off and on for about five years and have always been interested in being in this type of business in one form or another,'' explained Mr. Littlejohn, "but I got sidetracked into electrical contracting for 17 years. And then, about five or six years ago, Heather and I visited a brewpub in New Hampshire and I thought the idea was quite intriguing -- the simple concept of taking a tavern or pub and producing beer for customers on site so you get your own fresh, handcrafted ales. "Not only does it guarantee product freshness and availability, but on the financial side, we're guaranteed a much greater margin as opposed to buying wholesale. So we spent basically two years looking for a property and this one came up and we went with it.'' The brewpub regularly offers between three and Brewpub is well received the time of the year. And all the beer is to be sold in three sizes -- the sampler, which is three four-ounce sizes of whatever is being brewed at the moment, the half pint and the pint. "We're currently producing four ales,'' he said, "London Porter, amber ale, ordinary bitter and red ale. And our speciality brewed beers will match the seasons. We'll be doing stronger, heavier beers in the winter and lighter ones for the summertime. And, very shortly, we hope to add cask-conditioned ales to our line; naturally carbonated ales drawn up from the cellar by beer engines. Lagers take a lot longer so ales will be all that we produce. "All our products are 100 percent natural. There are no additives whatsoever and nothing is pasteurised. Also, there are no bottle products. It will all be on draft and in small enough quantities to give a great degree of versatility to tailor our products to the customer's taste. It's a new concept -- fresh, brewed on site, consumed on site beer.'' According to Mr. Littlejohn, American brewpubs originated on the West coast about 15 years ago. "They're a very rapidly growing concept in the United States. They spread like a wave across the country and the first brew pub on the East coast began seven or eight years ago. It's a real novelty here and hopefully a way to tap into the tourist market. For now we're working to create a comfortable, neighbourhood pub atmosphere and we already have a strong neighbourhood following.'' North Rock Brewing Co.'s brewing system was supplied by DME, a company based in Prince Edward Island, Canada. "The system they supplied us with is what they call a three barrel system, also known as a full-mash system. What that means is that we use the freshest, raw materials such as malted barley, hops and wheat, from around the world to make our brews. It's a system that is capable of producing up to 14 kegs per day and to do that, we brought in a head brewer from Massachusetts, Mark Magiera, who was the assistant head brewer at Marsha's Exchange in New Hampshire. So we're Bermuda's first and only brew pub. As with any good local pub, our decor will evolve with time. We want to make it as authentic a brew pub as you can find on this side of the Atlantic.'' PHOTO David Littlejohn, who owns North Rock Brewing Co. with his wife, Heather, has promised nothing but the freshest ingredients will be used to make their tempting menu items and handcrafted ales. Bermuda's first brewpub is now open for business. Shown with the three barrel system which helps produce the fine ales at North Rock Brewing Co. are company director, Fred Littlejohn and restaurant owners Heather and David Littlejohn. The ales are brewed freshly at the South Road, Smith's Parish site and sold as four-ounce samplers, and in pint and half-pint sizes. Pub's a hit with ale lovers Brewmaster Mark Magiera shows how he makes the tasty ales brewed and consumed at the brewpub