Thanks to a handful of local entrepreneurs, bartenders finally have something for tourists in search of a Bermuda brew. In fact, they have a selection -- Spinnaker, Wilde Hogge and Full Moon Pale Ale. Produced by `dem byes' at Bermuda Triangle Brewing Ltd., the ales are the result of the first microbrewery on the island. Founded by four principal shareholders -- Paul and Philip Mason, Mark Pettingill and Teresa Taguchi -- the company is 73 percent Bermudian-owned with non-Bermudians all married to Bermudians or long-term residents. Involved in the process is brewmeister Marko Saager, sales manager Graham Redford, assistant brewer Andrew MacKay and brewhouse assistant Mervin O'Brien. Located on SAL Road in Southampton, the brewery is not affiliated with any other and offers its own recipe formulations which can be adapted to produce seasonal beer or small quantities for special events. "It's doing very well,'' said Paul Mason, "especially the draft, Full Moon Pale Ale which just came out last weekend.'' The process takes place at the brewhouse, the heart of the brewery. A triangle formation, as opposed to the traditional in-line arrangement, means the brewmaster can monitor all three stations at once. The system is readied when a type of malt or barley grain is fed into the mill and crushed. The resultant material, the grist, is fed into the mash tun, or kettle, with hot water. "It takes two hours at temperatures ranging from 50 degrees centigrade to 62 degrees to 72 degrees to 78 degrees,'' said company brewmaster, Mr. Saager. "When the process is finished we check and separate the sugar water from the shells of the grain. This is done by a natural filter -- the shell itself. "Our water is a mixture of rain and ground water. In Bermudian water there are a lot of nitrates, too much to drink, so we dionize our water totally and resalt it like in other breweries in Europe and in the States, then we have the water we want without any of the nitrates.'' The mixture is then poured into the lauter tun where rotating blades thin out the mash so that the maximum amount of liquid can be passed through the holes in the base. The clarified liquid, known as wort, is then passed to the brew kettle. "The lauter tun has a false bottom made of metal,'' he explained. "Underneath is an opening and the sugar-water goes through the false bottom while the shells remain on the false bottom. The shell is good for animals and farmers pick it up and can add it also to make bread.'' Actual brewing begins where hops are added to the wort, or whirlpool, before being boiled. "We boil the wort for several reasons,'' said Mr.

Saager. "To make it sterile and to dissolve the hops and to raise the gravity. We must check it every 20 minutes so that the beer will have some strength. Hops is added and catches the protein, but mainly it adds bitterness which beer needs and acts as a natural preservative. "It does not need pasturization and because of this people here find the taste a bit different from their regular beers which need to be pasteurised because they must be imported. In Europe, people know really fresh beer and in the States because there are a lot of microbreweries, people are beginning to appreciate the taste of fresh beer. Only a few people will return to the taste of pasteurized beer.'' After brewing, the hops are removed and the clarified wort is then passed through a cooler so that it can be brought to a suitable temperature for fermentation. Yeast must then be added before fermentation can proceed.

After its primary period of fermentation, the wort is then pumped to conditioning tanks where it is allowed to age -- usually a three-week process.

"It is at this moment that we can speak about beer,'' he said. "Yeast transforms the sugar into carbon dioxide and alcohol is produced because it is a living organism.'' He added that Diatomite Product, a kieselguhr powder made from old corals, is used to filter the yeast out of the beer. The powder does not add any taste or smell to the beer. In addition to producing beer, the company does contribute to the community and have organised an `inter-pub' golf tournament at the Belmont Golf Club on May 21, will participate in an insurance symposium at the end of the month and will provide their brews for the Hootie & the Blowfish concert at BAA gymnasium on May 23. PHOTO STRAIGHT FROM THE BREWHOUSE -- Brewhouse assistant Mr. Mervin O'Brien takes Bermuda's freshest beer from the factory straight to the truck for immediate delivery to bars and restaurants, a far quicker procedure than that used for imported beers which are shipped to the Island.

BREWHOUSE CONTROL -- Brewmaster Mr. Marko Saager must ensure that the proper temperature, gravity and pressure is kept in the brewhouse.