Photo / Courtesy, Rupee Beer
Rupee Beer's Mango Wheat Ale took home a prize in the U.S. Beer Open Championship.
Updated: July 16, 2024
Maine beer maker wins national award for ale's homage to 'king of fruits'
File Photo / Jim Neuger
Rupee Beer, founded by brothers Sumit and Van Sharma, recently won a national award for its Mango Wheat Ale. The brothers were photographed at Bombay Mahal, their family's restaurant in Brunswick.
Hear the Rupee Beer backstory
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Rupee Beer, a maker of Indian-style lager developed in Maine, took home a silver award this month at the 2024 U.S. Beer Open Championship for the brewing company's Mango Wheat Ale. The fruity beverage was launched on July 22, 2023, to coincide with World Mango Day.
Brothers Van and Summit Sharma came up with the idea for Rupee Beer during the pandemic while working at their family's Indian restaurant, Bombay Mahal, in Brunswick. They then teamed up with craft-beer guru Alan Pugsley — the British-born co-founder of Shipyard Brewing Co. in Portland — to launch Rupee Beer, which is incorporated in Maine.
Out of more than 9,000 beers representing 170-plus styles submitted to this year's U.S. Open Beer Championship, Rupee's Mango Wheat Ale was the only brand from Maine to win a medal in the prestigious competition. The prize was in the "American Fruit Wheat - Mango" beer category. Like Rupee's other beers, Mango Wheat Ale resulted from a collaboration with Pugsley.
"All our beers have been crafted by Alan, whom we have enlisted the help of along the entire process," Van Sharma told Mainebiz. "We knew the style and flavor profile we were aiming for, and it took a couple of months or so to come up with the final recipe we ultimately agreed on as being Rupee's signature mango style."
The product pays homage to mangos, which are India's national fruit and considered sacred symbols of proprietary and good luck, he said.
"India is also the largest consumer and supplier of mangos in the world, so for us it was important to take the ‘king of fruits’ and brew an easy-to-drink summer ale, which is smooth with hints of tropical aroma and mango flavor not being super sweet," he explained.
Portland 'on our radar'
Van Sharma and Sumit Sharma were honored on the inaugural Mainebiz 40 Under 40 list in 2022.
While Rupee Beer is brewed in Boston, Van Sharma said that the company has its warehouse in Maine, which is also where the brothers started distributing.
Moving brewing operations to Portland, where the brothers are based, is a long-term goal.
“We get a lot of local Mainers who know us and or have heard of us asking when we plan to bring the operation back to Maine and set up shop in Portland, which is on our radar," Van Sharma said.
Rupee Beer is distributed in 14 states, with plans to expand to four more in coming months.
“We are growing and slowly adding more and more markets where our customers want to see us,” Van Sharma said, noting that East Coast sales are strong, particularly in Boston, New York, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
As for the next chapter, “we continue to get international inquiries every week from Europe to Asia, the Middle East to the Caribbean,” he said. “We're hoping to introduce the brand into some key global markets soon and also continue our U.S. expansion efforts. Stay tuned!”
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