It is perhaps rather fitting that Mark Hellendrung's entrepreneurial inspiration hit him after he'd had a few pints.

Five years ago, he met an old friend at Cappy's Hillside Café, a popular Rhode Island watering hole. After several rounds, Mr Hellendrung - who describes himself as an avid beer drinker, if not an aficionado - asked the barman for a lager with, as he put it, "a little character". The options, alas, were uninspiring.

"The guy next to me overheard our conversation and said: 'What you want is a Gansett,' " recalls Mr Hellendrung. "Next thing you know, the whole bar is talking about Gansett beer - the old brewery, the radio ads, the old salesman. I thought, 'How can there be such affinity for a brand and no one was doing anything with it?' "