 Brewer/bottler #9551 | | | Name | Dyer, Meakin (Burma) Ltd. |
| | | | | | | | | Extra info | Mohan Meakin is a large group of companies started with Asia's first brewery founded as Dyer Breweries Limited at Kasauli by Edward Dyer in 1855. In the late 1820s, Edward Dyer had moved from England to set up the first brewery in India at Kasauli in the Himalayan Mountains. The Kasauli brewery launched India's and Asia's first beer, Lion, which was in great demand by the British administrators and troops stationed in India. He established breweries and distilleries at Simla, Solan, Lucknow and Mandalay (Burma). The brewery was moved to nearby Solan, due to the abundant supply of fresh springwater there. The Kasauli brewery site was converted to a distillery, which Mohan Meakin Ltd. still operate. Dyer set up more breweries at Shimla, Murree (Murree Brewery), Rawalpindi, Mandalay, Quetta and acquired interests in the Ootacamund Brewery (South India).
Another entrepreneur, H.G. Meakin, coming from a well known brewing family of Burton-on-Trent where he was trained, founded Meakin & Co. Ltd. He bought the old Simla and Kasauli Breweries and built others at Dalhousie, Ranikhet, Chakrarta, Darjeeling and Kirkee.
After the First World War, the Meakin and Dyer breweries merged and renamed itself Dyer Meakin & Co.Ltd.
In 1934, Dyer, Meakin (Burma) Ltd separated from the rest of the group. In 1935 when Burma was separated from India, the name of the Indian part of the company was changed to Dyer Meakin Breweries Ltd., a public company on the London Stock Exchange, and the assets and liabilities of Burma Brewery in Burma were separated.
Brewing was suspended at the Kasauli Brewery and a new brewing and bottling plant was installed at Solan. Extensive malting at Kasauli were continued in operation. With modernization and rationalizations the unproductive centres were closed down one by one retaining distilleries at Kasauli and Lucknow and the brewery at Solan (Simla Hills) that were extensively upgraded through the years.
In 1937, when Burma was separated from India, the company was restructured with its Indian assets as Dyer Meakin Breweries.
After World War II, all manufacturing plants at Solan, Kasauli and Lucknow were replaced by the latest automatic ones.
Following independence, N.N. Mohan raised funds and travelled to London where he acquired a majority stake in Dyer Meakin Breweries. He took over management of the company in 1949 and built new breweries at Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Khopoli (near Mumbai).Burmese independence was followed by nationalisation in 1954, and the brewery became the State Brewery and Distillery under the Industrial Development Corporation. The company was renamed to Mohan Meakin Breweries in 1966, and to Mohan Meakin Limited in 1980.
Today, Mohan Meakin's principal brands are Old Monk Rum and Golden Eagle Beer. Its other products include Diplomat Deluxe, Colonel's Special, Black Knight, Meakin 10,000, Summer Hall and Solan No 1 whiskies, London Dry and Big Ben gins, and Kaplanski vodka. Asia’s original beer, Lion, is still sold in northern India. |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | Name 1 | State Brewery and Distillery |
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