Mohan Meakin
Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India
Also known as Dyer Breweries, Dyer Meakin Breweries, Mohan Meakin Breweries
Tally's Take
Why this matters
The oldest brewing lineage in Asia, and the only brewery in this archive whose name was changed because a Prime Minister would not walk through the door. Edward Dyer built a brewery in the Himalayan foothills at Kasauli and a distillery at Solan, chasing cold air and clean spring water, and brewed Lion — a heavily hopped pale ale for British troops in the hills, later reformulated as a lager. The firm became Dyer Meakin Breweries. Edward Dyer's son was Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, who ordered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919. Narendra Nath Mohan bought the company in 1949, and the Dyer name stayed on it for another seventeen years — until 1960, when Nehru, travelling to Shimla, declined an invitation to visit the Solan brewery because of whose father it was named for. The company became Mohan Meakin Breweries Ltd on 1 November 1966. It also makes Old Monk, which is a more famous product than any of its beer. The founding year is genuinely disputed and is left unknown: sources give 1855 and the late 1820s, thirty years apart, for the same brewery.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1949Narendra Nath Mohan takes over
Buys Dyer Meakin Breweries. The Dyer name stays.
- 1954Old Monk
The rum that became better known than the company's beer.
- 1960Nehru refuses to visit
On his way to Shimla, the Prime Minister declines to visit the Solan brewery because it is named for Edward Dyer, father of the officer who ordered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
- 1966Renamed Mohan Meakin
1 November 1966 — six years after the refusal, seventeen after the sale.
- 1980Mohan Meakin Ltd
From 24 April 1980.
The People
Behind the beer
Built the brewery at Kasauli and the distillery at Solan. Father of Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, who ordered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919 — the reason his name eventually came off the company.
Bought Dyer Meakin Breweries and took over management in 1949. Kept the Dyer name for seventeen more years.
The Beer Library
Beers
Lion
Year-RoundLager
Originally a heavily hopped pale ale for British troops in the hills; reformulated as a lager in the 1960s and still sold in northern India.
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How it changed hands
1 recorded move- 1949Narendra Nath Mohan takes over
Buys Dyer Meakin Breweries. The Dyer name stays.
No current parent in the archive's records — the moves above are history, not present ownership.
Show your working
Sources
- historyConfirmed
The company was renamed from Dyer Meakin Breweries to Mohan Meakin Breweries Ltd on 1 November 1966, following Nehru's refusal in 1960 to visit the Solan brewery because it was named for Edward Dyer, whose son ordered the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. This corrects supplied research dating the renaming to 1949, which is when Narendra Nath Mohan bought the company — not when the name changed.
Mohan Meakin, the Dyer name, and Nehru's refusal · The Tribune (India) and reference sources, cross-checked · 2026
NewsMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-20Reviewed 2026-08-20 - foundedDisputed
Founding year DISPUTED and left unknown. Sources give Edward Dyer's Kasauli brewery as 1855; others place his arrival and first brewery in the late 1820s with a move to Solan in 1835. A thirty-year spread on what is often called Asia's oldest brewery, and the archive records the disagreement rather than choosing.
Mohan Meakin, the Dyer name, and Nehru's refusal · The Tribune (India) and reference sources, cross-checked · 2026
NewsMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-20Reviewed 2026-08-20
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about Mohan Meakin
- Who owns Mohan Meakin?
- Mohan Meakin is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India.
- Is Mohan Meakin independent?
- Yes. Mohan Meakin is recorded as independent, with no parent company. Independence is recorded as the brewery states it; where a stake is a minority holding or joint venture, this archive leaves it unmapped rather than calling it ownership.
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