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{{Short description|Indian brewery and distillery}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox brewery
| name = Kasauli Brewery and Distillery
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| image = Kasauli Brewery 01.jpg
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| location_city = Kasauli
| location_state = Himachal Pradesh
| location_country = India
| coordinates = {{coord|30.9032|76.9748|display=title,inline}}
| opened = 1920s
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| intl = yes
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| owner = [[Mohan Meakin]]
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'''Kasauli Brewery and Distillery''' (formerly a [[brewery]] and presently a [[distillation|distillery]]),<ref name=liv1 /><ref name="solan">{{cite web |title=Himachal Pradesh: Solan |url=http://hpsolan.gov.in/solan.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121210130442/http://hpsolan.gov.in/solan.html |archive-date=10 December 2012 |access-date=8 October 2013 |publisher=Government of Himachal Pradesh |df=dmy}}</ref><ref name="lion beer" /> in [[Kasauli]] in the [[Solan district]] of [[Himachal Pradesh]], was established in 1855 by [[Edward Dyer (brewer)|Edward Dyer]]. It started producing Asia's first beer brand, Lion Beer, and India's first [[single malt whisky]], Solan No. 1. Both of these brands are still in production. The production of Lion beer was moved 25 km east to Solan Brewery at [[Solan]],<ref name="lion beer" /><ref name=liv1 /> due to [[water scarcity]], after the population of Kasauli increased around the brewery. Lion beer was originally an [[India Pale Ale]] (IPA), but the [[beer style]] was changed to ''[[lager]]'' in 1960s.<ref name="Swinnen" />

[[Mohan Meakin]], the present owner of the Kasauli and Solan breweries and distilleries, has several liquor brands including ''[[Old Monk]]'' rum; whiskies including ''Solan No. 1'', ''Diplomat Deluxe'', ''Colonel's Special'', ''Black Knight'', and ''Summer Hall''; [[gin]] such as ''London Dry''; and ''Kaplanski'' vodka, all produced at various production facilities across India.

Kasauli Brewery, with its bar and brewery both open to public, is 9.3 km west of the Sonwara railway station on the [[Kalka–Shimla railway]] – a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].<ref name="Centre">{{Cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/944 |title=Mountain Railways of India |last=Centre |first=UNESCO World Heritage |website=whc.unesco.org |language=en |access-date=2017-06-08}}</ref>

== History ==

In 1830, [[Edward Dyer (brewer)|Edward Dyer]] moved back to India from [[England]] to set up the first brewery in India (later incorporated as Dyer Breweries in 1855) at Kasauli in the Himalayas.<ref name=pr1>{{Cite book |title=The life of General Dyer |last=Colvin |first=Ian Duncan |date=1929-01-01 |publisher=W. Blackwood & Sons Ltd. |location=Edinburgh; London |language=en |oclc=1335678}}</ref><ref name=dy3>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XuQC5pgzCw4C&q=edward&pg=PA4 |title=The Butcher of Amritsar: General Reginald Dyer |last=Collett |first=Nigel |date=2006-10-15 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-1-85285-575-8 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=dy4>{{Cite news |url=http://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/dREvXCimvI0BIYRLNbavRO/How-Old-Monk-went-from-Indias-star-to-another-hasbeen.html |title=How Old Monk went from India's star to another has-been |last=Saikia |first=Arunabh |date=2016-04-23 |newspaper=Mint on Sunday |access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/reginald-edward-dyer_2419138 |title=Reginald Edward Dyer 1864–1927 – Ancestry |website=www.ancestry.com |language=en-us |access-date=2017-01-30}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lawrencecollege.edu.pk/reginald-edward-harry-dyer/ |title=Reginald Edward Harry Dyer – the Butcher of Amritsar | Lawrence College Ghora Gali |access-date=30 January 2017 |archive-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128214708/http://lawrencecollege.edu.pk/reginald-edward-harry-dyer/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=solan />

Dyer brought with him, [[Brewing equipment|brewing]] and [[distillation]] equipment from [[Beer in England|England]] and [[Scotch whisky|Scotland]], which came by sailing ship as far up the [[Yamuna]]-[[Ganges]] rivers as possible, before being loaded onto ox drawn carts and taken up to the [[Himalayas]] via the [[Grand Trunk Road]] route to [[Shimla]]. In 1842, a small [[cantonment]] of [[British Indian Army]] at Kasauli was established.

Dyer selected the location of his brewery due to the quality of the springwater available there and because the climate at this altitude was similar to the climate of Scotland. His stated ambition was ''"to produce a malt whisky as fine as Scotch whisky,"'' albeit from much higher highlands. Another reason for this location was that there was a ready market of British troops and civilians in Shimla and elsewhere in Punjab for his products.

After the town of Kasauli was established and began using much of the springwater, the brewery was dismantled and production moved to nearby [[Solan]], where a brewery was originally established in 1820, close to the British summer capital [[Shimla]]. The Kasauli brewery site was converted to a distillery, which Mohan Meakin Ltd. still operates.<ref name="liv1" /><ref name="solan" /><ref name="lion beer" /> However, the distillery remains at Kasauli and is the oldest operating distillery in Asia and one of the oldest whisky making distilleries in continuous operation anywhere in the world.

In 1887, another British entrepreneur H. G. Meakin who had moved to India, bought old Shimla and Solan Breweries from Edward Dyer<ref name="Damodaran">{{cite book |last=Damodaran |first=Harish |title=India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation |date=25 June 2008 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-59412-8 |page=63}}</ref><ref name="liv1">https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/PiKqdbm2wPGiQnCisfynmK/1800s-Solan-No-1--The-accidental-legacy.html, The Mint, 13 Aug 2012.</ref>

In 1949 following [[Partition of India|independence]], Narendra Nath Mohan raised funds and travelled to London, where he bought a majority stake in Dyer Meakin Breweries and acquired all the assets of Dyer Meakin Breweries in India including the Kasauli Brewery and Distillery.<ref name="Damodaran" /><ref name="lion beer">{{cite news |title=Spirits still soar at Asia's oldest brewery |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-08-13/news/27493620_1_beer-london-stock-exchange-asia-s |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202093903/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2005-08-13/news/27493620_1_beer-london-stock-exchange-asia-s |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=8 October 2013 |newspaper=[[The Economic Times]] |date=13 August 2013}}</ref>

== Products ==

=== Lion beer ===
{{anchor | Lion | Lion beer}}

''Lion Beer'', is Asia's oldest beer brand still continuously in production,<ref name=solan /> initially at Kasauli Brewery and then at Solan Brewery,<ref name=liv1 /> first as India Pale Ale (IPA) till 1960 and as lager beer thereafter.<ref name="Swinnen" /> Lion's popularity with the British during the heyday of the empire led to the start-up of other Lion beers around the world, in New Zealand, South Africa and elsewhere. [[Lion Brewery (Sri Lanka)#Lion|Lion beer produced in Sri Lanka]] remains the number-one brand in Sri Lanka, where Mohan Meakin introduced it in the 1884s through their [[Lion Brewery (Sri Lanka)|Ceylon brewery]].<ref name=dr1>{{cite web |url=http://e-malt.com/NewsSrv.asp?Command=ArticleShow&ArticleID=13724&Template=IndustryNewsTemplate.htm |title=Leading Lion Brewery completes the largest repackaging in its history |publisher=E-Malt.com |date=9 September 2008 |access-date=19 June 2014}}</ref>

From 1840s until the 1960s, Lion remained the number one beer in India for over a century. After this, another Mohan Meakin brand, Golden Eagle, took the number one place until the 1980s, when [[Kingfisher (beer)|Kingfisher]] became number one.<ref name="Swinnen" /> Lion was originally an India Pale Ale (IPA) but the beer style was changed in the 1960s to a [[lager]].<ref name="Swinnen">{{cite book |title=The Economics of Beer |author=Swinnen, Johan F.M. |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-150501-0}}</ref>

=== Solan No.1 whisky ===
{{anchor | Whisky | Solan whisky | Solan No.1 | Solan No.1 whisky }}

''Solan No.1 whisky'', is one of the first single malt whiskies which is still in production since 1820s, albeit in a different form. It was initially produced at Solan distillery owned by Dyer. Its production was moved to Kasauli brewery when swapped distillery at Solan Brewery was moved to Kasauli as a swap due to shortage of springwater for beer production at Kasauli. In 1887 Dyer sold the Solan Brewery to Meakin. It is still in production at Kasauli Brewery using some of the original equipment including the [[Pot still|copper pot still]].<ref name="Damodaran" /><ref name=liv1 /><ref name="lion beer" /> Historically, the main whisky brand made by the Kasauli distillery was a well regarded malt whisky named "Solan No. 1"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://therumhowlerblog.com/whisky-reviews/world-whiskeys/solan-no-1-malt-whisky/ |title=Solan Number One Full Bodied Malt Whisky |date=16 July 2013}}</ref> named after the nearby town of Solan. It remains the only [[malt whisky]] made in the Himalayas.

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
Kasauli Brewery 03.jpg|
Kasauli Brewery 02.jpg|
Kasauli Brewery 04.jpg|
Kasauli Brewery 05.jpg|
</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Beer in India]]
* [[Indian whisky]]
* [[Indian-made foreign liquor]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{portalbar|Beer|Liquor|India}}
{{Alcohol in India}}
{{Alcohol by countries}}
{{Alcoholic beverages}}
{{Indian beverages}}
{{Beers of the world}}
{{Prohibition |state=collapsed}}
{{Social issues in India}}
{{Whisky |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Breweries in India]]
[[Category:British-era buildings in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Solan district]]
[[Category:Distilleries in India]]
[[Category:Economy of Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:Kasauli]]

Kasauli Brewery and Distillery - Revision history

MarcyEdmond490: Created a stub