Beer in Asia

Early history

Ancient Middle East is believed to be the cradle of beer, as it linked to the domestication of cereal and production of bread in the area. Chemical tests of ancient pottery jars reveal that beer was produced about 3,500 BC in what is today Iran, and was one of the first-known biological engineering tasks employing fermentation. Archaeological findings showing that Chinese villagers were brewing fermented alcoholic drinks as far back as 7,000 BC on small and individual scale, with the production process and methods similar to that of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

In Mesopotamia, early evidence of beer is a 3,900-year-old Sumerian poem honoring Ninkasi, the patron goddess of brewing, which contains the oldest surviving beer recipe, describing the production of beer from barley via bread.

British India

In the late 1820s, Edward Abraham Dyer, father of Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer of Jallianwala Bagh massacre, moved from England to set up the first brewery in India (later incorporated as Dyer Breweries in 1855) 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 thirsty British administrators and troops stationed in the sweltering heat of India. The brewery was later incorporated as Dyer Breweries in 1855. Lion was much appreciated as a beer, and one famous poster featured a satisfied British Tommy declaring, "as good as back home!". The company still exists and is known as Mohan Meakin Limited, which today comprises a large group of companies involved in many industries.

The brewery was soon shifted to nearby Solan (close to the British summer capital Shimla), as there was an 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, moved to India and bought the old Shimla and Solan Breweries from Edward Dyer and added more at Ranikhet, Dalhousie, Chakrata, Darjeeling, Kirkee and Nuwara Eliya (Ceylon). After the First World War, the Meakin and Dyer breweries merged and in 1937, when Burma was separated from India, the company was restructured with its Indian assets as Dyer Meakin Breweries, a public company on the London Stock Exchange.

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 Bombay). The company name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries in 1967 (the word "Breweries" was dropped in the eighties as the company diversified into other industries).

On the death of N.N. Mohan in 1969, his eldest son Colonel V.R. Mohan took over as Managing Director. He introduced a number of new products that are brand leaders today but died in 1973, soon after taking the helm. In the 1970s the manufacturing activities of the company were diversified into other fields including breakfast cereals, fruit juices and mineral water under the leadership of Brigadier Kapil Mohan (Col. V.R. Mohan's brother). Subsequently the word brewery was dropped from the company name in 1982 to remove the impression that the company was engaged only in beer making. New breweries were built during the seventies and eighties at Chandigarh, Madras, Nepal and Kakinada near Hyderabad.

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.

Dutch East Indies

In 1929, the Heineken beer company established its first East Indian brewery in Surabaya, East Java, during Dutch colonial rule of Indonesia. Beer was a popular drink among Dutch colonials and Indos in the Dutch East Indies. Brewing was interrupted during World War II Pacific War (1942-1945) and following the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949).

By the 1960s, Indonesians had developed their own local brands of beer, including Bintang Beer (nationalized from Heineken) and Anker Beer.

Early beer brands

Lion Beer is the main brand first sold in the 1840s. It was originally branded an IPA (India Pale Ale) but was changed in the sixties to a lager. Lion remained the number one beer in India for over a century from the 1840s until the 1960s. After this another Mohan Meakin brand, Golden Eagle, took the number one spot until the 1980s, when Kingfisher became number one. By 2001, Lion sales had declined substantially and Lion was only available to the Indian Army through the CSD (Canteen Services Department). Mohan Meakin then entrusted the marketing of their original beer to International Breweries Pvt. Ltd. The brand has since been relaunched in the north Indian market. With a new label design and marketing campaign, Lion has established itself once more in the civilian market and is now expanding into markets across India.

Lion earns a place in history as Asia's first beer brand. 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 remains the number one brand in neighbouring Sri Lanka where Mohan Meakin had introduced it in the 1880s through their Ceylon brewery.

Australian is another popular 5% abv lager distributed by International Breweries (P) Ltd. The 8% abv version is called Max.

Brunei

Alcohol is banned in Brunei except for sales to foreigners and non-Muslims. There are no breweries in the country.

Cambodia

There are three main commercial breweries in Cambodia: Cambrew Brewery; Cambodia Brewery; and Khmer Brewery.

Angkor Beer, named after the iconic Khmer Angkor temples near Siem Reap, is the most widely consumed beer in Cambodia. It is brewed by Cambrew Brewery in Sihanoukville, which also brews Klang Beer, Bayon Beer, Angkor Extra Stout and Black Panther Premium Stout. Cambrew Brewery is 50% owned by Carlsberg.

Anchor Beer and Tiger Beer is brewed by Cambodia Brewery in Kandal, which is 50% owned by Heineken. Cambodia Brewery also produces Crown Gold and ABC Stout.

Cambodia Beer is brewed by Khmer Brewery, located in Phnom Penh.

Kingdom Breweries, is Cambodia's only premium craft beer brewery and brews dark, pilsener, and gold lager beers in Phnom Penh.

Indonesia

Bintang is a locally brewed version of Heineken beer. It is noticeable that Bintang uses similar packaging (650 mL green bottle) and identical symbol (red star) to Heineken. The name Bintang means "star" in Indonesian.

Bali Hai is not a beer produced on Bali but on Java.

Japan

In Japan, Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory are the four major beer producers, mainly producing pale-colored light lagers with an alcohol strength of around 5.0% ABV.

Kyrgyzstan

While traditional Kyrgyz drinks like bozo and kymyz retain popularity, and Soviet-style beer lives on in the form of Nasheб new local brands are gaining popularity which are Arpa, Zhivoe and Topos, which was launched 2014. The brewpub Steinbrau in Bishkek bring German-style lagers to the land, while microbreweries exist in Osh and Jalal-Abad. Many of the big local names are Russian (Baltika, Sibirskoe Koronna, Bagbier, Klinskoe) or Kazak (Tian-Shan, Karagandinskoe).

Laos

Beer Lao is the most popular.

Malaysia

The main leading brewery in Malaysia is Guinness Anchor Berhad, followed by Carlsberg and several other local brands.

Mongolia

Chinggis is the most popular.

Myanmar

Myanmar Beer is the most popular. In January 2017, Myanmar got its first craft beer microbrewery, Burbrit, named for Burma and Britain, in recognition of the British influence on the nation's brewing history.

Nepal

The main commercial brewery in Nepal is the Gorkha Brewery, which was established in 1990 as a joint venture between the Khetan Group and the Carlsberg Group. In 2010 the Carlsberg Group became the majority shareholder. Gorkha Brewery has a 72% market share and produces Carlsberg, Tuborg, San Miguel and Gorkha Beer.

Pakistan

Murree Brewery is the maker of Pakistan's premier beer brand, Murree beer. The brewery has two manufacturing units located in Rawalpindi and Hattar (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

Philippines

The beer market consists of San Miguel Brewery, the market leader, Asia Brewery, the second brewery and the competitor of San Miguel Brewery, and small microbreweries, including Fat Pauly's in Iligan, Katipunan Craft Ales, Craftpoint and Great Islands Brewing in Manila, Bog's Brewery in Bacolod, Xavierbier brewing in Baguio at the tasting room Baguio Craft Brewery and Palaweño Brewery in Palawan.

San Miguel Pale Pilsen is the first and the number one beer in the Philippines brewed by the San Miguel Brewery. Other leading beers are San Mig Light, a lighter calorie version of San Miguel Beer, and Red Horse Beer, the first and the leading extra-strong beer, all brewed by the same company.

Asia Brewery, the second brewery in the Philippines, brews Beer Na Beer, and Colt 45 under licensed, competitors of San Miguel Beer and Red Horse Beer.

Singapore

The Singapore beer market is dominated by Heineken Asia Pacific (formerly Asia Pacific Breweries) and its most popular brand, Tiger Beer, with 28% of total volume sales in 2015.

Sri Lanka

The most popular local beer is Lion, a lager which is produced by Lion Brewery. Another popular beer was Three Coins produced by McCallum Breweries. In 2012 McCallum Breweries was purchased by Miller's Brewery and in mid 2014 Lion Brewery successfully took over Miller's Brewery and closed the plant. The only other brewer still operating in Sri Lanka is Asia Pacific Brewery Lanka Limited, which acquired local brewer, United Brewery, in 2005. Asia Pacific Breweries is a Singaporean-based joint venture between Heineken International and Fraser and Neave and produces a range of King beers.

Turkmenistan

ZIP and Berk is the most popular.

Vietnam

The three largest companies control 95% of the market:

Bia hơi is a unique type of very light draft lager produced locally in small batches. Other beer brands include Hue Beer, Dung Quat Beer, Quy Nhon Beer.