Lion Beer is a brand name of beer brewed in India.

In the late 1820s, Edward Dyer 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 indeed Asia's first beer, Lion, which was in great demand by the thirsty British Administrators and Troops stationed in sweltering India. Lion was appreciated as a high-quality beer, and one famous poster featured a British Tommy declaring, "as good as back home!".

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 operates. Dyer set up more breweries at Shimla, Murree, Rawalpindi, Mandalay, Quetta and acquired interests in the Oticumand (South India) and Nuwara Eliya (Ceylon Brewery Limited) breweries. Lion beer was introduced to Ceylon (nowadays called Sri Lanka) through the acquired Ceylon brewery and is today Sri Lanka's best selling beer.

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 and Kirkee. The Meakin and Dyer breweries eventually merged and in 1935, 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 in 1949, N.N. Mohan took over management of the company and the name was changed to Mohan Meakin Breweries in 1967 (the word "Breweries" was dropped in the seventies as the company diversified into other industries). The company continues to produce beer across India to this day, and Lion Lager is still available throughout India in the Army's Canteen Services Department.

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 in south and west India. Lion remains the best selling beer in neighbouring Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

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.