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evanrail.bsky.social
Evan Rail
@evanrail.bsky.social
1.6K followers 610 following 670 posts
He / him. Author of “The Absinthe Forger.” Monthly drinks columnist at VinePair, freelance contributor to the NYT, WSJ, etc. Included in Best Food Writing, The NY Times Book of Wine and elsewhere. Ran The Prague Post's food desk 2000-2006. Jdeme na jedno.
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evanrail.bsky.social
At Prague Airport (Terminal 2), happy to see you can buy cans of beer from small breweries like Zichovec and Únětice, in addition to giant makers like Pilsner Urquell. Tomorrow, someone on the other side of the Atlantic is going to try a great Czech pale lager for the first time.
Cans of beer on a refrigerated store shelf. The two pale lagers cost 99 czk each, equal to about $4.75.
November 5, 2025 at 10:36 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Not the biggest fan of Radeberger, but this NA version “mit Callista Aromahopfen” is quite nice. Now on to the Sauerbraten.
A glass of golden lager with loads of foam and a bottle on a table at a restaurant with a panoramic view over the Elbe valley.
October 31, 2025 at 11:16 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Happy Birthday to The Absinthe Forger’s lovely NYT book review by J. D. Biersdorfer, titled “Seeing Green,” which came out 1 year ago today.
“A lively standalone seminar on temptation — as well as the culture and history of the much-maligned liquor and its reputation for causing madness and murder.”
A newspaper clipping of a book review titled “Seeing Green” by J. D. Biersdorfer, with a hardback copy of “The Absinthe Forger” lying on top of it.
October 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Finished this book of weird stories last night and truly enjoyed it. If you’re into beer world, you should read it. You'll spot elements of U.K. beer culture covered by @boakandbailey.bsky.social, among other interests of author @raynewman.bsky.social.
Available here: www.amazon.com/Intervals-Da...
The book “Intervals of Darkness” by Ray Newman on a wooden table. There is a bookmark sticking up just a bit. You can tell the bookmark is actually a small instant photograph, but you can’t see what it’s a photo of. But I can tell you: it’s a streetlamp that is somehow inexplicably terrifying.
October 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Started / going

When I go fishing out by Žatec in the fall I usually try to stop and gather pears — most of the winding country roads in the region are dotted with gnarled old pear and apple trees, which apparently belong to no one. Made two pear cobblers last week, now this pie.
A round pie with a woven lattice crust on a wooden table. The pie is whole and has not yet been cut. A glass pie dish with just one small piece of pie with a woven lattice crust remaining.
October 23, 2025 at 8:41 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Not every day I get to drink tmavé pivo from Godspeed at a bar in Prague.
A 500-ml glass filled with dark lager capped with tan foam on a counter at the bar Pult in Prague.
October 2, 2025 at 2:15 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
While a lot of importers bring in bottles, cans and kegs, B. United uses temperature-controlled tanks to import Schlenkerla and other beers in bulk (40 hl or 10 hl) before packaging Stateside. Beers can cold-condition en route.
Here’s how it looks at Schlenkerla in Bamberg (B. United photos).
A large, 4,000-liter tank on a heavy truck parked outside the historic Schlenkerla brewery in Bamberg, Germany. The cylindrical tank has a square metal frame around it for shipping. Another view of the heavy truck parked outside the historic Schlenkerla brewery in Bamberg, Germany. A sign next to the gate says “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier” in Old World calligraphy, followed by the words “Hellerbräu,” “Rauchmälzerei,” and “Felsenkeller” in modern type.
September 17, 2025 at 8:48 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
U.S. beer folks, get ready for Schlenkerla's homage to Grodziskie, the historic smoked-malt wheat beer from Poland, which should be landing right about now.
Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier à la Grodziskie will be available Stateside starting September 28.
8º Plato, 2.9% alcohol, 20 IBUs.
Na zdrowie!
A can of beer that says “Aecht Schlenkerla à la Grodziskie” in Old World lettering followed by “eine Hommage an das alte Grätzer Rauchbier” and “w hołdzie dla tradycyjnego piwa grodziskiego.”
September 12, 2025 at 12:16 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Why do journalists sometimes resent PR people?

Oh yeah.
A screenshot of an email from a PR person, which starts out with the salutation “Hi {{journalist name}}”
September 11, 2025 at 2:36 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
The Czech brewer Bohuslav Hlavsa passed away August 15 at the age of 74. He was best known for his work at Pivovar Kout na Šumavě and had been helping out in an advisory role at Městský pivovar Domažlice. This was us at Kout 11 years ago. (Photo by @michaelkiser.bsky.social.)
Čest jeho památce.
An old man and a younger man walk toward an ancient, falling-apart brewery building.
September 2, 2025 at 10:39 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Researching Czech low-gravity lagers, I had another sit-down with Štěpán Kříž about the weird Czech hop he uses in Pivovar Hostomice’s 2.9% alcohol 7° and spoke to the folks at Únětický Pivovar about their 3.4% alcohol 8° (pictured). The lab says this one has 45 IBUs, and I believe it. Glorious.
A glass of beer on a table in a cozy café with lots of plants.
August 26, 2025 at 2:28 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Spent the hot part of last week on a beach in Poland, where I read a zany gem of a novel called “I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom” by @jasonkpargin.bsky.social.
It’s smart and funny. I found it inspiring in a bunch of ways and laughed out loud more than once. You should read it.
A Kindle Paperwhite showing the cover for “I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom” by Jason Pargin, which shows a young woman with sunglasses and a trucker hat sitting atop a black crate with wheels. In the background is a beautiful beach on the Baltic coast in Poland, with welcoming sea, gently breaking waves, and people enjoying the sun and surf. A man sits facing the waves. A woman walks along the sand. You’d like to spend some time here.
August 17, 2025 at 4:33 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
It was a tough firing, lasting over 17 hours, but it came out well. You can see some of the results here — tea bowls, mugs and beakers in both porcelain and stoneware, mostly glazed with celadon and shino.

For more of Nina's work, including some amazing lampshades: www.instagram.com/nina.rail/
A mix of ceramic mugs and cups in various colors and shapes on a wooden floor. A shino-glazed stoneware bowl stands in front of other bowls and mugs on a wooden floor. It has a slightly rough and bumpy surface that feels very nice in your hand. A shino-glazed porcelain beaker shows off a trace of shino’s rusty red color at its base, standing in front of a pile of other mugs and bowls. The rest of the glaze is nicely crazed. A celadon-glazed porcelain tea bowl with a beautifully crazed glaze in front of other mugs and bowls, including some rusty-red shino-glazed tea bowls.
August 9, 2025 at 11:45 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
After I started the kiln fire this morning, I had time to finish Michael Cecchi-Azzolina’s Your Table Is Ready: Tales of a New York City Maître D’. A bit too Bourdain-styled at first (cocaine and sex in restaurants, oh no), but still a good look at the restaurant business from the FOH.
Well worn work gloves, matches, a porcelain teapot, porcelain mug and a black Kindle lie flat on a black table. The Kindle shows the cover of the book Your Table is Ready.
August 7, 2025 at 1:58 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Down in South Bohemia helping Nina fire her pottery kiln today. Currently at 950° C / 1742° F with just a few hundred more degrees and roughly five more hours to go.
A woman and a small dog are seated on the grass in front of a small brick kiln. Flames are visible in the kiln’s firebox. The dog is a very, very good dog.
August 7, 2025 at 1:49 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Just talked to Pivovar Hostomice owner & brewer Štěpán Kříž (because I care about your needs, Beersky). The OG was 7.3º and it finished with 2.9% alc. and a completely ridiculous 30 IBUs. (WTAF.)
Like many of us, Kříž prefers 7º in the summer, “because you can drink a lot of them.”
Na zdraví, team.
A half-liter of very pale gold Czech lager capped with a crown of thick creamy foam in a glass mug that says “Hostomické Pivo” on torn paper coaster atop a wooden table.
August 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
“The Absinthe Forger” spotted face-out last weekend at Kramer’s in D.C. Looks like it was shelved in True Crime, rather than Food & Drink. (I have no preference: it fits in both. Always interesting to see how folks categorize it.)
Please send me pics if you find my book in the wild!
A wooden bookshelf bearing True Crime books: Code Name Blue Wren, The Alice Crimmins Case and The Sing Sing Files are on either side of The Absinthe Forger, which is shelved face-out.
July 16, 2025 at 8:00 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Movie people, should I watch some of the Johnnie To movies currently on Criterion? If so, where should I start?
A tile for a movie showing a woman holding a phone to her ear and looking carefully into the distance to the left. The lighting is very dark, like twilight or dawn. Behind her are apartment blocks. On the right of the frame, text says “A Film by Johnnie To: Breaking News” in bold, all-caps italics, in the style of intense action movies.
June 20, 2025 at 7:58 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Sending birthday wishes out to @thirstypilgrim.bsky.social from his former haunts in Brussels. Santé!
A glass of cloudy golden beer sits on a table in an old bar with lots of old paintings and antiques in Brussels.
May 26, 2025 at 1:13 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
Beautiful scenery up in North Bohemia yesterday.
A fruit tree covered with blossoms in front of a patch of green grass on a hill with a field of bright yellow rapeseed behind it. Another fruit tree stands further back. The sky is blue and clear. A two-lane road leads invitingly off to the right. Roubenky (Czech log houses), stand in the distance, nestled in a thick pine forest that caps a mountain. The nearest log house has green logs with white plaster. Others have brown logs with white plaster. There’s a large stone barn to the left of the nearest farmhouse. This village or settlement looks like it was built a century or more ago. A small river flows under an old stone bridge with two arches. It is springtime: lots of green grass, fresh green leaves and buds are visible. A small stream flows through a mixed forest, dappled with light and shadows. There is a strange statue of a man standing amongst the trees, apparently carved out of a single piece of wood. He looks like a frogman or a diver, seemingly wearing a face mask and flippers.
April 28, 2025 at 9:30 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
For #indiebookstoreday, a shoutout to my old fave @greenapplebooks.bsky.social, where I signed copies of “The Absinthe Forger” just before publication day last October. Go buy some books at your favorite indie today, you beautiful monsters!
A man standing on the sidewalk in front of a bookstore. The awning says “Green Apple Books on the Park” and “New and Used Books.” The man is smiling because it is October 14, the day before the publication day of his new book. The sign behind him says “Coming Out Like a Pornstar.”
April 26, 2025 at 6:46 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
In the archives yesterday I came across the rules of "The Boston Intemperance Society” (1830).
They include:
“No member shall get so drunk as to require more than 4 persons to take him to bed...”
Thoughts, alcohol historians?
cc @davidwondrich.bsky.social @alcademics.bsky.social @brewedculture.org
An apparently old, slightly stained document titled “Rules and Regulations for the Boston Intemperance Society,” with commandments for its members, signed by Nicholas Brandy, President, James Gin, Secretary, H. Whiskey, Corresponding Sec’y and brothers J.P. Toddy, S.T. Cocktail and J. Rum of "the Standing Committee." The long declaration begins “When in the course of human events,” listing many wrongs that have been done against drinkers, including endeavoring to raise the price of liquors and abolishing distillers, before listing a humorous code of conduct for its members at "taverns and grog-shops," among other places. “Should a member, by mistake or otherwise, discommode a bed, the landlord reserves to himself the right of imposing such penalty as the circumstances may require.”
April 15, 2025 at 6:30 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Can confirm: life-changing
Two gorgeous slices of pizza, one square, one a wedge, on paper plates at the bar at Scarr’s.
March 30, 2025 at 1:49 PM
evanrail.bsky.social
That would have to be Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Mk Ultra.

HT @coreyatad.com
The booklet for MK Ultra’s “Original Motion Picture Soundtrack” CD showing a woman facing the viewer and man carrying a suitcase in the background with a super dark sky and red-tinted earth, or something.
March 29, 2025 at 8:42 AM
evanrail.bsky.social
Took a minute this morning to finish “This Is How You Lose the Time War,” which I really enjoyed. If you like your time-shifting romantic SF with highly lyrical prose and a bunch of fun literary references, put this in your TBR pile.
A Kindle on a wooden table displaying the title page for the book “This Is How You Lose the Time War” next to a porcelain mug filled with what looks like coffee, but which is in fact a barley-based coffee simulacrum.
March 28, 2025 at 12:30 PM