Evan Rail
@evanrail
He / him. Author of “The Absinthe Forger.” Monthly drinks columnist at VinePair, freelance contributor to the NYT, etc. Included in Best Food Writing, The NY Times Book of Wine and elsewhere. Prague Post food writer, 2000-2006. Jdeme na jedno.
Bohemians Praha 1905 are playing an international friendly against Bohemian FC at Dalymount Park in Dublin on September 26. If you go, have a beer for me.
Made it to Bavaria. Halfway through an Augustiner Helles and enjoying the view from the balcony.
While I was in Vilnius, the city held a street music festival. This one is cropped by about 50% and it looks like the Holga provided some light leakage as well as vignetting.
This is Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius, which was used as the Russian prison in Stranger Things. In the background are the domes of the penitentiary’s place of worship, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.
In May I went to Vilnius for a travel assignment. In addition to my notebooks, pens and phone, I took a Holga — a medium-format camera with a plastic 60mm f/8 lens that lends itself to blurring, light leaks and a messed-up depth of field. I got my pictures back this week.
Taste twice, write once, or something like that. This is the 8° beer (around 3.2% ABV) I drink most frequently. It is a hoppy, bittersweet treat. That bitterness, though.
Hard to believe that I’m once again drinking a beer from the brewery where I took Bourdain. 2026 is wild, man.
Finishing up the judging and the celebrating here at the Grodziskie beer competition in Grodzisk Wielkopolski, Poland, along with @patto1ro.bsky.social, @marekkaminski.bsky.social and other friends. Congrats to Austin’s Live Oak Brewing Co., winner of the Gold Medal.
How it feels to leave Belgium after four days of drinking beer and eating frites all day
Who’s doing this? I feel like I’m getting punked. Day 4, best frites thus far.
Guys, something’s happening. I didn’t even order these, they just showed up.
Sharing the tour dates (lifted from their IG), because you really might like Pink Breath of Heaven and you possibly live near Berlin, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Bochum, Cardiff, London, Newcastle, Coventry, Brighten, Rouen, Rennes or somewhere else along the way. You can tell them I said hi.
Gotta say that @nedraggett.bsky.social was 💯 right and Pink Breath of Heaven absolutely rocks live. Right here right now in Prague. (Brace yourself, Berlin.)
Just finished “Normal People” by Sally Rooney. Stunning. I’ll be thinking about these characters for a while.
Prague’s best beer bar turned 20 years old today. We drained numerous gravity kegs of Knoblach (self-serve; have fun!), emptied endless platters of mini-schnitzels and said cheers to countless old friends. I’ve known most of these folks for over two decades. It was a time.
Našli jste dnes v Praze zrcadlovku? Náš roztržitý teenager dnes v Praze ztratil Nikon D3500 s obj. Nikon AF-D 35 / f2 (asi u CineStar Anděl). Found a DSLR in Prague today? Our absent-minded teen lost a Nikon D3500 w/ an older Nikon 35 / f2 lens in Prague today (probably by CineStar Anděl).
The Czech word for lower back pain or lumbago is hexenšus, which is borrowed from a German word, Hexenschuss. The first time I heard it I was like, “Oh, like a witch just shot you in the back? That’s what you think happened?” Dear reader, at one point, that’s exactly what they thought.
Hi, author of “The Absinthe Forger” here. I’ve looked through a few books, my own photos and the replies to this post so far. The oldest bottles we know of are Swiss vertes, like this one, from before 1848 and “probably from the start of the 19th century,” at the Maison d’Absinthe in Môtiers.
I finished “Uncertain Sons and Other Stories” by Thomas Ha last night. This is excellent, hitting a real high point with the long title story at the end. Amazing stuff: creepy, to be sure, and plenty weird, but also deeply moving and just beautifully written. I’m wowed.
"Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it. Don't wait for it. Just let it happen.” — Agent Cooper This week I got CARNATION by @wordkunst.bsky.social aka Alexander Booth in the post. Easily the best part of my week. Order someone’s book. It’s super fun when it shows up.