The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest

by Evan Rail

Bronze Medal Winner, Best Book, North American Guild of Beer Writers
When the ancient brewery in the Czech forest town of Kout na Šumavě reopens after a 40-year closure, rumors start to circulate about a mysterious brewing book found hidden in the crumbling brewhouse walls. The beer from Kout is so strangely delicious that many who taste it think that it has to be made using secrets — or even magic — from the old brewing log. Enchanted by the taste of Kout lager, Evan Rail makes several journeys out to the brewery, even bringing Anthony Bourdain to film a segment on Kout for the TV show "No Reservations." But the world of Czech beer is full of secrets... and some secrets do not want to be revealed.

Genres: Beer, Nonfiction

114 pages, Paperback

First published July 22, 2014

About the author

Born and raised in Central California, Evan Rail studied at UC Davis and at NYU in Paris, where he received his MA. His writing appears in a number of publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Food & Wine and VinePair, where he has a monthly column. His essay Why Beer Matters, an Amazon Top 100 Bestseller, was followed by The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest, an award-winning memoir. His poems and translations have appeared in The New Republic, Zyzzyva, Poetry Review and The Times Literary Supplement (TLS), among other journals. He lives in Prague.

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Reviews

[Jamie Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Why didn’t they make bad beer? Because they didn’t want to make bad beer. But couldn’t they make more money making bad beer, wouldn’t that be cheaper? They didn’t want to do that. Why not? Because they wanted to make good beer."

I am a amateur but enthusiastic home brewer, in the past year I've been reading anything and everything to increase my knowledge on brewing beer but it's a lot to take in, I mean A LOT. I wanted to take a break from all the technicalities of brewing but still wanted to stay on topic so I decided to read The Brewery in the Bohemian Forest. A great choice. This is a fun and interesting read, finished it in no time. I mean it's got everything from great beer, to secret books, mysterious brewery owners, giant dogs, and celebrity television stars, all in 60 or so pages. It's definitely worth the read. At the risk of sounding lame, the only thing missing is some of the pictures mentioned in the book, I mean if it has a glossary, why not pictures? In other words, I really wanted to see this giant bulldog.

[Frederick Locke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent speed read. Great for beer and casual Bourdain fans.

[Scoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting. In the hands of a lesser writer, I don't think I would have been as engaged.

I'm a beer geek, so this book would naturally appeal to me, but I think regular folks would enjoy this quick non-fiction book as well.

[Jack Perdue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story about Czech beer and particular brewery in the Bohemian Forest of the Czech Republic. Evan gets into his time with Anthony Bourdain of the "No Reservations" TV series. I had to see the episode on YouTube for myself. Yea, it wasn't good. It was obvious to me that Bourdain didn't want to be there. Back to the book. He is willing to go out of his way to get a story. Ok, now, where did I leave that brewer's book?

[Scoats · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting. In the hands of a lesser writer, I don't think I would have been as engaged.

I'm a beer geek, so this book would naturally appeal to me, but I think regular folks would enjoy this quick non-fiction book as well.