Over the last few months, more unique, intriguing Czech offerings have trickled into DC.
We reached out to Evan Rail, esteemed author, who lives in Prague to give us a bit of context on some of the offerings.
Shelter at The Roost, the Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s establishment at 1401 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, Washington, DC 20003, has seen kegs from the Czech Republic trickling in since at least May. June saw offerings from Pivovar Antoš or in English, the Antoš Brewery. It is our understanding that we have in large part to thank Sebastian Sauer, founder of Freigeist Bierkulture and an importer for small boutique brands found in the Czech Republic, which typically never leave and you’d need to book a flight to the country to try.
Rail writes: Antoš is a well-regarded small brewery in Slaný, between Prague and Žatec, re-founded around 2011, with a history dating back at least to the 16th century. Like a lot of the new-wave breweries that came up in the last 15 or 20 years, Antoš makes both traditional and craft styles. It originally started out as a small brewpub with a 5-hectoliter system, but in 2015 it added a 25-hectoliter system and moved to a regional distribution model in the growing craft market. We’ve been seeing their beers in Prague regularly for more than a decade now. They’re usually very good…you can see Antoš is pretty well rated at sites like Pivníci, at least when it comes to their craft stuff.
If we care about using correct beer terms, I’m pretty sure Rarach is a světlé výčepní pivo, not a světlý ležák.
If you should find yourself at Shelter, or perhaps Churchkey, you may find an Antos draft. And it feels a great moment for the Czechs, or at least for Czech tennis. While the Czech football team didn’t progress in the World Cup, the Wimbledon final was a slugfest with Karolína Muchová losing to champion Linda Nosková.
As the world watched an all-Czech Wimbledon final, great context for Czech tennis was provided by Czechcast Podcast host and renowned journalist Vít Pohanka:
Czech and Czechoslovak tennis has, of course, a long and remarkable history at Wimbledon. Prague born Jaroslav Drobny won the men’s singles title in 1954, although by then he had fled communist Czechoslovakia and was representing Egypt. Jan Kodeš became the first player representing Czechoslovakia to win the Wimbledon singles title in 1973…Then Czech born Martina Navrátilová went on to win the women’s singles title a record nine times, although she represented the United States for most of those victories. Jana Novotná triumphed in 1998, Petra Kvitová in 2011 and 2014, Markéta Vondroušová in 2023 and Barbara Krejčíková in 2024. And now, in 2026, Linda Nosková has added her name to that extraordinary list.
If you’ve spent time with me, you probably know my father was born in Prague. His father, my grandfather, owned a bentwood factory, and told him one of his great pride and joys was knowing a racket that came from his factory was used by a tennis professional at the Wimbledon tournament.
Somewhat ancillary, my mom’s mother, my grandmother, was born in Maine, who is currently cranking out some great lager. Particularly, the beers from Sacred Profane. Their founder/owner Brienne Allan has been a great ambassador for Czech culture and her light and dark lagers are worth seeking out. Rail also mentioned their beers in his correspondence:
I’ve actually had the Sacred Profane dark lager on that menu! I thought it was excellent. To me, it tasted exactly like a tmavé pivo from a great Czech brewery. Draft and the occasional cans are available in DC and Virginia.
So, go get some Czech beer while you’re wondering what the World Cup 2030 will look like or who will win Wimbledon 2027.
