Drink this while watching HBO's TRUE BLOOD

It's not too late to enjoy NOSFERATU from Great Lakes Brewing Company out of Cleveland, Ohio.  Absolutely one of my favorite breweries.  Nosferatu is a freaking delicious stock ale, strong and deep amber, chock full of rich maltiness with some soft hops on the finish.  When I tried it last year, I thought of it as sort of a big vampire brother to Great Lakes Eliot Ness, their amber lager.  This year, I found it a bit more complex, a little darker and warmer.  

NOSFERATU is the Great Lakes Halloween seasonal.  The vampire on the label is Count Orlock.  NOSFERATU was the original filmed version of Dracula, back in, I think, 1926.  The Bram Stoker estate refused to give up the rights to the story (I forget which production company made the film), so the filmmakers changed the name of the vampire, changed a few plot points (a VERY few) and made the movie anyway.  The actor who played the vampire was named Max Schreck.  Schreck is the German word for fear or fright, which contributed to all sorts of legends springing up around the making of the movie -- it was said Schreck insisted on staying in costume and character the whole time, it was even rumored he actually was a vampire!  Who knows.  At any rate, if you can find the original movie on cable or somewhere, it is absolutely worth a look -- it is a cool and creepy silent film.  Whether he was a vampire or not, Schreck was a scary looking dude.  The film was remade in the early '80's with Klaus Kinski as the vampire -- I didn't see it -- and there was a movie made recently about the making of the original NOSFERATU featuring John Malkovich as the film's director.  Do I remember the title?  Nope.  But it's a good movie too.  So -- anyway, that's all I know about NOSFERATU.  You can still buy the beer at Whole Foods at 30 West Huron and other stores in Chicago.  Go get some and drink it.