Days of the Beer, February 20

The beer for today is Great Lakes Brewing Company Nosferatu.

On February 20, 1936, Max Schreck died. Friedrich Gustav Max Schreck was born September 6, 1879 and was a German actor. He is most known for the lead role in the 1922 film, Nosferatu.

In 1921, Schreck was hired by Prana film for their first and only production, Nosferatu. The company declared itself bankrupt after the film was released to avoid paying copyright infringement costs to Florence Stoker, Dracula author Bram Stoker's widow. Schreck played Count Orlok, who is really Count Dracula.

Nosferatu may or may not mean "vampire" in Romanian. One theory behind the etymology of the word is that it comes from the Greek "nosophoros" meaning disease-bearing. Which makes sense as the movie Nosferatu emphasized the theme of disease.

On February 19, 1936, Schreck had just played the Grand Inquisitor in the play Don Carlos. That evening he felt unwell and the doctor sent him to the hospital where he died early the next morning of a heart attack.

As to the beer:

Name Origin: Like vampires (most especially, the notorious German vampire from
the 1920s film era), this beer has a bit of a reputation as “the Beer with the Bite.”

Style Origin: American red ale has its origin in the earliest days of the American craft beer revolution. Faced with a dearth of traditional English ingredients, brewers had to use American ingredients. Imperial or double red ales grew out of this medium-bodied style and emerged with intense hop bitterness, flavor and aroma.

Flavor: Highly hopped and rich with flavor, yet remarkably balanced.

The beer is 8% alcohol and has 70 IBUs; so it's slightly bitter.

So, for the guy who played the undead Nosferatu, have a beer to celebrate his life on the 75th anniversary of his death.