Amager Bryghus – Winter Wizard (2024)

A Spiced Imperial Xmas Stout

Think of it, so many European countries have a very similar tradition for spicy winter cookies: Pepperkaker, Pernik, Gingerbread, Pfefferkuchen, Speculaas… But no matter their name, the origin of these hard crusted little brown cakes can all be traced back to – you guessed it – Amager. In ancient times northern Amager was nowhere near the urbanized, sprawling Copenhagen neighborhood it is today. There was…nothing. Or almost nothing, because of course there was The Wizard, who seemingly had lived there like forever.
Whenever upper class Copenhagen needed a spell called upon somebody, The Wizard could get things done. However, being rich and upper class, many customers were also extremely cheap. So most of them would pay him in kind instead of in money, and The Wizard’s hut was eventually crammed with stuff like flour, molasses, eggs, cinnamon, pepper and ginger. One day around Christmas The Wizard had had it. Having hoped to spend the holidays on a cruise ship in the Caribbean, he found himself sitting in his hut with all this useless shit. So in an act of frenzy he called the strongest curse he’d ever managed upon those donated ingredients. The sonic boom is said to have been heard from Crete to Lofoten, and for seven days straight it rained