AMAGER MARGARET QUEEN OF DENMARK 0.44lt

Hops: Columbus, Galaxy, Simcoe, Strata. Yeast: London Fog. Queen Margaret I of Denmark was born at the long gone Søborg Castle in 1353, the youngest daughter of Valdemar IV. At only 10 years of age, Margaret was married to Haakon VI of Norway, creating a Danish/Norwegian alliance in a power struggle with the rulers of Sweden, the old Danish arch-enemy. Shortly after her marriage, Margaret’s only brother died, leaving the Danish throne without a male heir. Margaret proved herself a very bright, wise and energetic leader, and when her husband, the King, died, she skillfully maneuvered her infant son and herself to become the sovereign of the dual Kingdom of Denmark and Norway.

And when the Swedish nobility asked her to rid them of their unpopular king Albert, she invaded Sweden in an amicable gesture. The grand battle of Åsle followed in 1389, wherein Margaret lost her commanding general, yet still came out victorious.

And in 1397 she finalized her political masterpiece uniting the Scandinavian kingdoms in the Kalmar Union. A union that for the next 126 years would unite Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and indeed also Finland, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe, Shetland and Orkney Islands under one ruler in a single Nordic empire. Margaret died in 1412 of a sudden illness while aboard a battleship, in a fight to reclaim the Duchy of Schleswig for the Nordic kingdom.

The war was won, but the Queen had died.

This beer is a collaboration made with FIRST Craft Beer from Budapest, Hungary.