On the 3.5th Day of Beermas - Sigtuna Midvinterblot Russian Stout!

Beer: Sigtuna Midvinterblot
Brewery: Sigtuna Brygghus (Sigtuna, Sweden)
Type: Russian Imperial Stout
ABV: 8%

Remember how I said that if I came across any new Christmas beers on top of what I already purchased, they'd somehow be included in the Beermas Countdown?  Cause that's what happening.  Only three days into the Countdown and already a bunch of new Christmas brews have hit the LCBO shelves - amazingly, there are a bunch of new faces to the mix, so I'm pretty excited!

Scandinavia and Germania were woefully lacking in the preliminary list of Christmas brews, so fortunately we've got them somewhat covered, starting with a brew from Sweden - which is not a brewing nation I get to encounter all that often!   I'm not sure what Midvinterblot means, but it certainly sounds like the kind of brew that would be most welcome as the temperature drops and the sun is blotted from the sky before 5pm.  Indeed, it may not be Midvinter just yet, but it sure feels like it around the city.  We've just got our first legitimate snowfall of the season, and so with the house fully decorated and the lights all aglow, it looks considerably more like Christmas (or Yule, for that matter) than it did just a few days ago.

Sigtuna Brygghus is a craft brewery from Sigtuna, which is the oldest "city" in Sweden, despite being smaller in population than what can legally be termed a city in Sweden.  Oh well, when you're founded five years before the birth of Cnut the Great (980 CE), I guess you get a pass on certain things.   First brew of theirs that I've seen before, and with a website entirely in Swedish, there's not much I can say about Sigtuna (based on the number of reviews there are on Beer Advocate, it doesn't look like it's received much play outside of its native Sverige), so I guess we'll just let the brew speak for itself!

Poured into a goblet.  Chestnut-black in colour, 1/4 inch of head that receded into a thick ring that lasted throughout what has ended up being a slow sipping session.

Nose is quite rich and pleasant - roasted malt, sweet molasses, chocolate, cherry, orange peel, chocolate loaf.  Bit of coffee in there as well.

Tasty stout, though a bit thinner than I'd expected for a Russian Stout.  Felt more like a porter, to be honest, but at the very least it's a damned tasty one.  Rich boozy malt, cinnamon, coffee, chocolate, and a long finish that reminds me of chocolate cookies (to be honest, the exact taste I get is Rice Krispies with nutella, which I don't know if the brewer was exactly going for, but if he did - kudos to him!).   Nice enjoyable sipper on a cold December evening.

Thinner bodied, sticky, initially with a strong carbonation, but a few minutes of warmth and air cleared that out a bit.

Great first brew from Sigtuna - hope to see them back at the LCBO with something new in the near future.  I'm sure I'll snap up a few more of these to get me through the rest of the Vinter!