In this edition, news from DFH, Big Sky, Blue Point, Funkwerks and Diageo (makers of Guinness).

…Dogfish Head is undergoing some major expansion efforts as evidenced by today’s post on Facebook. In addition, they’re working on some interesting things in the R&D lab:

We are brewing NOBLE ROT and we are transferring a beer called HARDTACK (the earlier name for this beer was DRINK ME). It’s going into a port barrel stuffed with pureed sour cherrries. NOBLE ROT is a sort of saison brewed with Red Winter Wheat […] Both NOBLE ROT and HARDTACK will be on tap at our Rehoboth pub in about a month. We hope to serve NOBLE ROT at The Extreme Beer Fest in Boston and HARDTACK at GABF.

…Big Sky Brewing released Ivan the Terrible today. Grizzly Growler reports, “They are going to have 269 cases of the brew available in total, with a small portion of that in the taproom and rest in the 24 states where Big Sky sells beer.” Meanwhile NBC Montana reports that the brewery was up 7.3% in the last six months of 2010. As for other Montana breweries, “Both Kettlehouse and Bayern brew fewer than 10,000 barrels of beer a year, but each saw about a 30% boost in 2010.”

…A new brew from Blue Point Brewing arrives. Direct from the brewery, “Brewed for the cold months, Blue Point’s special barley wine is made with English 2-row barley and Vienna malt. Its robust, malty, caramel flavor is balanced by rare hops, giving it a great depth of character. Drink only in moderation, the colorful name is not all that will grab your attention. Old Howling Bastard will be released in limited supply (in 22 oz. bottles and limited draft) to finer package stores in all eligible territories.”

…Funkwerks Saison bottles arrived at the shop today. Funkwerks White bottles are coming in March. I wrote about Funkwerks late last year.

…Finally, Independent Online provides a rather vague report that talk is swirling around a SABMiller – Diageo acquisition. It’s worth noting that no other media publications are reporting anything about this all this “talk.”