Greetings from Michigan -- the Great Lakes State.*

* with apologies to Sufjan Stevens, a Detroit native with Holland connections.

Michigan will have strong representation at Gravity Head 2006, and the reason for this is simple.

There are great breweries and equally fine beer in abundance in Michigan.

Perhaps the most interesting of them all is the fabulously funky Jolly Pumpkin, which describes itself as a "land of open fermentation, oak barrel aging, and bottle conditioning."

Alas, no kegs (that's not what they do), and so no Gravity Head, but we're trying to keep bottles in stock; check the last Publicanista! blogletter for availability.

Kalamazoo Brewing Company is a known entity of long standing, and over the years, we've probably served two dozen different Bell's beers on tap throughout the year. Dark Horse (Marshall), Founders (Grand Rapids), and New Holland (Holland) haven't been around quite as long, but each has an outstanding reputation for microbrewing quality and innovation.

Of the four, I know the least about Dark Horse, but fortunately there's an excellent story in the Battle Creek Enquirer from 2005.

Sapient Trip will be on site next week; Double Crooked Tree will come along later in February. Both will be held for Gravity Head duty. For those keeping score, the Dark Horse Tres Blueberry Stout promised for Saturnalia finally arrived, and probably will be on tap by Saturday, January 28.

Here are the Michigan beers slated for Gravity Head 2006:

*Bell’s Batch 7000 12% abv

Dark Horse Double Crooked Tree IPA 13.6% abv

Dark Horse Sapient Trip 8.6% abv

Founders Blushing Monk Belgian Razz 9.5% abv

Founders Devil Dancer Triple IPA (2004) 13% abv

Founders Dirty Bastard 8.3% abv

*New Holland Dragon’s Milk 10.5% abv

See also: End of January update: "Gravity Head 2006: Reality ABV" advance orders preview.