Bell's vs. The World

The venue

On Tuesday night, Bell's Brewery of Kalamazoo, Michigan, competed with beer selections from Lyon Hall restaurant in Arlington, Virginia. The Lyon Hall vs. Bell's beer dinner featured a five course meal with each course accompanied by one beer selected by Lyon Hall's beer director David McGregor and one beer chosen by Bell's. The diners then chose which beer better suited each course, not necessarily which beer tasted better on its own.

I attended last month's beer dinner when Founders went head to head with Lyon Hall, and I was interested to see how Bell's fared against McGregor. Plus, the food was so good last month that I wanted to try more creations from Lyon Hall's chef.

FIRST COURSE

Food: Thistle Honey Roasted Pear Salad, Duck Confit, Duck Fat Vinaigrette
Bell's: Winter White Ale
Lyon Hall: New Belgium RedRock Paardebloem

The first course

I am not sure what thistle honey is (or is it thistle and honey?), and duck fat is not something I usually ask for at my local supermarket, but this course was surprisingly enticing. My wife normally does not like duck, but she enjoyed the duck confit.

Wheat beers are generally a hit or miss with me. I tend to like darker, more robust beers, but an occasional wheat will surprise me. The Winter White Ale on its own did not make a strong impression on me. It was a little too light for me, and had too much of a lemony flavor and soapy texture for my taste.

I enjoyed the Paardebloem (do not ask me how to pronounce this) better. It was fruity, but not overbearingly fruity, with a predominantly peach taste. It was refreshing and easy on the palate.

Ultimately, I felt that the Winter White paired better with the pear and duck. The peach flavors of the Paardebloem almost drowned the flavor of the food while the Winter White's flavors seemed to enhance the taste of the duck and pear.

Bell's 1
Lyon Hall 0

Best of the Net 11/4-11/10

Lansing Builds The Car Of The Year

Michigan auto workers can still build a great car, and Motor Trend magazine agrees. Motor Trend has named the Cadillac CTS its 2014 Car of the Year. As reported by the Lansing State Journal, Cadillac revamped the CTS for 2014, and the remodeling has paid off.

Cadillac manufactures the CTS at its Lansing Grand River plant. The plant built its one-millionth car in September, which coincidentally was a 2014 CTS. The CTS previously won Motor Trend Car of the Year honors in 2008.

Detroit Housing Market Rebounds

Detroit's housing market may not be strong, but it is improving. MLive reports that Detroit led the nation's housing recovery for the third quarter according to a Realtor.com study. Detroit's home sale prices have been climbing at a double digit rate since March, although the median home price is still extremely low.

With Detroit's revitalized Downtown and Midtown, hopefully more people will move into the city and continue to improve home prices.

Marquette Tourism Has A Strong 2013

The Mining Journal reports that Marquette County tourism has been strong this year and that tourism spending in the Upper Peninsula increased 10 to 11 percent this summer. The article lists the many attractions in the U.P. that have contributed to the tourism growth, such as beaches, kayaking, biking, brew pubs, mining museums, waterfalls and fall foliage.

The U.P.'s close proximity to metro areas such as Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis also makes it a desirable and easy destination for a large number of travelers.

Detroit Food City

When I return to Michigan, I always look forward to visiting my favorite restaurants. Old favorites provide the comfort of knowing that I will enjoy what I order and bring back memories of good times.

When I recently returned to Detroit, I decided to step outside of my comfort zone by visiting several restaurants in Detroit that I had not been to before and two classics that I had not been to in years.

Below are my favorites:

The Two Classics

The originals: Lafayette and American

During my first day in Detroit, I needed to visit American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island. These are the two original makers of Detroit Coney dogs. A Detroit Coney is an all-beef hot dog topped with chili, mustard and onions.

These two competitors are next door to each other but have very different approaches to their business. American is a much larger restaurant with large windows and a much brighter atmosphere. Lafayette is a small, dingy dive. Lafayette's dinginess only adds to its authentic feel, while American feels more like a fast food chain on the inside. Its menu is much bigger than Lafayette's with items like gyros, a Greek salad, a taco salad and a chicken pita. I did not see a menu at Lafayette, but I understand that they only have Coney dogs and french fries (with or without chili).

As for the Coneys, I preferred Lafayette and its sweeter onions. I remember liking Lafayette better as a kid, but American was better than I remembered. If you are looking for more than Coney dogs, American is the place for you. The staff was friendlier, and the chicken pita my wife had was actually really good.

If I was taking a group out with a few people who do not like hot dogs, I would take them to American, but I would stop at Lafayette afterward and grab a Coney to go.

Best of the Net 10/28-11/3

A New Era of Innovative CEOs

In the early 1900s, Michigan drew entrepreneurs from around the country and the world, all of whom wanted a piece of the auto industry's pie. Eventually that pie was divided three ways by Ford, GM and Chrysler, and many innovators flocked to other areas of the country. Now, entrepreneurs are coming to Michigan and starting a wider variety of businesses throughout the state.

One sign of the diversification of Michigan's economy is the CEO Summit of the Business Leaders for Michigan, which was held in Detroit on Wednesday. The Detroit News highlighted the CEO Summit and some of the businesses throughout the state that are working to diversify and create balance for Michigan's economy.

Detroit Startup Will Boost You Up

Saving money for a wedding, a vacation, a car or a new home can be difficult, but Boost Up is here to help. The crowdfunding website allows users to save for major expenses, and it allows family and friends to make donations. Michipreneur reports that Boost Up recently moved to Detroit from Chicago and that Detroit Venture Partners recently provided $1 million in funding to the company.

Michigan And Michigan State Play Nice

Michigan State University may have defeated the University of Michigan on the gridiron on Saturday, but these two universities work together off the field on a regular basis. The Lansing State Journal recently highlighted the many ways that the two schools combine their resources to improve Michigan and humanity as a whole.

For example, the two schools and Wayne State University are members of the University Resource Corridor, an effort to coordinate the universities' research efforts to strengthen Michigan's economy. Michigan and Michigan State scientists also work together to cure diseases, and their academics collaborate to foster entrepreneurship. Unlike the athletic contests between the Wolverines and Spartans, everyone is a winner when these two universities meet in the academic halls and scientific labs.

Wolverine and Spartan Fans Defined

Today, the Michigan State Spartans and Michigan Wolverines will play their annual in-state rivalry game. MSU fans think that all Wolverines are "arrogant asses" (and that's a direct quote about Wolverines from a former Spartan head coach). U-M fans think Spartans have a collective inferiority complex and that they would rather see Michigan fail than Michigan State succeed.

In "honor" of both fanbases, here are two movie scenes that capture what each side thinks of itself and its competition:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off



MSU fans think: Wow, we are really cool like Charlie Sheen, and Jennifer Grey is a Michigan student who is upset that she didn't get into an Ivy League school like her brother. Plus, we really are a lot better looking and cooler than Michigan students. No wonder Jennifer Grey/U-M students always want to hook up with us.

U-M fans think: We are Ferris Bueller. We are brilliant and charming and do not understand why MSU (Jennifer Grey) hates us so much. MSU fans spend every minute of every day worrying about us and denying the fact that they would rather be in Ann Arbor...or wait, is Charley Sheen MSU? He is in a police station after partying too hard and presumably burning a couch the night before.  Ha ha...couch burning jokes never get old.

Good Will Hunting



MSU fans think: Michigan is totally the Harvard guy. Completely arrogant and treats people who do not go to U-M as inferiors. This scene reminds me of that time in the bar when I totally shut up that Michigan student by pointing out that I got into U-M but chose MSU because it has a better Veterinary School.

U-M fans think: We are Will Hunting, and Ben Affleck is my friend from high school that went to MSU. We are just as smart as Harvard grads and love to fight for the little guy. This scene totally reminds me of that time that Northwestern student was picking on my friend from MSU for going to a public university and I shut him down by pointing out how much less my in-state tuition at U-M cost than his Northwestern tuition.

The reality

If you went to either MSU or U-M, odds are you have friends and family members who went to the other school, especially if you grew up in Michigan. Except for the days that our football, basketball and hockey teams meet on the field, court or ice, we generally get along.

The more time we spend together, the more we realize that we are not that different from each other. Yes, we still take lighthearted jabs at each other, but in the end we are brothers and sisters. Perhaps the ending of an 80s teen classic sums it up best:



It's easy to see us "in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions," but if you spend time with your enemy you will find out that each one of us is a brain, an athlete, a basketcase, a princess, and a criminal (wait, that last one only applies to Buckeyes).

Here's to a good game today. Remember, our two schools work together a lot and many of us do have family members who went to the "other school." Keep it clean and respectful.

And finally, Go Blue! Beat State!