CHICAGO — Here's what we're reading before heading OUTSIDE today.
On Tap: PBR — the beer that your grandpa drank, your dad rejected and your hipster friends embraced — is returning to its roots in Milwaukee. Senior editor Andrew Herrmann is reading a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about how Pabst Blue Ribbon will open a microbrewery and tasting center on the site of its old, sprawling complex that it left nearly 20 years ago. The Pabst complex has since been turned into a housing/retail/office mix but the beer company will occupy a building that was once an employee training center. Journal Sentinel reporter Tom Daykin says brewers will "experiment" with recipes for discontinued brews such as Old Tankard Ale. The opening date is targeted for next summer. Pabst, with roots in Milwaukee dating back to 1844, also markets Old Style, Colt 45, Schlitz, Stroh's and Blatz.
The thinking behind the microbrewery may be to restore the brand's hipness, which some say is fading as more people drink it. Outside magazine quotes one researcher: “As a brand gains popularity, it seems less different, less autonomous. That makes it seem less cool to the counter-culture consumer.”
Yum, beer. [Smithsonian]
Thanks, Harper Lee, for Ruining Our Kid's Name: Parents who went to the trouble of naming their kids Atticus are not happy with Harper Lee, according to the New York Times. At first they were worried the attention surrounding Lee's posthumously released "Go Set a Watchman" would make the name as common as Jaden — and what's the point of calling your kid Atticus if it doesn't stand out in a crowd. Now they're miffed that Lee turned the character into a racist. As the Times notes, it's a problem yesterday's parents of so many Adolfs could identify with. “We’ve always wanted to have names for our kids that aren’t super-popular,” said an Atticus dad. “In a way, we’ll probably get our wish.”
Heroic Wench: A woman dressed as a wench at a Renaissance Festival held a party-crasher in a headlock after he tried to make off with a sword. Sam Cholke is reading about how Connor Ward was chased down by two women in costume and held by the women and a man dressed as a knight until police arrived at a Renaissance fair in Larkspur, Colo., according the Associated Press.
Would You Eat a Lobster Roll from McDonald's? Crain's Chicago posted the question in a tweet on Wednesday, along with a link to the full story about the rollout of a $7.99 lobster roll sandwich, currently sold at 500 of the fast food giant's Northeast outposts. The new menu addition, at just 290 calories, comes weeks after the Oak Brook based chain nixed most of its chicken "snack wraps."
Nature vs. Nurture: Two sets of swapped identical twins: Wicker Park reporter Alisa Hauser has been loving the new spicy pickled vegetables from Big Star’s takeout window, so a middle of the night battle with heartburn provided ample time to catch up on Sunday’s New York Times. “The Mixed-Up Brothers of Bogota” shares the story of how two sets of identical twins, raised as fraternal twins by different parents in the same country, discovered each other. The identical twins shared many of the same mannerisms and temperaments despite living far apart with their twin, unknowingly from a different mother. Read the very compelling story here.
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