THE PC: I'd like my world of beer to be special every day.

THE PC: I'd like my world of beer to be special every day.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

The last time I attended Sandkerwa in Bamberg, Germany was in 2006. It also was the first time. We had come to town to ride bicycles, and were pleasantly surprised to discover this traditionally-styled folk festival joyfully under way. There were the sort of activities one might expect at a civic celebration -- as well as beer and food galore.

Recently Sandkerwa has become increasingly well known for the variety of local and regional Franconian beers, many available at seemingly impromptu street stands. Eight years ago, as we wandered the narrow, winding streets of Bamberg’s Old Town, we’d keep turning corners to discover yet another brewery from a small town 20 kilometers away, proudly serving its beers and maybe a snack or two.

Seemingly, it is easier to be casually spontaneous in Germany than Indiana, where a whole laundry list of temporary serving requirements are there for mandatory compliance, including fences and checkpoints. It seems the Berlin Wall wasn't torn down, after all. It just switched continents.

Conversely, the easygoing ambience of Sandkerwa actually began to threaten our exercise regimen. Why beercycle into the countryside in search of breweries, when they were setting up tables just down the way?

Mind you, Sandkerwa was great fun, but I mention the festival for no other reason than to observe that while it was a welcomed addition to a Bamberg visit, the city’s many year-round pleasures were by no means obscured. In short, every other time I’ve visited Bamberg has been a blast, too. Sandkerwa enhances Bamberg. It does not detract from it, and the only discernible pigheadedness comes to you on a plate, with dumplings.

Daily satisfaction doesn’t strike me as an impossible ideal. For most of us, everyday life occurs in a fixed location, amid relatively repetitive habits. If given a choice, I’d prefer these milieus and aspects of normal existence to be “special” all of the time, not just once in a while.

Yes, an annual event like Sandkerwa is wonderful, but Bamberg’s the kind of city where every day is edifying. Similarly, Munich is worth a visit any day out of the year, and not only when Oktoberfest happens to be running, and you could be at one of fifty beer palaces in Munich during Oktoberfest, enjoying their usual bills of fare, and not even know a festival is running.

My current obsession involves breaking the one-off cycle, or at the very least, offering an alternative to it. There is a daily consistency borne of undertow and tail winds, establishing a salutary pattern of everyday excellence, against which is contrasted the one-offs, specials, events and celebrations. The latter provide diversity and add spice, although to me, the prime objective remains excellence all of the time.

It’s instructive to close a street on a Sunday and let bicyclists and pedestrians use it. It’s better if the street can be shared, and humans without cars can use it every day.

Once upon a time, better beer was an occasional treat, something so rare in a place like New Albany that merely finding required planning and effort. These days, it’s much easier to sate one’s thirst, any day.

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Earlier on Monday at Against the Grain, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer held a press conference to release a report authored by a Local Brewery Work Group, of which I was a member. The mayor did well, and beer before lunch made me yearn for a resumption of vacation.

At Insider Louisville, Kevin Gibson elaborates:

The Local Brewery Work Group, appointed by Fischer earlier this year, developed the recommendations and strategies to maximize the local craft beer industry, increase its impact on jobs, culture and tourism, and renew the strong beer heritage Louisville once boasted.

In keeping with the notion of day-in, day-out, only one of the five key recommendations pertains to the establishment of a “special” event (one to be bourbon barrel-themed). The others address the advancement of “craft” beer consciousness in Louisville throughout the year.

These five recommendations:

1. Develop an official beer trail/beer map/website/video combination to help promote all local breweries and offer both residents and visitors information on what sets the breweries apart, where they are located, and offer virtual and printed maps that can be seen/distributed at the breweries and other places around town. A bike trail would also be developed with local artists and breweries creating bike racks in front of each brewery.

2. Change Alcohol Beverage Control laws to be more beer friendly. Currently, it is a difficult and winding process to open a brewery, and with the brewing community growing in Louisville and around the state, breweries feel the process should be more intuitive and organized. In addition, it remains difficult for breweries to hold special events, conduct tastings and other promotional activities.

3. Represent local breweries and their products in more city events, functions and venues. Since alcoholic beverages must run through distributors as part of the post-Prohibition three-tier system, it can be difficult for smaller, local breweries to be represented at large events. The goal is to bring down the walls that have blocked local breweries so they can be represented, specifically in city-affiliated events and venues.

4. Create a bourbon-barrel event that will be recognized nationally and internationally. Bourbon is a natural draw, which makes bourbon barrel-aged beer a logical and national way to represent Louisville’s brewing community. Growing such an event not only promotes beer hand-in-hand with the state’s signature spirit, it also draws attention from around the U.S. that Louisville is, indeed, a worthy beer destination as well as a bourbon and dining destination.

5. Reconnect Louisville with its brewing heritage. Many in the city are unaware of the rich history of brewing in Louisville, and the rich heritage in beer culture in general. Louisville was once not just a thriving brewing hub, but also filled with lush, German beer gardens and beer celebrations that can and should be revived today to help promote local brewing culture.

Look closely at the third recommendation, because this morning, at Louisville Slugger Field, with neither a Louisville Bats flunky nor Centerplate functionary in attendance, Louisville’s mayor made the public case for greater local brewery representation at city-owned venues … like Louisville Slugger Field.

You get one guess as to who wrote those words for the report.

Implementation may well be elusive, but vindication ... well, it tastes even better than one’s daily session pint.