通っていた高校の隣駅は少し栄えていて、その頃遊びに行くのはたいていこの町だった。ある時、駅を出て線路沿いの細い道を5分ほど歩いた先に、うらぶれたラブホテルの裏口から入る怪しげな店を見つけた。ホテルの入口は大通り側にあって、裏口は斜面に建つ建物のため半地下になっている。元は管理者事務所にでも使われていたような小さなドアを開けると、薄暗い中に大音量で音楽が流れるバーカウンターが現れる。初めて行ったバーと呼ばれる場所だった。デヴィット・ボウイやジャニス・ジョプリンを知ったのはこのバーだし、そういえばコンビーフやオイルサーディンというものをはじめて食べたのもここだ。そしてもちろんバーボンウィスキーなんてものを飲んだのもここがはじめてだった。
そのバーは［SongBird］という名前で、手書きの看板が電車の窓からも一瞬見えて、この車内でおそらく自分だけが知っている店があることが大人になったようでむずむずと嬉しかった。
木更津に［SongBird Beer］というビール醸造所があると知って、そんな昔のことを思い出していたら、［SongBird］と［SongBird Beer］は、同じ［SongBird］だということを知って驚いてしまった。
どういうことかというと、ビール醸造所を立ち上げるつもりで名前を考えていた二人が、物件を借りていた不動産屋さんの倉庫に［SongBird］と書かれた看板が転がっているのを見つけた。不動産屋さんに聞けば、［SongBird］のマスターから「いつか再開するときまで預かっていてほしい」とお願いされ置いてあるのだという。それから二十年以上経ち、もう取りに来ることもないだろうからと看板ごと［SongBird］という名前を引き継いだのだという。
8月の日曜日の昼、木更津の住宅街の一角にある、［SongBird Beer］を訪れると、小さな子が裸でカウンターの前で遊んでいた。小さな試飲スペースもあって地元っぽいおじさんがビールを楽しんでいる。カウンターの奥の醸造所で作るビールはベルギービールタイプ。ホップの違いや小麦の違いで飲ませる。
ホップ2倍だ、いやトリプルだって最近の刺激インフレ気味のビールにちょっと疲れ気味の身にはちょうどいい。
昼間から醸造所を訪れてのんきにビールを飲んでいる、というわけではなく、これはmitosayaが酒類製造業の営業許可をとるためのリサーチの一環だ。
蒸留所として営業するには、保健所の営業許可申請というものを行う必要がある。（消防署や税務署への許可申請もあります。）
今回、あまり過去事例のない蒸留所の改修なので、何度か保健所に相談に行って、図面や素材のサンプルを見てもらい、指摘されたところは修正し、不明の点は問い合わせをしながら、慎重に改修を進めていった。
蒸留所の改修がほぼ完了し、蒸留器等機器が設置されたところで、許可申請のための一連の書類を提出し、最後に現地調査に来てもらうことになる。たいていは事前に申告したとおりにできているかを確認するという程度のことだ。
ところが、現地調査に来た保健所の担当者は一通り見た後に、一旦持ち帰らせてほしいという。嫌な予感がする。そして数日後、保健所に来てほしいと連絡があり訪れると、なんと、天井を新たに貼るように、という指導を受ける。
酒類製造所の建物に求められる条件として「平滑で掃除のしやすい天井であること」という一文がある。これを満たしていないというのだ。
今回、元々薬草園の展示室だった部屋の天井を抜いて、屋根と天窓が見えるようにした。窓のない部屋のため光を入れ換気も行うためだ。発酵室、蒸留室の屋根下部分には、配線などを収めるためにスタイロフォームを貼ったのだけど、これが天井と認められず、屋根裏がむき出しの「天井が貼られていない。」という謎の判定に至ったらしい。
運が悪かったのは、事前相談に伺っていた担当者は今年の春で定年退職しており、引き継ぎもされておらず、その時のことをわかる人がいないこと。
これが天井であるといくら力説しても理解してもらえず、こちらで同じような事例を集めたり、構造の説明を行うための資料を作って再度提出することにした。
同じような環境で酒類を作っている製造場は、全国を見渡せばいくらでも事例はあるが、保健所からは、同じ千葉県で平成12年以降に作られた事例じゃないと参考にならないとこれまた謎のルールを言われ、というわけで冒頭の［SongBird Beer］訪問になる。
しかし、国の基準に基づいているのに県ごとに判断ルールが違うのも本当に謎だ。
懸命に他の事例を集め、前担当者との議事録を用意し、また構造についての図面を用意し再度提出したところ、数日後、「蒸留室において、異物混入を防ぐための補助的な構造物を設ければ、再検討できる」という返事をもらう。
こんなもの見たことないなあと思いつつ、蒸留機の抽出口に異物が入らないようなカバーを作る。
再度保健所の担当者が現地調査にやってきた。すっかり人に慣れた猫のあんこときなこも、調査の最中は隠れていてくれる。
数日後、無事許可がおりたと連絡をもらい許可証を取りに行く。許可番号30-1号。こんなペラペラなものもらうためにずいぶん苦労したなあ。
もうちょっとです。
The station next to the high school I attended was a bit prosperous, and I usually went to this town for fun back then. One day, after leaving the station and walking along the narrow street along the railroad tracks for about five minutes, I found a suspicious-looking store that was entered through the back door of a shabby love hotel. The entrance to the hotel was on the main street side, and the back entrance was halfway under the ground because the building was built on a slope. When we opened the small door, which looked like it was formerly used as a manager's office, a bar counter with loud music playing in the dim light appeared. It was the first place I had ever been to called a bar. It was here that I learned about David Bowie and Janis Joplin, and it was here that I ate corned beef and oil sardines for the first time. It was also the first time I ate corned beef and oil sardines, and of course the first time I drank bourbon whiskey.
The bar's hand-painted sign could be seen for a moment from the train window, and I was itching to grow up and be happy that I was the only one on this train who knew about it.
I was reminded of such a long time ago when I learned that there was a brewery with the same name, and I was surprised to learn that it originated from that bar.
What I mean is that they were thinking of a name for the brewery, and they found a sign lying in the warehouse of the real estate agency where they were renting a property. According to the real estate agent, the master of the bar had asked him to keep the sign until he reopened the bar someday. More than twenty years have passed since then, and he took over the name of the bar, along with the sign, because he would not be coming back to get it.
On a Sunday afternoon in August, I visited the brewery, located in a corner of a residential area, and found a small child playing naked in front of the counter. There was also a small tasting area where a local-looking man was enjoying his beer. The beer made at the brewery behind the counter is of the Belgian beer type. They make you drink it with different hops and different wheat.
It's double hops, or even triple hops, which is just right for me since I'm a little tired of the recent inflation of beer.
This is not a daytime visit to a brewery to drink beer in a carefree manner, but rather a part of mitosaya's research to obtain a liquor license.
In order to operate as a distillery, you need to apply for a business license from the public health department. (There are also applications for permits to the fire department and tax office.)
This time, since there were not many examples of distillery renovations in the past, we went to the public health center several times to consult with them, had them look at the drawings and material samples, and carefully proceeded with the renovations, correcting any points that were pointed out and inquiring about any unclear points.
Once the renovation of the distillery was almost complete and the distillers and other equipment were installed, we submitted a series of documents to apply for the permit, and finally, we were asked to come for a site survey. Most of the time, they just want to make sure that the work is done as declared in advance.
However, the person in charge at the public health center who came to do the on-site inspection said that he wanted us to take it home after he had looked over everything. I had a bad feeling about this. A few days later, we received a call to come to the health center, and to our surprise, we were instructed to put up a new ceiling.
One of the requirements for a building used for the production of alcoholic beverages is that the ceiling must be smooth and easy to clean. We were told that the ceiling did not meet this requirement.
This time, the ceiling of the room that was originally the exhibition room of the medicinal herb garden was removed so that the roof and skylight could be seen. This is to let in light and ventilation since the room has no windows. The roofs of the fermentation and distillation rooms were covered with styrofoam to accommodate the wiring, but this was not recognized as a ceiling, and the attic was bare. But this was not recognized as a ceiling.
The unlucky thing was that the person in charge of the preliminary consultation had retired in the spring of this year, and there was no one to take over the job, so there was no one who knew what was going on at that time.
No matter how hard we tried to convince them that this was the ceiling, they did not understand, so we decided to gather similar cases and prepare materials to explain the structure and submit them again.
There are many examples of breweries making alcoholic beverages in similar environments all over the country, but the public health center told us that we would not be able to use them as a reference unless they were made in Chiba Prefecture after 2000, another mysterious rule.
However, it is also a mystery why each prefecture has different rules for making decisions even though they are based on national standards.
A few days later, I received a reply saying that they could reconsider the issue if they installed a supplementary structure in the distillation room to prevent foreign substances from entering.
Thinking that I had never seen anything like this before, I made a cover to prevent foreign substances from entering the extraction port of the distiller.
A representative from the public health center came to inspect the site again. The cats, Anko and Kinako, who had gotten used to being around people, stayed hidden during the investigation.
A few days later, we were informed that the permit had been granted and we went to pick up the permit. Permit No. 30-1. It took a lot of effort to get this flimsy thing.
I'm almost there.
