Brewing fetishism

Things at the brewery are kicking up a notch.  Other Mike (that is Secret Engine Mike) and Dave have been showing up at the brewery regularly for Big Brew Days and Matt and Dave have been doing our deliveries.  We have lots of new locations serving our beers.  I've added a list to our web site.

Every beer we make now (or nearly all of them) is a collaboration beer with our Secret Engine friends.  And having three other guys helping out has made it possible to increase our production as well as our distribution range.  Basically, we are like two nanobreweries.

I was talking with Other Mike yesterday and he's sketched out a brewing plan that will more than double our present production.  We purchased new fermenters which we will bring online soon to handle the increased production.

It's not that we are trying to get big, that's not really the goal.  We like being small and want to stay small.  The point is that now (in collaboration mode) we have to cover the expenses of four brewers instead of just one.

I've been reading some economic theory lately.  And so has Other Mike.  He's trying to come up with a plan that will help both our breweries cover our bills plus pay some of the living expenses for the brewers.  Volume is the key.  The more beer we make, the more money we can make.  However, making more beer means incurring more expenses.

The economic reading I've been doing concerns what Marx called "commodity fetishism."  Most modern people only use the word "fetish" in reference to sexual proclivities, but fetish has a couple of other meanings.  The original meaning of "fetish" was in the context of religious practice.  A fetish is like an idol, an inanimate object worshiped because of its (supposed) magical powers.

I've titled this post "brewing fetishism" because there's another usage of the word fetish that is appropriate to the RPAB / Secret Engine passion for making beer.  We have a brewing fetish in the sense of having "an excessive and irrational commitment" to making good beer.  I hope that describes us.

I'll be writing more about what Marx was talking about and how it relates to our nanobrewing "business plan" in a future installment.  Brew on, comrades!