Transformers: Not just robots eating pies...

"Will you update the blog for Jaysus sake, O Connor" has been the cry around Trouble Brewing headquarters for the last few weeks, and true to my procrastinating nature I put it off even after the threats of physical violence seemed earnest. This, I now admit, was a mistake. But now that I have some time on my hands due to being hospitalised for some totally and completely unrelated matter, and also not wanting Mr. Baseball Bat to be introduced to the second of the knee-cap twins too, I independently decided it was time to get cracking on the job...

Last time round there was some talk that we'd be booking a cheap €1 Ryanair flight (excluding optional charges) so we could take advantage of the abundant range of electrical transformers in the fine shopping facilities of Dublin Airport for the purposes of getting our boiler up and running. Alas, after some thorough investigation by a crack team of electrical experts we found out that it wasn't quite as straightforward as all that. Apparently those one's in the airport are good for the like of mobile phones, laptops and other such like gadgets of the modern age. Boilers, such as are used in the brewing process, apparently need their transformers to be bigger and more powerful. Being more than a touch naive about anything more sophisticated than wiring a plug, I did suggest that perhaps that 400 or so standard airport style transformers linked together might be an ideal solution, after the guffaws from the more knowledgeable people died down, we set about sourcing the genuine article.

Which is where we find ourselves now, trying to get our head around the amps, watts and frequencies of electrical supply and the making sure we get them right. And I thought the chemistry was going to be the big issue with commercial brewing and not the physics. Anyway we push on and continue to work away on getting the issue resolved, while dealing with the possibility that we might have tempted fate with our company name...

So having given lie to the old adage that no news is good news, we're hoping that if you're offering a toast this St. Stephen's Day, that the toast is offered to the patron saint of electrical conversion, whoever that might be, that they send good tidings our way. Though if you want to be particularly helpful, toast to the relevant powers of such matters that they sanction the initial creation of the overly specific title of "patron saint of electrical conversion" first.

Anyway until next time...