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August 1998 Volume 21, Issue 8 Marine Polish by Ken KoupalI went on vacation to Florida for a couple of weeks, hoping to do a story about local brewing. I downloaded the Florida brewery/pub list from AHA’s web site in anticipation. When I got to Florida I found that all the water smelled and tasted like sulfur. "Oh man," I thought, "how can anyone brew with this?" There must be an article on water quality here. I decided to pick up some regional beer for a taste test. I went to the only store in town, a massive 18-acre Wal-Mart, and saw 40 feet of Budmilloors Lite Dry Ice, and one six-pack of George Killian’s red-colored beer. This did not look good. It was going to be a long vacation. Let me tell you right now, there is no beer story in Florida. Oh sure, I did find a local brewery (Indian River Brewing Co., Melbourne, FL), but it was closed for the day. Someone conjectured that the staff was hosting one of its famous traveling parties somewhere. He told me to drive around town and look for the 40’s style panel truck with the IRBC logo on the side. Sadly, I didn’t find them or get to taste the beer. I only got a photo, and then I went fishing. 
If it doesn’t bite or sting, then everything else in Florida rusts, rots, or corrodes. Owning a boat means continual maintenance. After a long day catching barracuda, shark, and little tunny, my father-in-law decided to polish the oxidized metal trim on the boat, just to kill time. He rubbed on some paste from a tube, buffed it lightly, and in seconds the metal parts looked like new chrome. Hey, what is this stuff? I grabbed the tube. "Hmmm, says here it works for stainless steel too. Got any stainless steel parts?" I tried it on an instrument bracket. Brilliance! If this stuff works for a boat, it ought to work to polish my stainless steel brewery kegs. Finally, a story to tell! 3M makes the product. It’s called "Marine Metal Restorer and Polish, Part No. 051131-09018". My father-in-law told me he read an article about it in "Power Boat Reports - Consumer Resource for the Power Craft Owner, November 1997". It’s a little expensive, but in a comparison test, this stuff won hands-down over the other products. 3M’s web site doesn’t mention the product, but when I contacted them they told me "This and all 3M Marine product can be purchase at any local marine store that carries the 3M line. If the store does not carry this item in stock, they will be happy to order it for you. If you would like to order through National Retailers the list is as follows: West Marine, 1-800-538-0775 Boat U.S., 1-800-937-2628 Boater’s World, 1-800-682-2225 Bass Pro Shop, 1-800-334-6571 Now that I’m back in California, I have to get my own tube of this polish. Those kegs are going to shine like a mirror. Quirky beer link of the month: This guy shows beer under the microscope http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/beershots/index.html
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