I stayed in Botswana for about a month and I was given this drink that was basically fermenting corn. It was kind of reminiscent of spoiled milk.

I live near a homebrew store where malt extract costs me about $45 per 5 gallon batch. I can buy malt extract on-line for $19 per batch. It sounds like a no-brainer that I should buy it on-line, but I want to support my local store. For one thing, if I notice that I need something on brewing day, I like being able to run to the store. What should I do?

I enjoy your blog. I’m a homebrewer, too, recently making the switch to “all-organic.” I wish 7 Bridges was closer (300+ miles!), the shipping costs for malt are going to kill me!

Saving the world one organic beer at a time,

–Mark O’C

I tried making a pineapple flavored ale once and had disasterous results. However, if you’re trying for something even more adventurous, here is a recipe for a fermented pineapple drink from Zululand in South Africa:
http://beeractivist.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/the-session-6-fruit-beer-mfula-mfula-pineapple-beer-from-zululand/

I brewed it with a friend there and was actually happy with the results. It’s not “beer” in what you might consider the traditional sense, but it certainly was a highly drinkable alcoholic beverage.

Chris