THE QUESTION

I’ve made some pineapple beer, using your recipe, and a friend questioned whether what I was doing was legal following the recent announcement of the extended ban on the sale of booze. I wondered where I stand with my home brewing. — Home brewer, Midrand  

THE ANSWER

The good news for home brewers is that manufacture of alcohol is not prohibited under regulation 44 of the amended Disaster Management Act as published in the government gazette on July 12. However, it does state that the "sale, dispensing and distribution of liquor" is illegal.

In other words, you can make pineapple beer at home, so long it is for your own consumption and you are not transporting, giving away or selling your home brew as all of these activities are illegal. 

Also remember that, like all alcohol, pineapple beer is not for people under 18.

HAVE A COOKING QUERY? GRILL HILLS

In a cookery quandary, have a problem with a recipe, bogged down by measurement conversions, or baffled by an ingredient? For sound advice, Sunday Times food editor Hilary Biller is at your service. Send your queries to food@sundaytimes.co.za with "Grill Hills" in the subject line. If yours is selected, she'll answer it in an online article.

This article first appeared in the Sunday Times Lifestyle section.