The EM still ferments at room temp., but after reading Vinny's stuff, it SEEMS that it takes expert brewing to get the extended EM at the same quality as the original batch. For me, I want to take the EM for probiotic purposes. And I don't know if fermenting it at room temp. for a week is gonna get me the same amount of probiotics as the mother culture. That's what I want to know. Otherwise, it's not really worth brewing. If it really takes expert brewing (brewing at a constant 98-104 degrees for 2 weeks to 2 months), then it's really not worth extending since you're burning a hole in your pocket with the heating bill.

I read a few posts on EM-Health about plastics being leeched in the brew, and Vinny's reply was that the phototrophic bacterias actually feed on that stuff, and that the amount of plastic leeched is still very minimal. After all, the PET bottles often used for brewing are used to contain very acidic soda crap.

Hi Magnolia....I thought the same...having the plastic heat up, even just to 75 or 80 degrees was something I thought wouldn't be great to do. I know when I've had a bottle of water in the car and it's gotten a bit warmer in there (and not even that warm), I take a sip of water and I definitely taste plastic. I didn't even want to brew in plastic at all, never mind heat it up.

So...here's what I've just now rigged up...a 1 gallon glass container, with an airlock cap (can get them at wine brewing places...ingenius little things...lets gas out, won't let air in...the bottle won't explode). Put the jar in a cupboard with a light. Temperature is about 78 or 80 degrees...seems to be working good so far.

I don't really know when it's done though...don't want to open the airlock checking on it. Maybe I'll test it after about 3 weeks...how long did you brew for at room temp? Maybe I didn't have to go to all the trouble of setting up this special cupboard...I thought room temp would take forever to brew...Vinny gives the impression that it takes a very long time...I don't know if it has to be so long...but I shutter to ask any questions there...I'm really glad we have a forum here now.

~megan