Dirty Homebrew Due to Expired BA or BB?

Hello all.

I have been homebrewing for 2.5 years, test e thus far only. I ordered my first batch of raws at the beginning, and made a batch then, and a batch 9 months later with the same materials… About a year ago, I ordered raws from a new supplier and brewed a batch of that test e. In all cases I used fresh MCT oil from the store as my carrier, and used 18/20 BB/BA at 300mg/ml.

During all those first 3 batches, I did my filtering using whatman syringe filters into presealed sterile glass vials…

Recently I went to brew another batch using the same materials I bought one year ago; so I have already ran that same material without any bad injections. I brewed into a presealed 100ml jug. I made one change in equipment, I used a cheaper syringe filter (not whatman), and I used 2 in the process, a new filter after first 50ml brewed. I used that same BB and BA that I bought 2.5 years ago… I ended up getting fever/flu symptoms from the injection…

Sadly, I noticed that my BA said it expired on the bottle 1 year ago. My BB says it expires in 3 months…

SO MY QUESTION IS: For anyone with experience in brewing, what is your best hunch of what was the culprit for the dirty gear? The filters? The BA? Possibly the BB?

It’s not a big deal if the materials are wasted, I have more. But I want to try to know what the hell I could be doing wrong. I refiltered the gear again through the same brand filters in a new vial, still fever symptoms.

I appreciate any help here. Thanks

I wouldn’t have thought BA or BB would have a short shelf life, or that it would even matter, as it all gets filtered anyway, into a sterile vile, so anything you make is going to be sterile.

BA is a preservative/solvent, alcohol, I can’t see it degrading over 3 years. BB acts as a solvent, so if the solution crystalizes then it could be expired, once again 3 years doesn’t sound very long, and it shouldn’t make you sick.

You filtered it on 2 separate occasions with different brands of filters, so its not them either.
Sometimes you just get test flu, when you cycle. A couple of weeks and it should disappear.

I seem to remember something similar occurring to me on a few occasions in my home brew days, I just kept using it and it went. Take a painkiller in the meantime.

The shot you took that made you sick, was it the first shot of a cycle? Or were you taking more than usual? It could be “test flu” or whatever everyone around here calls it from the increase/change in hormone levels. I get it every time I start a new cycle and sometimes when switching up dose, nothing to do with dirty gear.

Hello all. Thanks for the responses… My fever gets up to almost 101 for 2 nights, then recedes. But the injection site is swollen, painful, hot to the touch, and skin turned red… Sorry I didn’t mention this to start. This not just test flu. I ran the same raws for a year with that same dosage. I have been injecting this same potency since I began… This is the first time in the 2.5 years that this reaction has happened. I have not gotten a fever ever from my past brews.

Fresh oil. 2 brand filters. Old BA and BB (ordered new once I noticed). Same potency as last 2+ years. Ran same raws for last year straight, zero issues.

Could the raws have gone bad after one year? I have no idea what raws shelf life is. I am baffled.

Thanks again.

The raws wouldn’t have gone bad after one year unless stored in direct sunlight. They last a long time, as powder or in solution. Even so they shouldn’t cause negative symptoms, they would just have less potency.

I have no proof but sometimes I feel a solution mellows after it has been made, when compared with freshly made stuff. I have noticed different responses to injecting from the same batch, from different vials. I also notice that sometimes, even with prescription pharmaceutical grade gear I can get PIP and swelling, and other times from the same batch of ampoules none whatsoever.

Also 300mg/ml is starting to get into high concentration mg/ml. I used to brew 200 or 250mg/ml, 18% BB only. Your 20% BA is rather high, could be a cause of PIP(though it doesn’t explain why you didn’t get the problems before). I never used BA in my brews, and found no problems from its absence. Most people recommend no more than 4%, but my pharma Sustanon is 10%BA.

Pretty confusing stuff. Just put a question mark on the vials for the moment and see how the new batch effects you.