Thread: Gonna Do First Brew. Could Use Some Input About Heating.

Hello BOP brewmasters. As the title says, it's gonna be my first brew. I've done my homework, have an assortment of recipes and a calculator to go by. If all goes well I will upgrade to a stir plate but want to get the hang of it before I jump right in. I'm starting off with what appears to be the easiest to work with.....Ena 250, Cyp 250 and Deca 300. The first run with each will be at 20ml. Yes raws are cheap. Yes we learn from our failures. BUT we would probably all agree that gear to us is like giving a kid a candy and I don't want to ruin a single piece of my mine. It was a toss up between GSO and MCT. Unless someone convinces me otherwise, I'm going with the MCT. I plan on using 2%BA and 20%BB, again unless someone convinces me otherwise. I will be doing it generic style with a stove, oven or microwave depending on the advice I get. If all goes well, I will upgrade to a stir plate. ANYWAYS, even with a variety of recipes I have collected, very few places give details on heating the product. I know to put the powder in heatproof glassware which I will sterilize the living hell out of including the entire environment to the best of my ability.

I think I have the gist of how to go about it but would appreciate any advice about mixing and heating. Unless a majority of the recipes are wrong, I will add the powder, then then the BA and then the BB. I've seen people post that they heat the carrier oil separate, mix it with the compounds and then continue to heat it until it dissolves. In another instance, they threw everything together at once and set it in water set at a low boil. So here is my dilemma....

1) What is the best way to heat the mixture in my generic setting?
2) Should stirring be avoided and only swirling done as I saw someone say it can degrade your product?
3) How long should I wait to be sure everything stays suspended?
4) If it is still rather warm, could that damage a .2/.22um PVDF syringe filter?
5) Should I get some form of thermometer or will going by visual be sufficient?

Sorry for all the reading but I've seen too many people ask for help and they don't give you guys enough details so you can fully help them. Any tips or "tricks" are also welcome. I've seen posts here where a person has had something that's suppose to be the easiest of powders, like Test-E, crash on them several times. So thanks for any help you can give me and I will gladly rep up anyone that takes the time to help a newb like me.

GH

I'm new to this site, but definitely not new to brewing gear. First off Test E and Deca are really easy to work with. Probably the easiest. You really don't need any BB with the doseages that you are brewing, however there is nothing wrong with starting with those percentages that you have until you get the feel for this. As far as heating goes, Test E and Deca have a really low melting point. I like to use a hot plate set on the lowest setting. I also use a combination of a stir rod that is also a thermometer. I don't like any of my oil to get above 120 degrees. At even 90 degrees both the Test E and Deca will melt just fine. I also like MCT oil. It is by far the easiest oil to work with and makes for a very smooth finished product. After all the powder is melted and into solution, I like to take my beaker off of the hotplate and let my solution cool to at least 90 degrees before I consider filtering it. If using vaccum filters, I have ran into problems before where too hot of oil has ruined the filter membrane. I have never had any problems when I have let it slightly cool to under 100 degrees. One thing I should warn you about, the cypionate ester is a bitch to work with. I would recommend keeping your dosage to around 200 mg/ml for that one. Hope that helps.

Originally Posted by TKAT

I'm new to this site, but definitely not new to brewing gear. First off Test E and Deca are really easy to work with. Probably the easiest. You really don't need any BB with the doseages that you are brewing, however there is nothing wrong with starting with those percentages that you have until you get the feel for this. As far as heating goes, Test E and Deca have a really low melting point. I like to use a hot plate set on the lowest setting. I also use a combination of a stir rod that is also a thermometer. I don't like any of my oil to get above 120 degrees. At even 90 degrees both the Test E and Deca will melt just fine. I also like MCT oil. It is by far the easiest oil to work with and makes for a very smooth finished product. After all the powder is melted and into solution, I like to take my beaker off of the hotplate and let my solution cool to at least 90 degrees before I consider filtering it. If using vaccum filters, I have ran into problems before where too hot of oil has ruined the filter membrane. I have never had any problems when I have let it slightly cool to under 100 degrees. One thing I should warn you about, the cypionate ester is a bitch to work with. I would recommend keeping your dosage to around 200 mg/ml for that one. Hope that helps.

Thanks TKAT! That's the kind of detail I was/am looking for. I'm curious as to why Cyp is a pain in the ass and Ena is easy when they are so similar. I don't know anyone other than myself that would prefer Cyp over Ena. I've just always had better results with it for some reason.

Originally Posted by TKAT

I'm new to this site, but definitely not new to brewing gear. First off Test E and Deca are really easy to work with. Probably the easiest. You really don't need any BB with the doseages that you are brewing, however there is nothing wrong with starting with those percentages that you have until you get the feel for this. As far as heating goes, Test E and Deca have a really low melting point. I like to use a hot plate set on the lowest setting. I also use a combination of a stir rod that is also a thermometer. I don't like any of my oil to get above 120 degrees. At even 90 degrees both the Test E and Deca will melt just fine. I also like MCT oil. It is by far the easiest oil to work with and makes for a very smooth finished product. After all the powder is melted and into solution, I like to take my beaker off of the hotplate and let my solution cool to at least 90 degrees before I consider filtering it. If using vaccum filters, I have ran into problems before where too hot of oil has ruined the filter membrane. I have never had any problems when I have let it slightly cool to under 100 degrees. One thing I should warn you about, the cypionate ester is a bitch to work with. I would recommend keeping your dosage to around 200 mg/ml for that one. Hope that helps.

I felt compelled to just reply to this and totally agree with everything said above, these are all things I generally do aswell.
I use a temperature controlled hotplate and adjust my temps as needed for each stage. Keep in mind the syringe filters and bottle top filters have different temperature maxs (I think syringes can accommodate 90degC easily whilst the bottle top filters actually only really tolerate 40-50degC by manufacturers specs. I also use an autoclave and a few other bits of equipment to ensure sterility but I do larger brews so this stuff isnt a must for small syringe filter only sized brews.

1. Hotplate is ideal but a water bath is also used to ensure only 100degC is reached by the mix. So in your case stove top water bath would work well for the compounds your doing.
2. Stirring is fine your not going to destroy the product by forced mixing, just stir it until it dissolves fully.
3. I like to maintain heat for a good 10-15mins but thats just me I know many others wait 3-5mins and then just go onward to filtering.
4. Syringe filters generally can go up to a good 90degC, just be careful of force applied as you may burst housing if you are too hot and too hard on the plunger.
5. If you go by water bath you know that only 100degC will be reached so you can avoid the need for temperature readouts.

Good luck mate.

with test e you will have carbolic acid go check that post from Rwewrench for how to brew it and have smooth has silk test e

Test enanthate keeps bombing

Originally Posted by korsaire

with test e you will have carbolic acid go check that post from Rwewrench for how to brew it and have smooth has silk test e

Test enanthate keeps bombing

Nice one korsaire. When I saw people saying test E was among the easiest to work with, that is the exact thread that came to mind which pointed out it was not a sure thing and made me feel like I had to really dig into every aspect of brewing before I even gave it a try.

To Gearhead, you stated that you wanted to start with just 20 ml preperations at first to get the hang of it. I think that is a good idea. I would like to say though that I would recommend getting bottle top filters after that. Syringe filters are fine for the amounts that you want to start with but to be honest, they suck if you ever want to make a larger amount. I prefer to make at least 100 mls or more of each compound I make. That way I only have to break out my brewing gear once or twice a year. And I can tell you that with a bottle top filter, I can filter 150-200 mls quicker than I can filter 20 mls through a syringe filter. Just something to keep in mind if this is the way you want to go permanently. As far as the Cypionate Ester is concerned, it's not so much that it is harder to make than any other ester if made in correct dosages, it's just that it's a lot harder to get to hold at higher dosages. If you look at Pharm grade prescription Test Cyp, it is almost always 200 mg/ ml. And it is harder to get to hold over that unless you want to start using much higher amounts of solvents. Trust me, that bastard likes to crash. I've had it do it to me on the Test Cyp Ester as well as trying to brew Boldenone Cyp. It just doesn't like to cooperate. And like PlateSmacker stated, I am far from a chemist or a scientist. I can't tell you all the correct melting points and molecular weights of each steroid out there without looking that up. However, I have made many different compounds from Tren, Mast, Deca, NPP, EQ, Test A,P,NPP,E, and C and I can tell you out of all of those, the only Ester that crashes on me is the Cypionate Ester. The best advice I can give is that when you first start out, keep your dosages relatively reasonable. Most of your longer esters will always hold at 250-300 mg/Ml with the exception of the cypionate ester. Just like all of your shorter esters will always hold at 100mg/ml. Once you start crossing those boundaries that's when shit gets a little more complicated and you need to bring other things into the equation such as solvents like EO. Youll be fine. Just make sure that whatever you do make sure that you keep things as clean and sterile as possible. And if you do already have the Cypionate ester you really should just consider brewing that at 200 mg/ml. Just my opinion.

Great input from everyone. I appreciate you guys taking the time and going into such detail. I can tell you that from your responses I am now considering: investing in a magnetic hot plate, reducing solvent levels and definitely making Cyp at 200mg instead of 250mg. I don't mind the extra volume of Cyp if it increases my chance of brewing it successfully. Once I get the hang of things and start going with bigger batches, then I'll ditch the syringe filters. I haven't brewed before but I have used those little bastards enough times to know they are a pain in the ass! Hopefully I will hear from some more brewer's. I'll take all the advice/knowledge I can get.

I skipped the syringe filters altogether when I started brewing. Went straight for the bottle top filters and love it. As long as you know how to sanitize your vials, rubber stoppers and caps you’re golden.


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