Grade and Sterility of BA and BB

[muscleman9]

In preparation for making my first homebrews, one topic I've been researching is Benzyl Alcohol. Many sites offering it for sale don't comment on its grade. Others mention "technical grade" or "reagent grade" and only one site I've seen so far describes theirs as "pharmaceutical grade" (which is about 3 times the price of the others). I can't find definitions of the various grades.

What grade is necessary for our purposes?

Also, some sites state theirs is sterile, and others don't mention the sterility issue.

I assume these issues apply to BB, too.

Any advice? Thanks.

[Skyefire]

as cheap as they are just get the USP grade. I can get a quart of it for less then 20 buck

don't worry about buying sterile, you are going ot take care of that when you filter your gear.

cheak out our baord sponsers and if they can't help you then get back to me.

[spidey]

BA and BB are sterile anyway. Bacteria can't live in anydrous organic solvents.