can bad sanitation be healed with time?

[shady oaks]

My first batch has been bottled for 5 weeks ( maybe 4, can't remember right off hand) and some of the time the flavor/taste is outstanding. And others, down right horrible. I can't think of how to describe the taste, other than I have to rinse my rinse my mouth out afterwards. Being it's not every bottle, I am thinking sanitation. All the bottles have been double checked at bottling for air leak, and nothing.
So I guess I need to know if this sounds like the coulprit and will time heal it or is it going to be roulette until the batch is finished?

 

[Tlylebrew]

Sounds like a sanitation issue if the off flavor is bottle to bottle. One thing I have started to do with all the beer bottles I plan on re-using to bottle my own beer.... Rinse them after drinking. Gets the yeast out of the bottom of the bottle.

I had an issue where I had stuff growing in a bottle that my bottle brush didn't get out completely. Not something I wish to repeat... It tasted like crap, and it was a bomber, so 20oz of lovely homebrew down the drain.. Guess it could of been worse.

 

[defenestrate]

i would bet no. if it actually is a sanitation problem, it would seem that it would get worse with time. like Tlylebrew said, next time around rinse the bottles out as soon as you are finished with them(if you dont already). did you follow good cleaning/sani practices?

 

[shady oaks]

I almost always rinse out my bottles. But some of the bottles used were bought and pretty dirty. I did use a non scented dish soap to wash the bottles. Some of the bottles had a 16mm opening, others 18mm. I couldn't get a brush down the 16's, so vigorous shaking was the cleaning method. I did sanitize with a powder from a kit I bought.

This kind of stinks, now I'm affraid to give out a bottle or two in fear of it being crap and somebody thinking homebrew is horrible!

 

[SnickASaurusRex]

Yeah I would just share this batch in house and explain what happen if they get a crap bottle. Or pour it for them and take swig when they're not looking to test it out.