It can 'last', but...

it gets too vinegary beyond a point. Of course treat it like ACV at that point, and dilute it.

As to bottling it yourself, presuming that most store-bought varieties would have to be pasteurized for sale, it depends at what point you bottle it. When its still a little sweet (just a few days) bottling may get a little risky. If its bottled when its just a little sour it would probably last longer without any risk of blowing the top. It does get fizzily carbonated. Once refrigerated will last awhile too,but as you have to maintain the Mother anyway - there really isn't any reason to keep it for more than say a week to 1½ weeks in the bottle.

If I was to do it again, I would use the resealable beer bottles (like the Grolsch, or the French Lemonades). They'll take a little more pressure. Regular bottle-caps gets into too many varaibles like bottle-neck type, type of capper, and if you've ever done it before, etc. to be 100% reliable. Tweet