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Can sanitized bottles be stored?
I just bottled my first batch today on the recommendation of the HBS I bought the kit from. I over-estimated the bottles I needed, and I have quite a few spares still in the iodophor solution. If I cover the mouths with aluminum foil and store them, can I bypass the sanitizing next time?
I don't know about foil, you really can't seal it very good.
I cover my stuff with plastic wrap.
I haven't tried using aluminum foil. Sad to say I can't share more theory about it.
I wouldn't recommend it. Unless you can get a good seal on there, you will have a hard time keeping it sanitized. I would go ahead and resanitize next time. You don't have that many bottles left that you would not have to sanitize any bottles anyway, do you?
I had some extras as well. I just put them in a box upside down on some cotton rags. I will re-wash them the second time around. Through my research and asking my homebrew store guru any bottles used from the last cleaning session need to be cleaned again. It may take time but you don't want to risk having some kind of nasty dust or micros in there when bottled.
-DMP
I just put the bottles back in their box & will resanitize again, it was less than a dozen. Just seemed a shame to have all those sanitized bottles and no more beer to put in them 
The worst part of the bottling process was sanitizing, I will definitely have to find a better way (maybe get a bottle tree).
Maria, there have been a few discussions on this in the bottling section. I personally used to use the dishwasher and never washed the bottles with any kind of sanitizer. The dishwasher should get hot enough to kill anything that would cause problems.
Well, let's just say I DID use the dishwasher. I've been told I'm full of hot air but I don't think it would work to sanitize bottles. 
I would think that you could forego the washing of those bottles on your next batch, but not the sanitizing stage. Your are going to be sanitizing your bottling bucket and racking system anyway, right? Why not go ahead and make certain those bottles are microbe free by giving them another idaphor bath in the solution you already have prepared. And remember, the suggested contact time for idaphor to be effective is 2 minutes.
I have never covered my bottles with foil, but I do rinse them thoroughly after consumption and then run them through the dishwasher. I have also started storing the empties upside-down to help keep dust out of the bottles. After that, I still sanitize when I am ready to bottle.
I don't have an anecdote of a batch gone bad to back this up, but I'd suggest sanitizing just before bottling.
Also, I don't think that aluminum foil alone provides a very good seal for this or for food storage.
I'm only on my second batch (haven't even TRIED the first one yet as it's only been 4 days) but I'm already contemplating kegging. I'm sure a bottle rack would make life a bit easier as well. The next time I bottle, I'm going to use a rectangular cooler for the sanitizing solution rather than a 5 gal bucket, so I can sanitize more at a time.
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