To continue from where we left off.........
So I just bottled up my German Hefeweizen that I used WY3068 for. I have a nice yeast cake sitting on the bottom of the bucket and would like to be able to save it for a future batch. After bottling, since we stirred up a bit of the yeast I sealed the primary back up after racking and placed it back in my "cold" room to settle it back out. There is about 1/8" of beer sitting on top.
What is the safest way to remove this cake from the bottom of the bucket? Since there is some beer on it should I just collect the entire slurry?
Can I store the yeast in a clean and sanitized mason jar in the fridge?
How long can I expect to keep the yeast for before needing to use it?
How much of this yeast should I consider using for the next batch in a starter? The cake is easily an inch thick with very little hop debris.
I've never done this before and would like to learn the proper ways of doing this so I can begin creating an inventory of my yeast? I am not looking to become a professional yeast master, just looking to save some yeast for the next batch without compromising the integrity of the beer to be made.