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Any sediment should come out in the first pint, maybe the second if there is a lot, but there shouldn't be to much after 14 days. You can also cut a bit of your dip tube off so it doesn't get any sediment but leaves a little bit of beer in the bottom, also a good idea if you ever plan to...

If you don't mind some sediment you can cold crash in the keg while getting the first 3-4 days of carbing in at the same time.

That Krausen looks fine, nothing to worry about. Since you're fermenting in plastic the fermotemp thermometers won't be spot on, add a few degrees and you should be close. That yeast can get some funky sulfur smells at higher temps so give it plenty of time to clean up, but if you can keep it...

Just saw this, everything about the recipe seems good except for the Saaz, just don't see Noble hops going well with chai flavors, but who knows it might work out well! Makes me wonder also, what kind of ibu's would tea add, not to mention the cardamom and cloves that are likely to be in a chai mix.

In a natural fermentation lacto would be one of the first things to dominate, when doing a traditional no boil Berliner Weisse the lacto from the grain would also dominate first, getting a head start with higher temperatures that don't favor the yeast. So if your trying to do something close to...

Are you calibrating the refractometer with distilled water, and does it have auto temperature correction?

How clear is the beer now? If it is clear and tastes very clean you could bottle, if it is still a little green tasting and/or a bit cloudy I would say lager a second time until it is clear.

Those would be good temps for yeast, I think you've got something going for sure! If you got any lacto in there it is probably hanging back at those temps, keep us updated on how it progresses and the smell after you get your senses back. BTW, what is in the jar, just regular wort?

It is not a problem, but these are single use just emptied barrels, don't know if a sour is the way to go in one of these. Personally I would do a barley wine or imperial stout in it twice, then scrape it and re toast. After that I would use it for sours, but you could do a brown with it new...

Exactly Photo, glue the pvc to the fan and the magnets to the pvc. The weight of the pvc is a lot less than the stress from the magnetic field, so don't worry if you need a tall piece of pvc to get the right height.

What was the temperature outside while collecting, and what is temp of the beer now? What does it smell like? You have fermentation of some type, no signs of mold yet, and yes there is bacteria. You're not going to get a pure yeast strain by luck, but bacteria is not bad, some lacto some sacc...

+1 Photopilot Also, you'll want to get the magnet away from the fan if you can, people usually use some pvc of the correct diameter and glue the magnet to that, this way you can get the right height for you enclosure and the magnet won't shorten the life span of your fan. I have a similar setup...

+1 to Golddiggie I would also add that the sugar content in honey is not consistent, even by weight, but as homebrewers we have a tool that can help us get consistent results with honey, and that is a hydrometer! Mix the honey with boiled water until you get the gravity you want (I'm not sure...

Did you do a Diacetyl Rest? Is the flavor buttery?

The younger the barrel the more oak flavors you will get, at a certain point depending on whats been in them and how they have been cleaned between uses they will become neutral and very little if any oak flavor will be imparted. If you wanted to keep getting oak flavors, and reduce the chance...

What matters most is how many times the barrels have been used, as far as oak flavor goes.

How neutral is the barrel and what was in it before? That can really effect how long you should leave your beer in there, because if it isn't neutral you can over oak a beer pretty easily if it is already balanced, and hops and wine can have really funky flavors together, though a full sized...

This is a nice beer, and a good gateway into wild/sour beer IMHO.

I think you are just getting less channeling, the distance between the side of the cooler and the manifold looks good and having the slits on the bottom means there is very little dead space. This could explain a 5-10% increase in efficiency and the deeper grain bed doesn't hurt either. How big...

Read this, I know this isn't as current as the latest book release but is still informative. http://www.howtobrew.com/appendices/appendixD-2.html Grain bed height is important to the way water is drained, even when you batch sparge this can make a difference.