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sdbrew, my guess is that you were losing heat to the extra head space and may have had too short of a grain bed. Do you batch or fly sparge?

Did you also get any new thermometers? Were you having problems with hitting your mash temps in your old setup? Manifold design could help increase efficiency if you were losing sugars to dead space or if you were getting channeling, especially when the water just runs down the sides instead of...

I second TPM's suggestion of using a flame, and would add that you should spray the outside of the tube with sanitizer before opening it.

I second this, just finished a year of ageing cider in a better bottle, no signs of oxygenation and still had pressure on the airlock.

I've had a lot of success with using 3/4ths of the vial or smack pack for a starter for the beer I'm about to do, then stepping up the remainder into a large starter that becomes my "yeast bank". I feel that there is less of a chance of infection amplification this way. I have yet to have an...

Lager yeast that ferment at Ale temperatures are often used in "California Commons" aka Steam Bear. They can be very clean and that could be a good option, though I'm not familiar with the Cry Havoc strain. You would still need to lager the yeast if you want to get a nice clear beer, unless you...

How cold can you get? If you use a Kolsch yeast and ferment in the low 60s you might fool some people. But you won't get the clarity without a cold crash at the very least, though it should clear in bottles with some time in the fridge.