Newbie with beer vinegar in the works

Hello, all! This is my first post
I’m looking to share my progress with vinegar making and learn some things from y’all.
I bought a mother over Etsy and placed her in 6 pints of locally brewed strong ale on September 3rd. What should I be looking for in the next few days? Should my mother be floating or is it ok that she’s just hanging out at the bottom?

I look forward to following your vinegar's progress!
I know that there is a SKIP badge-bit for fermenting vinegar. Beer vinegar may not currently qualify, but I think you'll still find it interesting.

Here's a link to the SKIP badge-bit: https://permies.com/wiki/150053/pep-food-prep-preservation/Ferment-Gallon-food-straw-fermentfour

Welcome to Permies Melody!
I’m interesting in seeing your vinegar’s progress too! Let us know how it turns out.

Thank you, Harmony and Nancy! I’ll be sure to update as things progress. Does not seem that beer vinegar counts for SKIP, unfortunately. Badge or not, I’m happy to learn this way. My future vinegar plans include fermenting my own pineapple and cherry wines and then turning those into vinegar as well. I just need to figure out what sort of sugar to use. Considering using brown sugar with the pineapple as I hear that lends a slight rum flavor. I would love to get advice on that too.

I've made vinegar a few times from barley wine in the Himalayas. I've had success in some batches, and mouldy messes other times. I suspect the better batches were the ones I really did shake or stir every day or two, and the mouldy batches were those I put on a shelf hidden in the pantry and left unstirred for a week at a time too many times.

The daughter is forming and she looks so healthy! I first noticed it last night, and this is what she looks like today. I have not been shaking or stirring, but I’m sure it got jostled a bit when I pulled the jar out to check several times over the past few days. At this point, I think any major movements would possibly capsize the daughter.
I’m so happy with this mat of slimy bacteria!

The daughter is growing beautifully. This photo is from today, my thumb pressed against the glass to give an idea of just how thick the bacteria is. I’ve left the jar undisturbed since the mat started forming.
Some more details about the conditions: We are at about 5 ft altitude and the temperature in the house sits around 75f. The diameter of the jar is 10 inches and the depth of the beer is about 3.5 inches- so a proportionately large surface area. The cover is a cotton quilting fabric- very breathable but no large spaces in the weave like in cheesecloth.
When this mother starts to sink, I’ll count out the total time of fermentation and hopefully get a pH test done to evaluate the true acidity of the final product
I’m already thinking about what sort of vinegar to ferment next. I don’t have my pineapple wine ready (or even started. Oops) so maybe I should see what’s on clearance in my grocery store’s wine section or see what kind of sake I can get at a good price. I’m also considering finding some mead to ferment.

Y’all want to vote on what I make vinegar from next?
A: another beer
B: grape-based wine
C: Sake
D: Mead

Forgive my ignorance, so would a 'beer vinegar' give you like a 'malt vinegar' you would buy in a shop? (only better naturally!)

Similar. They do have different starting ingredients. A malt vinegar technically is made from malted barley that almost reached full ale status, but wasn’t quite finished. A beer vinegar is based on a fully finished beer. There are different characteristics in the flavor of malted barley and beer, and those characteristics should carry through to the final, finished vinegar.
Beer vinegar can be used very much like a malt vinegar- like a condiment for fish and chips, for instance. But the unique flavors of your original beer should also inspire a lot in how you cook with it too.
This is all based on what I’ve learned while studying for this first batch of vinegar. I’m not an expert though and don’t have any first hand knowledge. This batch will also be my first time ever even tasting a beer vinegar.
I should have a vinegar taste test and do a blind comparison between this jar and some malt vinegar.

Y’all, I am so sorry. I honestly thought I had posted my update, but it seems I didn’t.
The Tornado Shark Vinegar is finished! I ended the fermentation process on Sept 20th. Tasting notes were neon-bright, lemons, very clean. The old mother had changed in texture somewhat, though maybe that was just my imagination. It seemed a bit more dense. The new mother was massive- thick, heavy, supple and soft with well defined layers. She was a beast.
I filtered the vinegar and poured it raw into glass jars. My hopes in that they’ll mellow a bit with age in the couple months between bottling and Christmas. I didn’t test for pH but my tongue assures me it’s incredibly acidic. I will taste again and test the pH before gifting the bottles in December.
I stored the mother in vinegar to keep her in fighting form for the next batch.

Thanks Melody for the update!
That looks beautiful, what a good idea for a gift!  I'm getting inspired now to try making apple vinegar with all the apples thar are ripe just now!