Mine usually do, although I use a "swamp cooler" sometimes (fv in some sort of tub of water). If you really want it clear you can do the same but add some frozen plastic bottles of water for a couple of days. Definitely doable without a fridge.
I reuse my cider yeast just as you've described here with much success. I use a bit of stevia if I want some sweetness. Sometimes I just siphon off one lot of cider and chuck in juice for the next batch straight onto the yeast cake. Works great.
Yes you'll get the sort of esters you'd expect from something like a wheat beer. The beeri used it on was fairly low abv so it might be more Belgian flavoured at higher alcohol levels. Mine was a little too strong on the esters for my tastes but I did ferment at the upper limit of it's...
Yes. Yeast selection in combination with fermentation temperature, temp stability and pitching rates affect the production of esters, fusel alcohols, dyacetal etc. Some yeasts have a clean profile leaving just the flavour of the honey and fruit. Others produce fruity or floral esters which may...
Looks good. I love a bit of mead. My only question is regarding your yeast choice. If you look up "Bray's one month mead" he's done a bunch of research on how to get the best mead without having to age it for six months plus. He generally uses ale yeasts and has a specific nutrient schedule...
Have been using brewers friend for a few years but have now changed to brew toad.
I use them to calculate quantities for recipes but mostly just have a big note book that every brew gets a page in and I can keep track of what I want to very easily there.
I personally use just a refractometer as I only do 5-10 L batches so a couple of drops for a sample is very helpful. Aside from a standard hydrometer there are also finishing hydrometers which are designed to just read final gravity accurately.
Aside from the interesting tasting wheel posted, there's a number of interesting tasting sheets online for beer tasting. Very useful to help develop an understanding of what flavours define the beer your drinking.