First Brew! Cold crashing question.

Hello everyone, first time brewer and poster here.

I've had my first brew (Red ale, LME and some steeped grain) fermenting for just over a week now. I'm wanting to cold crash it for a few days after about three weeks of fermentation, then on to bottling.

My big question is as follows: I have an older fridge in the basement that we use to store extra food in. I'm planing on clearing enough space to fit my carboy in there. It's an older fridge, and I have no temperature control; once in a while it gets cold enough to freeze 12 oz bottles of beer. Is it possible that this may be too cold for my cold crashing?

Thanks in advance!

 

Put a thermometer in there and play with the cold control for a few days beforehand until you can find the setting that gets it to stabilize at around 35F. Or you mean there's no control dial at all? Try to avoid the back wall. Move a jar with a thermometer in water to various places to see if there are other cold spots to avoid.

 

Just keep an eye on it and you should be fine. You have thermal mass on your side...
Cheers
Jay