cold crashing for too long?

[gnr9933]

I put my beer in a very cold refrigerator and its been in there several days its probably close to freezing. Will this kill my yeast and make me unable to bottle condition?

 

[kaconga]

If it actually freezes then yes, that will impair the yeast. If it never freezes then you are good to go. Yeast viability actually improves with lower temperatures than higher ones. Less die off means less chance of off flavors and tastier beer.

 

[JayDubWill]

In a fridge your fine. You could call it laggering. Most fridges only get down to 36-38F or so on the coldest setting.

 

[MindenMan]

You might want to run that question by the "Brigford Foods Company". I am pretty sure that yeast doesn't die when frozen, or their business couldn't rise above the din of the the other frozen bread companies.

 

[Cyclman]

It'll be fine and will carb up, happens with lagering all the time.

 

[olotti]

I cold crash for anywhere from 4-7 days and my beer after bottling is usually carbonated in 1 week, it'll be fine. I cold crash in my garage fridge and it gets down to 38deg and I have yet to have a prob, and I get some pretty clear beer but I do it mostly to firm the yeast cake, drop the hops, so it's easier when racking the beer to the bottling bucket.

 

[itchygomey]

I've put batches inside an enclosed trailer in the winter time to cold crash and twice it froze the top 1-2 inches. Both beers turned out great.