Did I hurt my beer? Cold Crash Too Cold?

[whovous]

OK, I worry too much. I get that.

My FC is an old fridge in a dark garage. The light in the fridge goes on only when it is actively cooling. At all other times, my Fermostat simply cuts off the power to the entire fridge.

So, if I want to see my brew, I have to turn the temp down to get the light to come on.

Yesterday afternoon, I was 14 days into a brew. The wort temp was 72F and the SG was 1.010 on a 7% IPA. I decided it was time to cold crash, and lowered the temp to 35F. About four hours ago, I wanted to see my brew (my Catalyst fermenter is beautifully clear), so I lowered the temp to 28.5F to get the light to come on. The chamber temp was 34.1F and the FV temp was about 40F. I saw my beer was beginning to clear, closed the door, and drove off.

It has just occurred to me that I forgot to reset the temp before I left. By the time I get home, it will have spent at least seven hours at the 28.5F setting. Assuming the old fridge is capable of lowering the temp to 28F or thereabouts, have I caused any harm to my beer? Will a 7% ABV freeze in that environment? Will that damage my brew?

 

[TheMadKing]

I doubt it will fully freeze in that time, and even if there's a thin layer of ice it will be fine when it thaws. Don't worry about it!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

It may freeze a little, and if it does, you haven't ruined a thing. Just bring the temp back up to above freezing level, let it thaw (don't heat it or anything to force it), and all will be well.

My freezing story: I made a Canadian Pils (patterned after Labbatt Blue) for a friend's wedding. While I was lagering it, I set my thermostat too cold (I use an upright freezer as my keezer). After a week or two, I checked it out and at least 50% of its volume had frozen. I mean looking into the carboy, it looked like a massive iceberg inside! Fortunately it had not pushed out the mouth of the carboy, but like I said, I would estimate easily 50% of the beer was frozen solid. I was a little panicked.
So I set the thermostat to maybe 38 degrees and let it sit a few more weeks. It thawed, dropped crystal bright, and upon tasting, was perfect.
I served it at the wedding and the whole keg kicked (and there were four other beers on tap too). Apparently nobody else thought there was anything wrong with it either.

So moral of the story: A little freezing won't hurt a thing - just don't overreact in trying to thaw it out.

 

[whovous]

Thanks, all. I was able to talk my wife through resetting the temp. I forgot she was coming home this afternoon.

 

[RoadKing]

Do you have a cellphone? It probably has a flashlight built in!
Besides that, your beer is fine.

 

[whovous]

My beer is fine, but a cell phone flashlight does not illuminate the full wonder that is fermenting beer.