OK to start/stop/start bottle carbonation?

[Ike]

I started a small batch of the hard root beer listed here:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/hard-root-beer-recipe-416406/

Everything has gone fine, except that mine is carbonating rather slower than most other folks' batches do. My plastic test bottle is a bit firm (finally) but barring any surprises when I pop a real bottle today or tomorrow, I'm going to be in a pinch come Sunday. I'll basically be away from the house for 72 hours, and don't want bottle bombs to start going off while I'm gone. TRUE, if it's carbonating as slowly as it is, I'm probably safe to just let things stay as they are. BUT, this stuff is really syrupy, and the thought of cleaning too much of it up... well...

SO: is it OK for me to drop the bottles into the fridge for the 72 hours to shut down the carbonation while I'm gone, then pull them back out when I'm home and can keep an eye on them again? I know the yeasty beasties aren't big fans of temperature fluctuations when they're still trying to work. I understand they'll be dormant in the fridge, just want to be sure they'll still wake up ok when I warm them back up.

Seems they should, since the yeast sits in a fridge at the LHBS until we need it, but thought I'd ask anyhow...

THANKS!

Ike

 

[EuBrew]

If it was me I'd throw them in a storage tote to capture any possible carnage. If you stop the process I don't think you'll have much luck getting to where you want to be.