Plugged the fridge into the heater plug of my stc100 by mistake on Sunday. Good job I popped out to check something later on that afternoon, as it was down to 4 degrees. A bit longer and it would have frozen, as this fridge also freezes. Plugged the heater in, and fermentation had kicked in when I checked later that night. Would have been sick if I froze it, so lesson learned.
Hopefully the yeast doesn't funk out on you!
Didn't think it would funk out from cold temp, as thought cold temps give cleaner ferments? Although I know I was at the extreme end of things. Do you think the yeast might have been damaged at that temperature?
It should be ok, 4 is fridge temp, and the yeast would be protected by the slow change in the wort to ferm temp.
Once I froze a vial of yeast by mistake.
Thawed out and regrew a starter - No Problemo
Not recommended howvere!
If you want to freeze yests then follow the cryo protocol
Sometimes, I've stored yeast in the fridge between brews. It'll be fine. Warm it up and rouse it if necessary and it'll probably be ok.
Below freezing (O degrees) is ok too, as alcohol freezes lower than water - but much lower than that and you've a problem.