Sounds reasonable, you should be okay. I'm wondering if some of the difference might be explainable by the location of the blower in your fridge?
I am able to keep the basement stays a nice lagery 50 degrees in the winter time. No blower. The temperature difference is all yeast.
As long as you keep it warm until the butter and/or apple flavors are gone, you'llbe fine.
I'm on my third lager season now, and I've never done this nor have I had a problem.
I just try to avoid carrying a full glass carboy up and down a flight of stairs when it can be avoided. Does it make that noticeable of a flavor difference? Could I take it upstairs in a keg and have the same effect, or does it need to be in something with an airlock?
Then there's that 90 minute boil for lagers you guy talk about. I've never done that either and my lagers taste fine to me. I try to avoid topping off a batch with tap water (awesome water from a well, but it's the principle of the matter) when I can avoid it, which I would have to do if I boiled for another half hour. Again, does it make that noticeable of a flavor difference?
Maybe it's something you would taste in my brew but I don't notice because I don't know what to look for. Kinda like how I enjoyed my extract brews until I learned what all-grain tasted like.
Just for the heck of it I'm making a wheat lager for my next batch. Wheat malt was on the shelf and the basement is lager temp. Why not? Will be using 6# lager, 1# carapils and 2# wheat malt (already ground so it ain't changing) mashed low and slow in the low to mid 140s with a gentle Saaz hopping (choices are Saaz, Tettnanger, and Fuggle), and a scoop of Fermentis Saflager 23 from the previous batch. Sound good?
Turns out I didn't rack or anything. Will do that next weekend when I start the wheat.