First Wine Batch - what to do with blowoff

ok if this was beer I'd attach a blow off tube but I'm not sure what do.
My first batch of wine (well EdWort's Apfelwein is really my first) is fermenting like crazy (Primary) and I have an airlock on it filled with Vodka. That's not working out so well, so I was thinking of attaching a blow off tube; any thoughts ?

I'd just take off the airlock and put a clean towel over the fermenter to keep fruitflies and stuff out. I don't even use a lid on my wine primary, just a clean towel. When fermentation slows down (about 1.010-1.020), I transfer to secondary and then use an airlock.

Thanks Yooper, is there any chance of infection with Wine or is that a "beer" thing ?
BTW, this is a varietation of your Welch's Grape Wine.... Thanks for the quick response !

gresc said:

Thanks Yooper, is there any chance of infection with Wine or is that a "beer" thing ?
BTW, this is a varietation of your Welch's Grape Wine.... Thanks for the quick response !

Click to expand...

Oh, just like beer, you sure can get infections. However, you sanitize the equipment, and when the fermentation is fast and furious, the yeast need some oxygen. Co2 is coming off pretty heavily, and as long as it's safe from fruitflies, dog hair, etc, then no harm will come to it. A loose cover is fine at this point.

When fermentation begins to slow down, then there is more of a risk that oxygen can harm it, and it's not as protected from contamination by the co2 coming off of it. That's when it should be put into secondary, and airlocked.

My welch's recipe has a napkin over the top during the primary! That's my "high tech" brewing solution.

Thanks a million; I'm going to remove the airlock and replace it with a napkinn - what a mess !