Primary lid not sealed tight.

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Braden

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I have an aggressive fermentation going on with my Eclipse Cabernet. It was starting to get wine into my airlock so I was told by a friend that I should crack my primary lid so that way the co2 would escape better. So I loosened up a portion of the lid with a cleaned and sanitized airlock put back on. With this being cracked will bacteria get into my wine must? I’ve left it loose all night long. When do I know when to put it back on tight? When the fermentation starts to slow?
 
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Most of us don't use lids in primary, or else just leave the lid loosely sitting on top. A common practice is to drape a towel or sheet over the bucket, just to keep critters and flies out. You can safely leave things this way until you rack to a carboy (when the SG is in the range of, say, 0.998 to 1.005).
 
For reds, I do open ferments, whites I’ll do under airlock. Not sure it’s even a benefit for whites, but with the lower tannin and longer fermentation time, I’m more cautious.
 

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