Whole leaf dry hopping question

First time dealing with whole leaf hops. I racked into a secondary with 2oz of cascade yesterday. Fermentation was slow but active beforehand. After closing it up. Fermentation seemed to stop. I still have a blow down tube on it. Normally I switch to airlock after racking, but I was in a hurry. When I finish up I always pull the tube out and reinsert into sterilized water so I can see the bubble level in the tube easier as it makes it's way back to bubbling out the bottom. After coming back 24 hrs later the level has pulled BACK to flush with the water level. I reinserted again so I could see water level. That was about six hrs ago. Just rechecked and it is back to flush AGAIN. is this the hops absorbing wort? Not causing a vacuum, but possibly negating positive pressure from fermentation? I have. Heck everything for leaks there are none. Hops were vacuum sealed before I placed them in the fermenter. Any help/advice/experience with similar situations would be greatly appreciated.

What was your gravity when you racked? How long was it in primary for? Bubbles are not always a sign of fermentation it could just have been co2 releasing as well.

1.060 when yeast was pitched. Was in primary 6 days. Didn't get a gravity reading when racked (hydrometer on loan will have back tomorrow, terrible timing I know) that's my next step. Even with a stuck fermentation I've never had negative pressure before.

megatrom said:

1.060 when yeast was pitched. Was in primary 6 days. Didn't get a gravity reading when racked (hydrometer on loan will have back tomorrow, terrible timing I know) that's my next step. Even with a stuck fermentation I've never had negative pressure before.

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You only want to dryhop when fermentation is done, about a week before you bottle, so it's important to make sure fermentation is finished before racking.

In any case, the only reason for negative pressure is a change in temperature or in barometric pressure. Maybe you're getting a change in the weather? Or you put the carboy in a cooler place?

Weather is changing later this week, but has been steady since fermentation. I do all fermenting in an a/c controlled room in my basement and secondary is in exact same spot primary was. I'm hoping this just caused by expansion/wort being soaked up by the large amount of vacuum sealed leaf hops I added. Just curious if anyone has experienced this.