Yeast vial possibly gone bad?

Noticed that my vial of WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast seemed "chunky". Didn’t seem to run as easily in the vial from side to side (bad description, but all I could come up with). When I opened the vial, it seemed to almost have a sourish smell.

Has this vial gone bad? This is my first experience with this strain so I’m in the dark here

Probably wasn’t stored properly - they should smell like the medium they’re suspended in - certainly not sour.

007 is unique in its clumpy flocculating characteristics. I’ve also noticed many fresh yeast slurries smell and even taste tart. Shake the daylights out of it. Cheers

Make a starter. If it doesn’t start, then it’s a bad vial.

Originally posted by Quasimodo
Make a starter. If it doesn’t start, then it’s a bad vial.

I’m leery of yeast that has low viability. If it takes a long time to start I’d still dump it. But I’d dump it into the boil with about 10 minutes left. Dead yeast makes good yeast nutrient.

Originally posted by bitbucket

Originally posted by Quasimodo
Make a starter. If it doesn’t start, then it’s a bad vial.

I’m leery of yeast that has low viability. If it takes a long time to start I’d still dump it. But I’d dump it into the boil with about 10 minutes left. Dead yeast makes good yeast nutrient.

That’s exactly what yeast nutrient is made of. And they charge an arm & a leg for it too.

Blame Canada.

Originally posted by Cobra

Originally posted by bitbucket

Originally posted by Quasimodo
Make a starter. If it doesn’t start, then it’s a bad vial.

I’m leery of yeast that has low viability. If it takes a long time to start I’d still dump it. But I’d dump it into the boil with about 10 minutes left. Dead yeast makes good yeast nutrient.

That’s exactly what yeast nutrient is made of. And they charge an arm & a leg for it too.

Not sure where you’re buying yeast nutrient, but it’s not really that expensive(assuming you’re not talking about DAP)