Vial of Gooey Yeast?

I have a question about the consitency of some yeast I recently purchased. I'm getting ready to brew my fifth batch of homebrew. All have been made with the same brand of yeasts, White Labs.

I opened a vial of WLP001 California Ale Yeast to make a starter from (I have used this very strain before), and it was a gooey blob in the vial. Normally, I can shake up the vial and get a milky mixture that pours as expected. After shaking it up, it kinda chunked up. Even after pouring it into the flask I'm using to make the starter, it stayed chunky. After shaking and swirling the flask, the chunks (about the size of a couple grains of rice) didn't really break down.

After two days in the flask, I haven't seen much activity. I shake it up from time to time, and get some temporary activity from the airlock, but that soon ends.

From the time I bought it, it was kept in a fridge. I even put it in my lunch box for the ride home (it has a gel pouch that was mostly thawed to keep my lunch cool).

Did I purchase a bad batch of yeast? Not sure if I want to use this batch.

Let me know what you think.

Thanx!

Did you happen to check the use-by date on the vial? That's really the best indicator of how well it will take off.

It sounds like the yeast have started to do something. If you leave them they may take off. I've revived some pretty sleepy yeast before.

Clumpyness isn't unusual with yeast; some strains do it habitually. Honestly, I would wait and see a bit longer. If you decide not to use the starter, just get a packet of Safale US-05; it's much the same strain, is cheaper, and can be pitched directly in all but the strongest of worts without a starter.