Help Mold!

Hi all as u probably guessed im new to this forum and would like some help with a few questions on my first brew

basically i own 2 pressure barrels but not a fermentation bucket, i used the spare barrel without the lid on with a tea towel tied covering the top, as the fermentation bucket and will syphon that off into the other preesure barrel after the first stage is dun. fistly is this acceptable?

secondly, stupidly i thought my shed would be warm enough for the first stage (english summer) but im seeing very few bubbles after 6 days, also a small amount of mold has formed on the tea towel, is this normal?is my brew recoverable if i bring the barrel inside and clean/change moldy towel?

lastly my friend was tellin me that if i use a pressure barrel as oppossed to bottles i should add two extra weeks to the secondary fermentation, is this correct?

unsure whether this is any use to anyone but the kit i am using is geordie lager, and the pressure barrels are made by boots.

any help given would be GREATLY appreciated

What you have described does not should not consitute a problem to the beer since it is not in direct contact with the mold. I think your beer will have finished primary by now. Sanitation is quite important so get rid off that moldy towel as it is just an invitation for spoilage. I think you should go ahead and rack the beer into the second fermenter and add the carbonation sugar.

hi titch,
theres nothing wrong with what you're doing - i've done a ferment in my pressure keg before, racked it to a fermenter for secondary and then back to the keg.
you'll only be able to tell if it has fermented, if theres a ring of gunk all around the inside of the barrel, higher than the level of the beer - this is called krausen.
for what it's worth i'd replace the teatowel with the lid of the barrell, and screw it down almost but not fully, so that the excess pressure can escape. or you could loosen off the escape valve slightly.
i imagine that the shed would have been warm enough. i've fermented several batches in an unheated/badly insulated kitchen here in ireland this summer.
ken

cheers for the advice, i changed the moldy rag and swapped it with a nice new one gonna start the secondary fermentation today so i guess only time will tell.

thanks for the advice its greatly appreciated