mold on wort

[cabinetmaker]

have not brewed in several years due to business demands. wife bought me all new supplies for birthday. brewed up a batch of ipa last sunday an it is not perking. pulled lid to look and there are patches of mold floating on the top. called store (yeast was outdated but only by 3 weeks) and asked. brew guy said skim off mold. is this safe? what caused mold. cleaned everything in hot water and b brite.

 

[LouT]

Might not even be mold. I get odd looking "floaties" on top of some of my beers and haven't had a problem. If you skim the stuff off with a sanitized spoon, you'll probably be fine, just watch for re-currence.
Oops, I see you haven't had any airlock activity -- so you may need to re-pitch yeast. But if it went a week without any fermentation, that means no alcohol to kill anything off, so you may have a bacteriological nightmare on your hands!!

Just kidding, RDWHAHB! But I was not kidding about re-pitching some new yeast. Just get some cheapo dry yeast and re-hydrate it before you pitch-- probably S-05 Safale would be good.

 

[malkore]

i would also suggest Star-san for a sanitizer. it works in 30 seconds, faster than b-brite.