White Mold on Apple Cider Vinegar, Salvagable?

Question

I have been trying to make homemade vinegar for the past few months. I have successfully made apple cider vinegar, grape vinegar, pomegranate vinegar and so on.

I recently put a new batch of apple cider vinegar 5-6 weeks ago. It was fine, tasted and looked fine. But 3 weeks ago there was a mold on it, I researched and some said to remove and observe, some said to discard (Similar issue 1 similar issue 2). It was a huge batch so I didn't want to discard it. So removed mold and continued. Nothing for a week. Today I checked again and there is a thick layer of mold. The color is fine. But the taste is not acidic at all. There is no sweetness of apples like usual. Nothing special about smell though.

I wanted to ask, is there any way I can salvage it somehow? Strain it completely, add some more apples, sugar, and water and let it ferment? Has anyone tried it? or will it all be a waste? Or do I have to discard it? Please help.

Below is the image for reference.

Answer 1

Honestly, it doesn't look good. If there was ever an active acetic acid bacteria culture there (and I don't see signs of one) the mold has long since outcompeted it, eaten up the sugar, and possibly made it chemically inhospitable to bacterial life. You might be able to strain it, boil it to inactivate antibiotics, and add sugar for fermentation, but I would also genuinely worry about toxins (even heat-stable ones) left behind.

Apple juice isn't valuable enough to engage in heroics here.

Answer 2

Rather than adding fresh ingredients to it, I would try your fresh ingredients in a smaller jar by themselves until you get acidity/a mother, and then add the working mother to the difficult batch. Or, ask a fermentation friend for a bit of working mother to get there faster.

However, the yeast will have been eating the sugars in the cider to support their growth, so what you'll get from this batch is unknown. If adding sugar, I'd suggest waiting until after adding a mother.