How do I tell the "mother" from mold in ACV?

[DelBlueHen]

I started a number of bottles of ACV to get the mother, but some of the bottles have this thick, whitish stuff in them, about an inch thick. I've been looking up photos and researching on other websites, but can't find a definitive answer. Most of the articles say "get rid of the mold," but I don't know what it looks like. Yes, I'm a dummy!

 

[pdirt]

Most likely it is Kahm yeast. Google for images of that and see if you get similar images. Also, does it smell moldy or yeasty? My experience is yeasts are far more common in ferments than molds. I've only made ACV a couple times (got more going right now) but the mother has always been rather brown or the color of the apple juice.