Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 10, Episode 13 - Hog Heaven - full transcript
Mark and Digger find a solution to the jar shortage but the juice may not be worth the squeeze. Tim enlists Tickle's friend Howard to help recreate the first whiskey made in America. Mike and Jerry distill vodka from surplus restaurant supplies.
This time on
"Moonshiners--"
I hate to drive all over East
Tennessee trying to find jars.
A jar shortage
to a moonshiner is
about as desperate as it gets.
We've committed to it now.
1,500 jars of
expired mayonnaise.
Sure as a whirl.
This is the
messiest *bleep* that I've
ever fooled with in my life.
Whoa!
We've gotta come
up with another plan.
Thinking of something
new, 400 years ago,
this guy Thorpe, he made the
first whiskey in North America.
He's talking
about the first alcohol
that was distilled in America.
I want to recreate what
he did 400 years ago.
This is something special.
It's an expedition
back in history.
Jerry, what the hell
do we need damn tomato
paste and lemon juice for?
I've heard of this recipe
called Bird Watchers.
An old time recipe.
- Look.
Slicing tomaters!
Don't splatter me.
This is how
we make the moonshine!
You don't got any?
Do you have any idea when?
Oh my lord.
OK, then.
All right, I appreciate it.
In Cocke
County, Tennessee--
No luck, puss.
Mark and
Digger are reeling
after a nationwide
run on glass jars
has left them high and dry.
The pandemic has
apparently affected
the jar business as well.
What have you found?
You found some.
Hey!
Yeah, I found
'em. $59 a dozen.
In the name of sense.
There's always, you
know, an overstock of jars,
and that's when you
get your bargains.
That's not the case anymore.
People are buying things up
just to have them, apparently.
This is insane.
12 pack, Ball 32-ounce
wide mouth, lids--
$48.99.
I've already looked
that place all over.
We're just gon'
have to ride around,
see if any of these
little old country stores
anywhere's got any.
I mean, if we could get a
box here, and a box there, I--
We may have drive
over another county.
Let's do it on the move.
That won't hurt as bad as
sitting here worrying about it.
You know, I've been
doing this for probably
a little over 35 years.
I've never seen a jar shortage.
We can't be in the
liquor business
if we don't have something
to put our liquor in.
You ain't got
no jars, have you?
I know.
There's none to be had.
Everybody's manufacturing is
at bottom levels right now.
We're wasting a lot of time
we could be making liquor.
And then we'd just have to
leave it sitting in barrels,
or somebody bring you a
jar and dip you some out.
We've always used
jars in our world.
That's the way we
were brought up.
In our neck of the
woods, if we show up
with a gallon of
milk, jug of water,
they'd run us out
of town on a rail.
You ain't got no
more jars, have you?
Ah.
We gotta find glass jars.
I hate to drive all over East
Tennessee trying to find jars
and just wasting gas.
And we ain't had to buy no jar
in two months because we had--
We had enough.
We've made a lot
of liquor this year.
And what point do you stop
manufacturing if you don't
have no way to distribute?
I mean, if you could predict--
We got old Killer Beaz.
Talk to us, Killer.
Killer Beaz, he's
bootlegging some for us.
He has been on the
hunt for jars as well.
It serves him well
as much as us.
Hot dog!
You know, you
don't want to look
a gift horse in the mouth.
It's free supplies.
Oh, will it now?
Yeah.
I can't imagine yet how much
work it'll be to get 'em clean.
What do you think, puss?
Well, we
ain't got no choice.
It's a better option
than anything we got.
Honestly, we're at
point right now, Killer,
we don't have no choice.
Go ahead and commit us to 'em.
What do you do with
1,500 jars of mayonnaise?
Where do you even
dump it out at?
All right.
Love you more.
Thank you, Beaz.
Well, that was
a stroke of luck.
I'mma telling you.
I don't know.
It might be.
1,500 jars of damn mayonnaise.
That's gonna
be a mess to clean up.
There's a guy doing
a U-turn ahead of me,
driving through the yard.
Crazy.
In Franklin
County, Virginia, Tim
is bringing a jar of his
new single malt shine
to share with Henry and Kenny.
You know, me and
Chuck made this one out of
the scent malted barley here.
I think it's really good.
And I just want to show
it to Henry and Kenny,
let them taste it.
We come up with something new,
we always pass it around first.
Yeah.
- How you doing, Tim?
- Good to see you, man.
- You doing good?
- Yeah.
Y'all relaxing?
What have you got there?
- Isn't that nice and pretty?
- It is pretty.
Malted barley.
I can smell it.
Never did a
malted barley before.
Malted barley?
You kidding?
Malted barley.
Let me see
what you got in it.
Nothing else.
I think you
got something here.
I've never seen
anything like it.
The taste is so different.
It's like opening up a
bag of malted barley.
I'll gave you that jar.
That's one of my first jars.
So when it come out on
the market, you'll say,
well, I got the first jar.
Hell, I gotta think
about what else to do.
When you own a legal business,
you gotta up your game.
You gotta come out
with something new.
You gotta be researching
something, looking ahead.
I just know it's so competitive
out there on the legal side.
Yeah.
You know you gotta
stay ahead of the game.
Somebody's always got
something going on.
You gotta be thinking
of the next step.
Tim, he's always talking
about something different to do,
and he's always wanting
to stay ahead of the game.
And as he's talking,
it sorta reminded me
that I've got something on
my mind, something different.
While you staying ahead of
the game with that, man,
I'll tell you what.
I was thinking about
you the other day.
Like 400 years ago--
Yeah.
1620, the colonists came to--
was, of course,
here in Virginia.
This guy Thorpe--
smart, smart Englishman.
He was a big
distiller in England.
And then when he got here, he
made the first whiskey in North
America right here in Virginia.
How 'bout that?
In 1620.
He wrote a buddy of
his back in England
and told him that he'd
came up with a drink
that he thought was
better than anything
he produced in England.
Wow.
I had no idea who George Thorpe
is, but it's real interesting.
400 years this year, an
individual came from England.
He made the first
American whiskey.
That might be something.
You know, 400 anniversary.
We make a anniversary run.
Yeah.
It's all about timing.
You know, right
now, I think it's
a great idea to jump on it.
I'd love to just be the one
to recreate this recipe.
And if it goes good,
then I think we can
go, like, commercial with it.
It's something different.
And if I can do
something or other
that somebody did 400 years ago,
man, I could put my name on it.
Yeah.
Tim did this 400 years later.
I've heard people
talk about recreating
the George Washington rye.
You know?
And that's, like, 200 years ago.
But when you go 400 years back,
this is something special.
Back 1620, they probably
didn't have the same kind
of still we got now.
Then I gotta research what
kind of mash they made,
what kind of still they had,
and how they had to ran in.
This is a lot to research.
Well, y'all want to
help me put it together,
then, get a batch run?
I don't know, man.
We've been awful busy.
Tickle-- maybe he
could help you.
Tickle, I'm pretty
sure he likes history,
and he would love
to get in on it.
Hey, Tickle.
I'm over here with
Henry and Kenny,
talking to them about a new
little project I got going on.
You know?
And I'mma need a little help.
Henry just told me about it.
It's a great idea.
I'm thinking about making some
moonshine from 400 years back.
Yeah.
You done got in the
doghouse already, ain't ya?
That's what happened.
I think she pretty well
calls the shots anyway.
You know, when
I called Tickle,
he's too busy with the wife.
He's in the doghouse.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know Howard.
A strong
back and a weak mind.
He can help.
I'll call Howard then.
OK.
All right.
I gotta get some research done.
You know, we'll
be on a expedition
trying to recreate the first
corn whiskey made, you know,
in Virginia.
I'm gon' find out who
this Thorpe guy is.
How'd he do it?
I think this is special.
And you know, 400 years,
that's a long time.
- All right.
- All right, Tim.
- See ya, buddy.
- Take it easy, Tim.
Well, you late
again, as damn usual.
What in the Sam hell
you got going on here?
In between runs, when
I'm not making alcohol,
I might as well clean
up, rearrange some stuff,
and be able to start back over.
Quit stick fingering
all my stuff, now.
Oh, you found all
kinds of damn goodies.
Don't start
damn digging, man.
You come up with a
whole damn roll of copper?
I did.
I didn't even know
I had it in there.
I could use some of that.
No.
Can I have this?
No, you can't
have that, Jerry!
Damn.
Put that stuff down.
We got damn work to do, Jerry.
Oh by the way, man,
ol' Tim give me a call.
Tim who?
Tim, the one that owns the
damn diner down there in town.
His diner's going out of
business, his little restaurant
over there.
Man, that sucks.
Yeah, it's just all
this damn pandemic
and everything going around.
But anyway, he's got 400
pounds of sugar over there
he's willing to get
rid of for cheap.
Yeah, he's just trying to
get cleaned out, you know,
before he has to shut
the doors for good.
And maybe we can
help him in return.
Sure you won't let
me have this roll of copper?
Hell no!
You ain't taking my copper now.
Let's go get some
sugar, brother.
Tim's got sugar here, man.
And we desperately need it.
I'm sorry that he's
going through what he's
going through, but there's
no need in watching
it go to the dumpster.
Anything that me and Jerry
can do to help him out.
Whoa.
Hey, guys!
How's it going?
What's going on, Tim?
All right, buddy.
You coming after
a little sugar.
I'm coming across
some sugar, brother.
We appreciate you helping
us out like this, man.
Well, I appreciate you
getting it off my hands.
I hate to hear you going
out of business like you are.
Everybody's suffering.
Man, you got that right.
But on the other hand,
you know, I gotta say,
I'm glad you're able
to help us out too.
It ain't doing no good there,
so somebody can use it.
What do you think on--
on price?
Eh, what is there?
I think there's about
400 pounds there.
I mean, 6, 7 bucks
a bag oughta do it.
Well, there's you
some money right there.
That will take care
of it, for sure.
I appreciate it, man.
Yes, sir.
We appreciate you.
While we're here--
that tomato paste any good?
It's still good, yeah.
What would be the chances
you have some lemon juice?
What the hell?
Lemon?
Yeah, I got some lemon juice.
Jerry, what the hell
do we need damn tomato
paste and lemon juice for?
There's and old
recipe that you
can use tomato paste and
lemon juice with the yeast.
And it's kind of a-- kind
of a nutrient for it.
It helps it work off
better and faster
and makes the alcohol
even smoother.
He's gotta get rid of it.
We might as well take
it off his hands.
You know, I've been doing
a little bit of research
with this recipe
called Bird Watchers.
Pretty simple, man--
sugar, tomato paste,
lemon juice, and Epsom salts.
And then, of course, you just
put your natural regular bread
yeast into it.
And it's gonna come out vodka.
I ain't never heard of
making no damn mater liquor.
What's going on with this?
Well, what this
is gonna do is this
is actually gonna feed the
yeast and help keep 'em working.
And the lemon
juice just gives it
an acidic base to work out of.
But instead of buying
these real fancy yeasts,
you know, they just use
regular old bread yeast.
And it works off good.
That saves on
ingredients and stuff,
and yeast, and what have you.
We'll try it and
see what it does.
Hell, I don't mind
trying everything once.
Yeah.
There's just some
stuff, you know,
that I've tried I won't admit.
But I'll try it once.
You know what I mean?
Having a good strong yeast, I
mean, that's-- that's the whole
name of the game.
The cold weather is coming,
and hopefully turn us out
some good liquor a lot quicker.
And we can do it cheaper and
resource things more naturally.
Boy, I tell you what, Tim,
this right here is gon' help me
and Jerry out
something tremendous.
Well, that little bit you gave
me is gonna help me out too.
Yeah, buddy.
Coming out here
to Tim's tonight
was a plus for both of us.
It's helped me and Mike out
to accomplish our season goal.
And we was able to help
him out a little bit.
We give him a little bit of
cash for some of the stuff
that he had for us.
And we're good to go.
Well, the only
thing we can do now
is we got it loaded
in the truck.
We gonna get this
stuff mashed in,
see how this Bird
Watchers vodka turn out.
Well, dude, I think
that was pretty successful.
What do you think?
Oh, abso-damn-lutely, man.
No kidding.
I really, really want
to learn how to make this shine.
This guy George Thorpe
was actually a priest.
He was a moonshining preacher?
He was a moonshining preacher.
Who would have
ever have thought
you gotta go to Chattanooga
to get a glass jar?
Well, if we don't
find anyplace else,
we're gon' be going to
Arkansas or Iowa before long.
Beaz didn't go into
a lot of detail, did he?
No, because he probably
don't know a lot of detail.
Killer Beaz, he's found
us 2,500 quart size jars.
Bad news is they're full
of expired mayonnaise
and mandarin oranges.
How nasty is that?
I mean, I worried
about the oranges.
They'll dump right out.
Yeah.
Mayonnaise, it's just
gon' sit there and be--
Nasty.
Yeah, gooey.
You know, the upside
is these jars are free.
We're living proof
that the good Lord looks
after some idiots, ain't we?
Right?
Well, there see blows.
We get to the warehouse,
and yep, there it is.
Extra lots of
mandarin oranges.
1,008 jars.
I know it's a win situation
for the warehouse guy
because he would have to pay
money to dump this stuff out.
Yeah, you're good.
And we're hoping it's
a win for us as well.
We've done started thinking the
Mandarin oranges might ferment.
Yeah.
That's a damn sight
of mash right there.
Thank you, man.
You're welcome.
We've committed to it now.
Mayonnaise, sure as a whirl.
It's plastic.
Oh no!
Frigging plastic jars!
Are you *bleep* me?
We don't like plastic.
You can clean glass really easy.
But I don't know
about this plastic.
Whoa!
Damn!
I wouldn't want to eat it.
Well, let's see what
these other ones are.
The mandarin
oranges, they're glass,
but they're 20-ounce glass jars.
You know, we always
use Mason jars,
but that's not the
case this time.
Can't have a 32, you might
as well get you a 20.
And it's free.
The juice is good.
They don't-- they're OK.
Ain't a lot of sugar
in it, but there's sugar.
Yeah.
I believe we
can get that to ferment.
These jars present
way more questions
than they do solutions.
Yeah, we can wash the
jars, but what are we
gonna do with the mayonnaise?
Feel like I'm hauling
my ex-girlfriend around.
Well, if we can get out of
Chattanooga, get on the river
there, we can work on
these if we want to.
The damn mayonnaise is our
ultimate problem right now.
We can't just throw
it out on the ground.
I don't really know
where to start with this.
The only thing
we can do is just
start dumping mayonnaise out.
We just gotta get
started, ain't it?
Yep.
Well, we're gon'
go to our little
place just up on the river, just
'cause it's easy in and out.
We're gonna start dumping
this mayonnaise in a barrel.
This is the
messiest *bleep*
I've ever food with in my life.
You know?
This damn pandemic's
got me doing *bleep*
that I never thought
I'd be doing.
This ain't time efficient
or cost efficient.
It ain't no good at all.
It's gon' to take more time
to deal with these jars
than it takes to
make the liquor.
We've gotta come up
with another plan.
Probably the only thing that
would want it would be a hog.
Tater's got that
big ol' hog Luther.
He might want it.
We can offer Tater this
mayonnaise for his hogs
if he'll want to
clean the jars up.
I'm all for it 'cause I'm
tired of doing this *bleep*..
We've got these jars free.
So why can't we just source
it out to somebody else
to clean these jars up?
We'll still have
a bargain in jars,
but we didn't have to
fool with the mess.
That hog would eat that
like it wasn't no tomorrow.
Goal to a hog is
to fatten it up,
and mayonnaise certainly has
plenty of calories in it,
I'm sure.
Let's go get us a
damn club sandwich
with triple mayonnaise.
Extra mayonnaise.
Yeah, I want one with all
the damn mayonnaise I can get.
Yeah, I want it-- hell, all we
could do is rub it on our arms.
There's plenty of mayonnaise.
Oh, I see Howard coming in.
I see a truck coming.
I want to recreate
the ways that they
made alcohol 400 years ago.
I'm gon' need a
little bit of help.
So I called Howard to help
me out on this project.
Tim, what's up, old buddy?
I see this thing, man.
Thing all jacked up, ain't it?
I gotta get it out
the woods, don't I?
That's right.
How's it been
doing, old buddy?
Oh, busy, man.
Busy.
Let me show you
the still in here.
Yeah.
You know, me and
Howard go way back, working
at the mattress company there.
And Howard's a great guy.
It looks like he's been working
with Tickle a little bit,
got a little bit of experience.
My god, Tim, this is
one hell of an operation
here, old buddy!
Little bit bigger
than the woods, I guess.
You could drown
in the condenser.
Yeah.
I mean, it's 8 foot deep.
You know, me and
Tim go back 10,
12 years where we used to work
together at Mattress Factory.
When I walked in the
distillery with him,
it was like heaven's
gate opening up.
I mean, ahh!
I've never seen anything
like this before.
I mean, what I'm working with
is micro-stills compared to him.
2,500 gallons.
Of mash at one time?
Holy smokes, man!
Well, that's a 4,000
gallon still over there.
Golly!
Well, look, Howard.
400 years ago this year, this
guy named George Thorpe--
he's the first guy to
make whiskey in America.
I want to recreate what
he did 400 years ago.
But we need to go
talk to somebody.
We need to go back to where--
you know, where
all this happened.
And we gotta research,
you know, like, the still,
the ingredients, the process.
You know, we gotta figure
all of this stuff out.
You know, Tim's talking
about making some 400-year-old
liquor that was ran 1620.
There's an opportunity
for success here.
I hope you brought
your lunch, right?
I ate before
I got here, old buddy.
I know how it is I
when I get with you.
OK.
We'll make then.
We're going down
to Charles City.
But we're going to this
Berkeley Plantation first.
And we're trying to find
out some information
about George Thorpe.
And actually, where he made
the first run of alcohol,
right on his plantation.
I'm glad you came.
I'm just
glad to see you, man.
I ain't seen you forever.
It's been a long time.
So far, I've researched
that this guy
was sent from England, London,
over here today to Virginia.
And this guy George Thorpe
was actually a priest.
So he was trying
to convert everyone
over to being a Christian.
Hold on.
He was a moonshining preacher?
He was a moonshining preacher.
Reverend
George Thorpe was
an English colonist
an evangelist
who came to America in 1620.
His primary mission was to
convert the Native Americans
to Christianity.
But as an experienced
distiller, his next goal
was experimenting with new
world grains to make alcohol.
This didn't conflict
with his principles,
as alcohol was seen as
a gift from the creator
and was used in many
religious ceremonies.
In fact, during this period,
consumption of alcohol
was so common and the
belief in its benefits
so widely held that
one life insurance
company even imposed a
premium on policyholders
that abstained.
While George Thorpe's work
as a missionary faltered,
he had great success
making alcohol
and is credited as being the
first person to distill whiskey
in America.
I really, really want
to learn how to make this shine.
Well, that's
where we going.
We're gon' see if we
can meet somebody,
find some documentation.
You know, to get this
recipe to go back to 1620,
you know, I do have my doubts.
You know, how much
information do they have
at the Berkeley Plantation?
We may have to go look at
a rock and see some kind
of etching of what was what.
So we're playing a little bit
of Magnum PI on the way here.
Well, we're
investigating a little bit,
but it's more like
an expedition, kinda
like Indiana Jones did.
God, it's
pretty down here.
So which way we go from here?
I don't know.
- Oh yeah, Berkeley right.
- Yep.
- I ain't lost nothing--
- Oh, watch out for that pole.
- All right.
- And these brick walls.
And the sun was in my face.
I couldn't even see
that thing, man.
Designed in 1725.
I guess this was the
first colonial turnpike.
Colonial turnpike!
Yeah.
But look at this place, Howard.
What a spread, boy.
I think this
must be the place.
Let's go see what's
happening here.
I'm gon' follow your lead.
This place is amazing.
We'll go knock on the door.
All right.
Look how big this door is.
I mean, look.
That's a 4 foot door.
George Thorpe
might have been a big man.
All right, here we go.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- How are y'all doing?
- Good.
How are you?
In Southeast
Virginia, Tim and Howard
are on a quest to
uncover the secrets
behind the first whiskey
ever made in America.
George Thorpe
is credited with inventing what
we now call American whiskey.
I want to replicate
what he did 400 years ago.
This Berkeley Plantation,
this is actually
where George Thorpe landed.
This is where he hung out.
This was like his headquarters.
This is a letter
from George Thorpe.
"We have found a way to make
so good drink of Indian corn,
as I attest I have
diverse times refused
to drink good, strong English
beer and chosen to drink that."
It was Indian corn.
Indian corn is not
something you eat every day.
So you know, we're
on to something here.
We're at the spot
where, 400 years ago,
the first alcohol that
was distilled in America
is right here.
So I'm excited about this.
This is where
all the alcohol is stored.
Something close to our roots.
And here we have the
painting that depicts
the original distillation.
That's a still?
That is a still.
A cast iron pot?
But you know, that
looks like a piece of wood
on top of it.
Maybe they had a little
hole drilled in it,
and the steam come out
and went down there.
And that's like the condenser.
And it looks like a black
pot, so we definitely
know it's not a copper pot.
It doesn't have a doubler.
We know that.
I mean, this is a period
of time of 400 years ago.
They hadn't got
to that point yet.
What's this right here?
That's probably
how they cooled it down.
He's doing some wood on it.
This right here--
maybe he's got a dipper
to dip the water on it.
So you think they'd ladle
water onto it to cool it down?
Well, they ain't
had no water pump.
Now, the condenser is not
the regular, you know,
copper coil worm.
It's just a straight pipe
laying in, like, a trough,
like a watering trough,
where they had put water
in it to actually cool it.
I think this George Thorpe--
this is my interpretation.
He knew how to distill
alcohol over in England,
and he had been doing
it with something else.
Yeah, so he didn't have the
same ingredients over there--
He didn't have the
same ingredients.
Over here that
he had over there.
And then when he came over
here, he had-- hey, I have
some different ingredients.
Let me try this.
And it came out better than it
was over there, 'cause that's
what it said in that book.
It was better
than-- than the ale.
So the different mash
is where it started.
Mm-hmm.
I'm getting a whole lot out
of this picture right here.
And I'm thinking, if I can
just get down to the recipe.
This is what I need to know.
Hey, y'all.
This is Jamie.
Hello, gentlemen.
His family's owned
the property since 1907.
What can I help you with?
We've been learning a whole
lot about George Thorpe here.
Yep.
This is really someone's
interpretation, I guess,
of what the still looked like.
What about this black pot here?
I mean, it looks
like to me like it's
cast iron or something.
It could very well be ceramic
because the Indians had--
knew how to make the
pottery. 'Cause that's what
they more than likely had
rather than cast iron.
Now, Jamie's talking
maybe George Thorpe
had a lot of interaction
with the Indians.
They possibly used a
pottery, ceramic type still.
So you know, another
key point here.
So you think this is George
Thorpe, this guy standing here?
Oh yeah, that's
a picture of him.
He's the master
distiller here.
That other fella--
this fella over here is the--
the one who tries it out.
When he falls--
Falls down, we
know it's right.
- There you go.
- That's Tickle over there.
That's definitely Tickle.
I'm thinking we need
to find Indian corn.
Is Indian corn on
the plantation?
We had some we grew.
I've got several boxes
of it we held back.
From 1620?
Well, they weren't that old,
but it's in the direct lineage.
Oh, this
gets us even closer.
We got a direct lineage
to the exact type of corn
- from back then.
- Right.
He's got corn.
He's got the clues.
He's got all the
information we need.
But he's about to
take this over here
and see what this
corn is all about.
This is a one-stop shop.
- Yeah.
Here we go.
Boy, Jerry, I
tell your ass what.
This damn snow come a little
bit unexpected, didn't he?
Damn wintertime has hit us
wide open all of a sudden.
He-he!
We're on that threshold,
crossing the line, so to speak.
We've got a few good weeks we
can do some winterizing, man,
and potentially have a few
more good runs for this season.
Good thing I seen you out
of the corner of my eye.
You know, one thing
that we got to do
is we got to get our
fermentation barrels insulated.
Good cheap way of doing
that would be to use straw.
After we get 'em all
stacked with hay and stuff--
Well, it'll kind of just start
decomposing a little bit too.
Decomposing, goes
through its heat.
It'll keep them damn
barrels warm, son.
Oh, absolutely.
When it gets really cold and
the temperatures start to drop,
that's when yeast goes dormant.
But there's ways around that.
Keep that mash warm so
that yeast can work,
and you can just keep
right on running.
I believe we got a
damn hay cabin here, son.
If we can get mashed in and
run every four or five days,
that's two runs
sitting right there
for this old bad baby pot.
We got a good
barrier around them.
But if we don't get that
stuff stuffed in there
and get rid of all that
air space in there--
Cold air will
get to it, won't it?
Yeah.
We gotta get all them
air spaces closed up.
Yep.
You know, it's time for me
and Jerry to mash in now.
Get this damn sugar down there.
Jerry's actually been doing
all the research on this Bird
Watchers vodka recipe.
It's an inexpensive
way to making a
good, clean, clear, pure vodka.
Coming that way.
Yeah, we got it.
You know, this Bird
Watcher recipe--
Ready?
--what it's designed to do
is we provide the nutrients
and keep our yeast active
and keep it really working.
And that's what we need
moving into this cold weather.
So I'll check the pH
of our water first.
No, we can't ask for
nothing better than that.
7.0.
It's not acidic, and
it's not alkaline.
It's kind of the neutral of
what we want our intake to be.
Jerry-- he's the one that's
been doing the homework on it.
I'm here to learn this.
- So on a 50-gallon wash--
- Mm-hmm.
We're gonna need
100 pounds of sugar,
which you already got in there.
- It's in there.
So the Pace, we're
gonna need 56.9 ounces.
What are these cans?
I think they're,
like, 111 ounces.
- So basically--
- 111 ounces?
Almost a half a can.
About a half a can.
All right, here we go.
Don't splatter me.
Or us.
Nah, you can
put a little more.
- A little more?
- Yeah.
So this is putting
the nutrients, right?
Yeah, this is gon'
be-- this is what we're
gonna use for the nutrients.
10-4.
So that's good.
I'm gon' stir this in
'cause that's thick.
I mean, I understand what you're
doing with the tomato paste.
But I mean, the lemon
juice-- what's that?
That's 100% damn acid.
I know that.
Lemon juice, you know, it
creates an acidic environment
for that yeast to thrive in.
You got your citric acid in it.
And what that does is it
actually excites that yeast
and gets it really working.
That looks like
a damn Bloody Mary.
Yes, sir.
Hell, I'm sitting here
thinking, all I need
is a stalk the celery
right now, and I'll
have me a good stiff drink.
Well, with that
being stirred up good,
all we gotta do is add a
little Epsom salt here to it.
So all we need here
is about a teaspoon.
And then the Epsom salt's
got the magnesium phosphate
in it, which keeps the
yeast excited and working
and keeps 'em moving.
So 1 cup of yeast.
That's there.
It's looking
thereabouts, ain't it?
That's what we need.
Stir it in.
See if she'll go to work,
and we'll start another one.
Now that we got
all this figured out,
we can move on with
the next five barrels,
get this mash in done.
Slicing tomaters!
This mash here
that we're making
is totally different than what
we're normally used to seeing.
It's not a red tint
with clumps all in it.
But it's a natural product--
the tomato paste is.
So it'll break down.
It'll give something
for the yeast to eat.
Gon' stack 'em up.
And once we run it, we've
got so many filtration systems
in this column still
that it's gonna come out
a good, clean, pure alcohol.
Now looky here!
That's good.
All right, Jerry.
By golly, that oughta
keep her good and dry now.
It will.
We'll come back and
check her in a few days
and see how it looks.
Boy, this is back
up in here, Howard.
Yeah, we in the cut.
It feels like we been on
this road for a while.
Along the James
River in eastern Virginia,
Tim and Howard are one
step closer to recreating
America's first spirit.
Jamie Jamieson, he is the
owner of Berkeley Plantation.
I'm looking for Indian corn.
Jamie says, you know, follow me.
I'm gonna take you to
where I have it stored.
I'm glad that we
didn't walk over here.
We'd have never made it.
We'd have had to,
like, pack our bags.
I see a roof.
This is the log
cabin before they
built the big house.
Hey, Tim, I think
I might have some stored
up in the top of this place.
This corn is
hopefully the same corn
that's been planted
over and over,
even probably from the 1600s.
Might be enough for you.
That's what we're
looking for, huh?
This is it.
This is the
original stuff here.
Look at that.
How you got so many
different kinds?
It just
comes up like that.
It's not hybrid corn.
It's just the
regular Indian corn.
I ain't never
seen no corn look
like that before in my life.
It's almost
like it's been dyed.
Jamie, I think you done hit
it on the head right here.
Well, I hope
that'll be some use to you.
It's like every
color you can think
about, from yellows, greens,
reds, purples, even black.
Every cob is totally different.
I couldn't find one
that was identical.
It's not a hybrid.
It's a straight Indian
corn, the same ones
they used back in 1600s.
But then George
Thorpe had another idea.
He'd take it-- the same corn
meal-- and make alcohol.
Well, I think what probably
happened-- you know, these
things happen by accident.
I think somebody had
some they'd left.
Next thing you know, it was
sprouting and fermenting,
and made a strong beer.
So you think some of it
could have been malted cord,
and then somebody just
made of beer of that?
It just rotted in the water?
It just rotted in the water.
And they could smell it--
- that sour.
- Yeah.
They knew they had something.
They knew today had
some strong alcohol there.
I'm gonna make some
strong stuff out of it.
Well, that should
have a unique flavor.
I guarantee they won't
be none other like it.
No, not in 400 years.
Not in 400 years.
It'd be the first anybody's
done it, probably.
Well, let's get it
in the truck, Howard.
I think I got something
in the truck for you, too.
Well, the next step
here is a test batch.
I need to get the right taste
profile and making sure,
can we do this larger scale?
All right.
This trip has actually
come out really good.
You know, I'm just glad that we
found the Berkeley Plantation.
We've learned a lot
of information here.
All right, look here.
I got something over here.
So now we've got some Indian
corn that we can make a mash.
I got three bottles.
That's my Climax moonshine.
Now, when you run this batch,
you gon' let me have a taste--
a little taste of that?
Sure, I will.
'Cause it's gon' be
different from anything else.
I bet it is
gonna be different.
The biggest question is,
how do we make a still?
How do we get a still?
And what is our
interpretation of what
that still is gonna be like?
Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
Good to meet you.
You have a good
evening, old buddy.
All right.
Man, I got this.
But can I recreate it?
You ever seen old Luther?
He's a damn monster.
He's got a set of nuts
like two footballs in a sack.
I'mma telling you.
Our buddy, Tater, he's got
an old big hog named Luther.
Yeah, that's his barn
right there, ain't it?
I believe it is.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed
that Luther will eat the hell
out of this mayonnaise,
'cause if he will,
we might have solved
our problem with what
to do with this mayonnaise.
Yonder he sits.
What's up, Tater?
Well, hey.
What in the world
y'all doing up in here?
We got lost.
Did you?
We thought old
Luther might be hungry.
How are you, Mark?
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
We got about that
much of something
in the bottom of that barrel.
Oh, yes, sir.
And we need rid of
it-- a ton of mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise?
Yep.
Yeah.
Out of date,
expired mayonnaise.
It's all right, though.
Mark ate a spoonful of
it, and all it did is
give him the crippling *bleep*.
No, Mark didn't
eat none of it.
Well now, that might
be good for you in a way
like that every once in a
while, if a man was bound up.
Tater, he's a country boy.
He's been around
hogs his whole life.
He said he's raised
'em a long time.
Well, I guess they kind
of raised each other.
But you know, that's
another story.
We started out, there was
about 1,500 jars of it.
That'll be enough there to see
if he's gonna want it or not.
I mean, if he don't want
it, there ain't no need
of going no further with it.
- No.
Uh-uh.
I hope he loves it.
How old is old Luther?
I don't know.
I guess nigh on 10 years.
No *bleep*?
Yeah.
Need to feed
them little of it.
It'll bring them along.
You kinda watch.
He's feisty.
Hell, that's all right.
Hell, that's what dogs
is supposed to be.
The dog likes
the mayonnaise.
Wish I felt as good
as that damn dog does.
Gon' end up tripping me,
and I'll have mayonnaise all
over me-- mayonnaise and mud.
He'd lick the hell
out of you, Digger.
Well, you
ain't a *bleep*..
If Luther likes it, we
might be able to talk
Tater into cleaning the
rest of these jars out.
But if he doesn't
choose to go forward with it,
I don't know what the answer is.
We gotta have jars
immediately, is our only cure.
Come here, little feller.
Sooey.
Oh.
Look at this cat right here.
Might get a little intel here.
I don't know.
I bet he knows
everything around here.
He is a big, black cat.
What up, pretty Tom?
Are you a friendly cat?
Yeah?
Next thing you know, he's
gonna, like,..
Look at them paws.
He's black.
He's a fat little
joker too, ain't he?
Uh-oh.
Look, he hears something.
He sees something.
He's looking at something.
He's on the prowl.
Look at them
eyes getting tight.
Man, you got some eyes.
Look at them eyes.
They're flexing in and out.
Look at the way they--
Yeah.
--split down the middle.
And he's an American cat?
Are you an American cat?
I don't think he's from
round these parts, Tim.
Let's see if I can
get a picture of his eyes.
Hey, manny.
Sooey!
Come here, little feller.
Where's my little pig at?
Oh, he's lazy this morning.
Well, he ain't lazy.
Hell, look what he's hauling.
Come on.
We need rid of
this mayonnaise.
And if old Luther
takes a shine to it,
hopefully, Tater will
take us up on this offer.
He needs a damn
double tarp wheelbarrow just
to haul them nuts around in.
What are you
doing there, Luther?
Hell fire, your ears
would make a meal.
By god, he's
a man, ain't he?
Well, here we go.
We're gon' see if he likes it.
Hell, he's going for it
before it gets in the trough.
He'll eat that
mud where it's at.
Yes.
Damn, it's Easter
to him, ain't it?
Well, you know,
I don't know much about
facial expressions on pigs,
but there ain't no doubt
that what's going
through Luther's face
right now is pure joy.
I think he likes it, boys.
I believe he might.
He ain't never had nothing
like that before, has he?
He'll chew his own damn ear
off if he could get to it,
wouldn't he?
- Yeah.
He's eating that, buddy.
Hey, Mark.
Uh-huh.
While that mayonnaise has got
his attention, run back there
and slap him in one
of them big old nuts.
No!
I'll give you $1.
No.
I'll give you $10.
I'll give you $20.
No, I might like it.
I guarantee you he won't.
Ah, he's gentle as a dog.
Hell, he's
getting tired.
You ever got too much
mayonnaise on a sandwich?
No.
I ain't.
How would you like
about 25 times more
than what we got in
that barrel down there?
Hell, I'll feed it to him.
The only hitch
is it's still in jars.
- It is?
- Yep.
We don't wanna see
it go to waste.
I mean, it'll fatten these
hogs up like nobody's business.
Yeah.
But we need 'em cleaned up
so we can reuse them jars.
Hmm.
The second phase of our
plan, that's talking Tater
into cleaning these jars out.
I believe that's gonna
help me and you both out.
All right, then.
Old buddy, we're gonna
be able to hook you up.
He said, thank you, boys.
Your colonary
tract will thank us.
We'll head on out, and we'll
show you where this stuff's at.
And you can get
it as you need it.
We stashed out trailer
in a little old shed
that we've got access to.
We load old Tater up and
show him where they're at.
Well, you can see here,
brother, what we've got.
Good lord.
You ever see so much damn
mayonnaise in all your life?
Not never ever.
And right here's what
you're contending with, Tater.
Right there.
We didn't know
what to do with it.
You know how
mountain people are.
We don't like to waste nothing.
No, you don't waste
nothing, period.
I mean, I ain't
gon' eat it, but--
Now, we're inclined
to pay you a quarter a jar.
How's that?
- All right.
- Sold.
I'm good with that.
That suits me just fine.
I'm really happy
for me and Digger.
I'm happy for Luther.
I hope that don't put old
Luther in hog heaven literally.
No.
Now, them mandarin
oranges, we're
gonna try something with them.
We're gon' hang onto
them for the time being.
If they don't work, you're
welcome to take them.
But if it does what
we're wanting it to do,
we'll take care of it.
By god, I hope this is
ready to rock and roll, baby.
Oh, I feel like it's done.
It's gotta be done.
Look at that
steam coming up.
Me and Mike's
pulling this tarp off.
We noticed that,
you know, you can
almost see the heat signature
come out from under this thing.
The hay's good and warm.
And it's kind of moist,
which is what we want.
Mm-hmm.
Damn!
That's beery, son!
Man, you can get drunk off
them barrels right damn now!
This hay's doing its job.
This stuff is
ready to pump over.
There we go.
Primed and ready
to rock and roll now.
Ready to fire it up?
Hell yeah, let's fire it up.
All right, let's do it.
There we go!
Another run in the hand, baby!
Damn hands!
Jerry, them damn jars are
still awful cool, man.
Me and Mike kind of noticed
the pot's good and warm,
the first couple jars are warm,
but we're losing our heat.
We need to get our damn
heat shield put up.
That'll help direct some
of this heat upward.
Yeah.
That heat will go up
the side of those jars
and start heating everything up.
And the faster it heats
up, the faster it'll run.
Right?
We just got to make
sure the rest of these
jars don't get too cold on
us 'cause they'll condense
too fast.
And when that happens, it'll
just stop everything up.
And we'll have a dang
ticking bomb here.
Jerry.
What?
Come help me grab this.
Well, that's all right.
You can't
handle your one?
I'm not gonna always
be there, Mike.
You gotta learn to work
without me a little bit.
I know you ain't gonna
always be here for me.
There we go.
I think we're good, buddy.
Jerry, them jars are starting
to drip a little bit, buddy.
Good.
Yeah, you can see
it sweating there.
It's starting to move on
up a little bit, ain't it?
- See.
- Yeah, it's hot.
Won't be long, will it, buddy?
About 15 minutes, yeah.
Boy, I'm gonna go ahead
and axe this damn jacket.
I'm getting warm over
here by this pot.
Standing around
this pot, I agree.
Man, this thing's
just working right.
Everything-- all the jars
are starting to percolate.
And we can actually
start to see it as it's
starting to move through.
We can see the first
jar's a little dingy,
and then the second jar
has got a little bit
more clearness to it.
And just as it works up,
we can see the filtration
actually happening.
It's fixing to run.
There it is, Jerry.
Woo!
That's by god ready to go, son!
We need to let a lot of
that run out, though.
Yeah, I think so.
Clean everything out.
Well, we're running now.
And we're gon' to let these
heads and stuff hit the ground.
It's just as clear as it can be.
Go ahead and put this
parrot on here, brother.
We've got good damn
clean vodka right there.
We've got all the hands out.
It's nice and clean.
It's time to drop the hydrometer
in and see what proof we're at.
- Woo!
- Looky there!
Yeah!
190 on the damn dot, baby!
I wanna taste her out.
Damn, boy, that's got a sweet--
a sweet taste to it, don't it?
Pure, clean--
Clean.
It tastes less, but
it's got a sweet note.
And now that we
know what we got going on,
*bleep* will be
no problem to do.
Nope.
We know how to mash it in.
We know how to keep it warm.
I'm gonna back this
heat down just a little bit.
Hey, if it ain't broke,
don't fix it, Jerry!
It is.
If you kill it, it
ain't gon' run at all.
Once that alcohol gets
warm, it don't take much.
You can 'bout hold
a lighter under it.
- I hope so.
- Look.
Let me explain something to you.
You try to run that stuff
too fast, you're gon'
build up too much pressure
in that pot regardless,
whether it's got
alcohol or anything.
We got-- we got 25 points
of pressure points.
I know.
The critical thing
we got about this system
here is when you turn
up the heat too high,
it could blow up
on us at any time.
It's doing a good job, though.
Oh yeah.
Tell you what-- this
Bird Watcher recipe
that Jerry come up with--
- Looky there.
- Man!
Boy!
--it's worked phenomenally.
Woo-hoo!
Boy!
That's good.
That's so pretty.
You know, we're almost at
the end of out third bucket
right now.
So we've got a good 15 gallons
of good, high proof alcohol.
Let's get this up to the truck.
- Yeah buddy.
And get out of here.
We made vodka
that tastes delicious,
and our customers
are gon' love it.
We can give it to 'em
for a cheaper price.
Did you need me to
tote that other bucket?
- Oh no, I got it.
- OK.
I'm just making sure.
I carry you all the time
anyway, so I'm used to it.
I didn't want you to
cry on me or nothing.
Whatever.
Next time,
on "Moonshiners--"
We ain't got nothing
else to pick and harvest.
We'll just go back to
the damn old timers way,
make some damn
birch bark liquor.
Ooh, hoo, hoo!
This
distillation process,
totally different
from what we do.
Applejack is a
form of apple brandy.
But instead of using a
heating distillation process,
we use a freeze
distillation process.
I ain't never thought
I'd be making liquor
with a hammer and a chisel.
We've tried to source
all of our ingredients
as cheap as we could.
If we can turn these
oranges into liquor,
then we're still farther
ahead of the game.
It ain't working much.
Do you think it's stalled?
This is something that's
never posed itself before.
"Moonshiners--"
I hate to drive all over East
Tennessee trying to find jars.
A jar shortage
to a moonshiner is
about as desperate as it gets.
We've committed to it now.
1,500 jars of
expired mayonnaise.
Sure as a whirl.
This is the
messiest *bleep* that I've
ever fooled with in my life.
Whoa!
We've gotta come
up with another plan.
Thinking of something
new, 400 years ago,
this guy Thorpe, he made the
first whiskey in North America.
He's talking
about the first alcohol
that was distilled in America.
I want to recreate what
he did 400 years ago.
This is something special.
It's an expedition
back in history.
Jerry, what the hell
do we need damn tomato
paste and lemon juice for?
I've heard of this recipe
called Bird Watchers.
An old time recipe.
- Look.
Slicing tomaters!
Don't splatter me.
This is how
we make the moonshine!
You don't got any?
Do you have any idea when?
Oh my lord.
OK, then.
All right, I appreciate it.
In Cocke
County, Tennessee--
No luck, puss.
Mark and
Digger are reeling
after a nationwide
run on glass jars
has left them high and dry.
The pandemic has
apparently affected
the jar business as well.
What have you found?
You found some.
Hey!
Yeah, I found
'em. $59 a dozen.
In the name of sense.
There's always, you
know, an overstock of jars,
and that's when you
get your bargains.
That's not the case anymore.
People are buying things up
just to have them, apparently.
This is insane.
12 pack, Ball 32-ounce
wide mouth, lids--
$48.99.
I've already looked
that place all over.
We're just gon'
have to ride around,
see if any of these
little old country stores
anywhere's got any.
I mean, if we could get a
box here, and a box there, I--
We may have drive
over another county.
Let's do it on the move.
That won't hurt as bad as
sitting here worrying about it.
You know, I've been
doing this for probably
a little over 35 years.
I've never seen a jar shortage.
We can't be in the
liquor business
if we don't have something
to put our liquor in.
You ain't got
no jars, have you?
I know.
There's none to be had.
Everybody's manufacturing is
at bottom levels right now.
We're wasting a lot of time
we could be making liquor.
And then we'd just have to
leave it sitting in barrels,
or somebody bring you a
jar and dip you some out.
We've always used
jars in our world.
That's the way we
were brought up.
In our neck of the
woods, if we show up
with a gallon of
milk, jug of water,
they'd run us out
of town on a rail.
You ain't got no
more jars, have you?
Ah.
We gotta find glass jars.
I hate to drive all over East
Tennessee trying to find jars
and just wasting gas.
And we ain't had to buy no jar
in two months because we had--
We had enough.
We've made a lot
of liquor this year.
And what point do you stop
manufacturing if you don't
have no way to distribute?
I mean, if you could predict--
We got old Killer Beaz.
Talk to us, Killer.
Killer Beaz, he's
bootlegging some for us.
He has been on the
hunt for jars as well.
It serves him well
as much as us.
Hot dog!
You know, you
don't want to look
a gift horse in the mouth.
It's free supplies.
Oh, will it now?
Yeah.
I can't imagine yet how much
work it'll be to get 'em clean.
What do you think, puss?
Well, we
ain't got no choice.
It's a better option
than anything we got.
Honestly, we're at
point right now, Killer,
we don't have no choice.
Go ahead and commit us to 'em.
What do you do with
1,500 jars of mayonnaise?
Where do you even
dump it out at?
All right.
Love you more.
Thank you, Beaz.
Well, that was
a stroke of luck.
I'mma telling you.
I don't know.
It might be.
1,500 jars of damn mayonnaise.
That's gonna
be a mess to clean up.
There's a guy doing
a U-turn ahead of me,
driving through the yard.
Crazy.
In Franklin
County, Virginia, Tim
is bringing a jar of his
new single malt shine
to share with Henry and Kenny.
You know, me and
Chuck made this one out of
the scent malted barley here.
I think it's really good.
And I just want to show
it to Henry and Kenny,
let them taste it.
We come up with something new,
we always pass it around first.
Yeah.
- How you doing, Tim?
- Good to see you, man.
- You doing good?
- Yeah.
Y'all relaxing?
What have you got there?
- Isn't that nice and pretty?
- It is pretty.
Malted barley.
I can smell it.
Never did a
malted barley before.
Malted barley?
You kidding?
Malted barley.
Let me see
what you got in it.
Nothing else.
I think you
got something here.
I've never seen
anything like it.
The taste is so different.
It's like opening up a
bag of malted barley.
I'll gave you that jar.
That's one of my first jars.
So when it come out on
the market, you'll say,
well, I got the first jar.
Hell, I gotta think
about what else to do.
When you own a legal business,
you gotta up your game.
You gotta come out
with something new.
You gotta be researching
something, looking ahead.
I just know it's so competitive
out there on the legal side.
Yeah.
You know you gotta
stay ahead of the game.
Somebody's always got
something going on.
You gotta be thinking
of the next step.
Tim, he's always talking
about something different to do,
and he's always wanting
to stay ahead of the game.
And as he's talking,
it sorta reminded me
that I've got something on
my mind, something different.
While you staying ahead of
the game with that, man,
I'll tell you what.
I was thinking about
you the other day.
Like 400 years ago--
Yeah.
1620, the colonists came to--
was, of course,
here in Virginia.
This guy Thorpe--
smart, smart Englishman.
He was a big
distiller in England.
And then when he got here, he
made the first whiskey in North
America right here in Virginia.
How 'bout that?
In 1620.
He wrote a buddy of
his back in England
and told him that he'd
came up with a drink
that he thought was
better than anything
he produced in England.
Wow.
I had no idea who George Thorpe
is, but it's real interesting.
400 years this year, an
individual came from England.
He made the first
American whiskey.
That might be something.
You know, 400 anniversary.
We make a anniversary run.
Yeah.
It's all about timing.
You know, right
now, I think it's
a great idea to jump on it.
I'd love to just be the one
to recreate this recipe.
And if it goes good,
then I think we can
go, like, commercial with it.
It's something different.
And if I can do
something or other
that somebody did 400 years ago,
man, I could put my name on it.
Yeah.
Tim did this 400 years later.
I've heard people
talk about recreating
the George Washington rye.
You know?
And that's, like, 200 years ago.
But when you go 400 years back,
this is something special.
Back 1620, they probably
didn't have the same kind
of still we got now.
Then I gotta research what
kind of mash they made,
what kind of still they had,
and how they had to ran in.
This is a lot to research.
Well, y'all want to
help me put it together,
then, get a batch run?
I don't know, man.
We've been awful busy.
Tickle-- maybe he
could help you.
Tickle, I'm pretty
sure he likes history,
and he would love
to get in on it.
Hey, Tickle.
I'm over here with
Henry and Kenny,
talking to them about a new
little project I got going on.
You know?
And I'mma need a little help.
Henry just told me about it.
It's a great idea.
I'm thinking about making some
moonshine from 400 years back.
Yeah.
You done got in the
doghouse already, ain't ya?
That's what happened.
I think she pretty well
calls the shots anyway.
You know, when
I called Tickle,
he's too busy with the wife.
He's in the doghouse.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know Howard.
A strong
back and a weak mind.
He can help.
I'll call Howard then.
OK.
All right.
I gotta get some research done.
You know, we'll
be on a expedition
trying to recreate the first
corn whiskey made, you know,
in Virginia.
I'm gon' find out who
this Thorpe guy is.
How'd he do it?
I think this is special.
And you know, 400 years,
that's a long time.
- All right.
- All right, Tim.
- See ya, buddy.
- Take it easy, Tim.
Well, you late
again, as damn usual.
What in the Sam hell
you got going on here?
In between runs, when
I'm not making alcohol,
I might as well clean
up, rearrange some stuff,
and be able to start back over.
Quit stick fingering
all my stuff, now.
Oh, you found all
kinds of damn goodies.
Don't start
damn digging, man.
You come up with a
whole damn roll of copper?
I did.
I didn't even know
I had it in there.
I could use some of that.
No.
Can I have this?
No, you can't
have that, Jerry!
Damn.
Put that stuff down.
We got damn work to do, Jerry.
Oh by the way, man,
ol' Tim give me a call.
Tim who?
Tim, the one that owns the
damn diner down there in town.
His diner's going out of
business, his little restaurant
over there.
Man, that sucks.
Yeah, it's just all
this damn pandemic
and everything going around.
But anyway, he's got 400
pounds of sugar over there
he's willing to get
rid of for cheap.
Yeah, he's just trying to
get cleaned out, you know,
before he has to shut
the doors for good.
And maybe we can
help him in return.
Sure you won't let
me have this roll of copper?
Hell no!
You ain't taking my copper now.
Let's go get some
sugar, brother.
Tim's got sugar here, man.
And we desperately need it.
I'm sorry that he's
going through what he's
going through, but there's
no need in watching
it go to the dumpster.
Anything that me and Jerry
can do to help him out.
Whoa.
Hey, guys!
How's it going?
What's going on, Tim?
All right, buddy.
You coming after
a little sugar.
I'm coming across
some sugar, brother.
We appreciate you helping
us out like this, man.
Well, I appreciate you
getting it off my hands.
I hate to hear you going
out of business like you are.
Everybody's suffering.
Man, you got that right.
But on the other hand,
you know, I gotta say,
I'm glad you're able
to help us out too.
It ain't doing no good there,
so somebody can use it.
What do you think on--
on price?
Eh, what is there?
I think there's about
400 pounds there.
I mean, 6, 7 bucks
a bag oughta do it.
Well, there's you
some money right there.
That will take care
of it, for sure.
I appreciate it, man.
Yes, sir.
We appreciate you.
While we're here--
that tomato paste any good?
It's still good, yeah.
What would be the chances
you have some lemon juice?
What the hell?
Lemon?
Yeah, I got some lemon juice.
Jerry, what the hell
do we need damn tomato
paste and lemon juice for?
There's and old
recipe that you
can use tomato paste and
lemon juice with the yeast.
And it's kind of a-- kind
of a nutrient for it.
It helps it work off
better and faster
and makes the alcohol
even smoother.
He's gotta get rid of it.
We might as well take
it off his hands.
You know, I've been doing
a little bit of research
with this recipe
called Bird Watchers.
Pretty simple, man--
sugar, tomato paste,
lemon juice, and Epsom salts.
And then, of course, you just
put your natural regular bread
yeast into it.
And it's gonna come out vodka.
I ain't never heard of
making no damn mater liquor.
What's going on with this?
Well, what this
is gonna do is this
is actually gonna feed the
yeast and help keep 'em working.
And the lemon
juice just gives it
an acidic base to work out of.
But instead of buying
these real fancy yeasts,
you know, they just use
regular old bread yeast.
And it works off good.
That saves on
ingredients and stuff,
and yeast, and what have you.
We'll try it and
see what it does.
Hell, I don't mind
trying everything once.
Yeah.
There's just some
stuff, you know,
that I've tried I won't admit.
But I'll try it once.
You know what I mean?
Having a good strong yeast, I
mean, that's-- that's the whole
name of the game.
The cold weather is coming,
and hopefully turn us out
some good liquor a lot quicker.
And we can do it cheaper and
resource things more naturally.
Boy, I tell you what, Tim,
this right here is gon' help me
and Jerry out
something tremendous.
Well, that little bit you gave
me is gonna help me out too.
Yeah, buddy.
Coming out here
to Tim's tonight
was a plus for both of us.
It's helped me and Mike out
to accomplish our season goal.
And we was able to help
him out a little bit.
We give him a little bit of
cash for some of the stuff
that he had for us.
And we're good to go.
Well, the only
thing we can do now
is we got it loaded
in the truck.
We gonna get this
stuff mashed in,
see how this Bird
Watchers vodka turn out.
Well, dude, I think
that was pretty successful.
What do you think?
Oh, abso-damn-lutely, man.
No kidding.
I really, really want
to learn how to make this shine.
This guy George Thorpe
was actually a priest.
He was a moonshining preacher?
He was a moonshining preacher.
Who would have
ever have thought
you gotta go to Chattanooga
to get a glass jar?
Well, if we don't
find anyplace else,
we're gon' be going to
Arkansas or Iowa before long.
Beaz didn't go into
a lot of detail, did he?
No, because he probably
don't know a lot of detail.
Killer Beaz, he's found
us 2,500 quart size jars.
Bad news is they're full
of expired mayonnaise
and mandarin oranges.
How nasty is that?
I mean, I worried
about the oranges.
They'll dump right out.
Yeah.
Mayonnaise, it's just
gon' sit there and be--
Nasty.
Yeah, gooey.
You know, the upside
is these jars are free.
We're living proof
that the good Lord looks
after some idiots, ain't we?
Right?
Well, there see blows.
We get to the warehouse,
and yep, there it is.
Extra lots of
mandarin oranges.
1,008 jars.
I know it's a win situation
for the warehouse guy
because he would have to pay
money to dump this stuff out.
Yeah, you're good.
And we're hoping it's
a win for us as well.
We've done started thinking the
Mandarin oranges might ferment.
Yeah.
That's a damn sight
of mash right there.
Thank you, man.
You're welcome.
We've committed to it now.
Mayonnaise, sure as a whirl.
It's plastic.
Oh no!
Frigging plastic jars!
Are you *bleep* me?
We don't like plastic.
You can clean glass really easy.
But I don't know
about this plastic.
Whoa!
Damn!
I wouldn't want to eat it.
Well, let's see what
these other ones are.
The mandarin
oranges, they're glass,
but they're 20-ounce glass jars.
You know, we always
use Mason jars,
but that's not the
case this time.
Can't have a 32, you might
as well get you a 20.
And it's free.
The juice is good.
They don't-- they're OK.
Ain't a lot of sugar
in it, but there's sugar.
Yeah.
I believe we
can get that to ferment.
These jars present
way more questions
than they do solutions.
Yeah, we can wash the
jars, but what are we
gonna do with the mayonnaise?
Feel like I'm hauling
my ex-girlfriend around.
Well, if we can get out of
Chattanooga, get on the river
there, we can work on
these if we want to.
The damn mayonnaise is our
ultimate problem right now.
We can't just throw
it out on the ground.
I don't really know
where to start with this.
The only thing
we can do is just
start dumping mayonnaise out.
We just gotta get
started, ain't it?
Yep.
Well, we're gon'
go to our little
place just up on the river, just
'cause it's easy in and out.
We're gonna start dumping
this mayonnaise in a barrel.
This is the
messiest *bleep*
I've ever food with in my life.
You know?
This damn pandemic's
got me doing *bleep*
that I never thought
I'd be doing.
This ain't time efficient
or cost efficient.
It ain't no good at all.
It's gon' to take more time
to deal with these jars
than it takes to
make the liquor.
We've gotta come up
with another plan.
Probably the only thing that
would want it would be a hog.
Tater's got that
big ol' hog Luther.
He might want it.
We can offer Tater this
mayonnaise for his hogs
if he'll want to
clean the jars up.
I'm all for it 'cause I'm
tired of doing this *bleep*..
We've got these jars free.
So why can't we just source
it out to somebody else
to clean these jars up?
We'll still have
a bargain in jars,
but we didn't have to
fool with the mess.
That hog would eat that
like it wasn't no tomorrow.
Goal to a hog is
to fatten it up,
and mayonnaise certainly has
plenty of calories in it,
I'm sure.
Let's go get us a
damn club sandwich
with triple mayonnaise.
Extra mayonnaise.
Yeah, I want one with all
the damn mayonnaise I can get.
Yeah, I want it-- hell, all we
could do is rub it on our arms.
There's plenty of mayonnaise.
Oh, I see Howard coming in.
I see a truck coming.
I want to recreate
the ways that they
made alcohol 400 years ago.
I'm gon' need a
little bit of help.
So I called Howard to help
me out on this project.
Tim, what's up, old buddy?
I see this thing, man.
Thing all jacked up, ain't it?
I gotta get it out
the woods, don't I?
That's right.
How's it been
doing, old buddy?
Oh, busy, man.
Busy.
Let me show you
the still in here.
Yeah.
You know, me and
Howard go way back, working
at the mattress company there.
And Howard's a great guy.
It looks like he's been working
with Tickle a little bit,
got a little bit of experience.
My god, Tim, this is
one hell of an operation
here, old buddy!
Little bit bigger
than the woods, I guess.
You could drown
in the condenser.
Yeah.
I mean, it's 8 foot deep.
You know, me and
Tim go back 10,
12 years where we used to work
together at Mattress Factory.
When I walked in the
distillery with him,
it was like heaven's
gate opening up.
I mean, ahh!
I've never seen anything
like this before.
I mean, what I'm working with
is micro-stills compared to him.
2,500 gallons.
Of mash at one time?
Holy smokes, man!
Well, that's a 4,000
gallon still over there.
Golly!
Well, look, Howard.
400 years ago this year, this
guy named George Thorpe--
he's the first guy to
make whiskey in America.
I want to recreate what
he did 400 years ago.
But we need to go
talk to somebody.
We need to go back to where--
you know, where
all this happened.
And we gotta research,
you know, like, the still,
the ingredients, the process.
You know, we gotta figure
all of this stuff out.
You know, Tim's talking
about making some 400-year-old
liquor that was ran 1620.
There's an opportunity
for success here.
I hope you brought
your lunch, right?
I ate before
I got here, old buddy.
I know how it is I
when I get with you.
OK.
We'll make then.
We're going down
to Charles City.
But we're going to this
Berkeley Plantation first.
And we're trying to find
out some information
about George Thorpe.
And actually, where he made
the first run of alcohol,
right on his plantation.
I'm glad you came.
I'm just
glad to see you, man.
I ain't seen you forever.
It's been a long time.
So far, I've researched
that this guy
was sent from England, London,
over here today to Virginia.
And this guy George Thorpe
was actually a priest.
So he was trying
to convert everyone
over to being a Christian.
Hold on.
He was a moonshining preacher?
He was a moonshining preacher.
Reverend
George Thorpe was
an English colonist
an evangelist
who came to America in 1620.
His primary mission was to
convert the Native Americans
to Christianity.
But as an experienced
distiller, his next goal
was experimenting with new
world grains to make alcohol.
This didn't conflict
with his principles,
as alcohol was seen as
a gift from the creator
and was used in many
religious ceremonies.
In fact, during this period,
consumption of alcohol
was so common and the
belief in its benefits
so widely held that
one life insurance
company even imposed a
premium on policyholders
that abstained.
While George Thorpe's work
as a missionary faltered,
he had great success
making alcohol
and is credited as being the
first person to distill whiskey
in America.
I really, really want
to learn how to make this shine.
Well, that's
where we going.
We're gon' see if we
can meet somebody,
find some documentation.
You know, to get this
recipe to go back to 1620,
you know, I do have my doubts.
You know, how much
information do they have
at the Berkeley Plantation?
We may have to go look at
a rock and see some kind
of etching of what was what.
So we're playing a little bit
of Magnum PI on the way here.
Well, we're
investigating a little bit,
but it's more like
an expedition, kinda
like Indiana Jones did.
God, it's
pretty down here.
So which way we go from here?
I don't know.
- Oh yeah, Berkeley right.
- Yep.
- I ain't lost nothing--
- Oh, watch out for that pole.
- All right.
- And these brick walls.
And the sun was in my face.
I couldn't even see
that thing, man.
Designed in 1725.
I guess this was the
first colonial turnpike.
Colonial turnpike!
Yeah.
But look at this place, Howard.
What a spread, boy.
I think this
must be the place.
Let's go see what's
happening here.
I'm gon' follow your lead.
This place is amazing.
We'll go knock on the door.
All right.
Look how big this door is.
I mean, look.
That's a 4 foot door.
George Thorpe
might have been a big man.
All right, here we go.
- Hello.
- Hello.
- How are y'all doing?
- Good.
How are you?
In Southeast
Virginia, Tim and Howard
are on a quest to
uncover the secrets
behind the first whiskey
ever made in America.
George Thorpe
is credited with inventing what
we now call American whiskey.
I want to replicate
what he did 400 years ago.
This Berkeley Plantation,
this is actually
where George Thorpe landed.
This is where he hung out.
This was like his headquarters.
This is a letter
from George Thorpe.
"We have found a way to make
so good drink of Indian corn,
as I attest I have
diverse times refused
to drink good, strong English
beer and chosen to drink that."
It was Indian corn.
Indian corn is not
something you eat every day.
So you know, we're
on to something here.
We're at the spot
where, 400 years ago,
the first alcohol that
was distilled in America
is right here.
So I'm excited about this.
This is where
all the alcohol is stored.
Something close to our roots.
And here we have the
painting that depicts
the original distillation.
That's a still?
That is a still.
A cast iron pot?
But you know, that
looks like a piece of wood
on top of it.
Maybe they had a little
hole drilled in it,
and the steam come out
and went down there.
And that's like the condenser.
And it looks like a black
pot, so we definitely
know it's not a copper pot.
It doesn't have a doubler.
We know that.
I mean, this is a period
of time of 400 years ago.
They hadn't got
to that point yet.
What's this right here?
That's probably
how they cooled it down.
He's doing some wood on it.
This right here--
maybe he's got a dipper
to dip the water on it.
So you think they'd ladle
water onto it to cool it down?
Well, they ain't
had no water pump.
Now, the condenser is not
the regular, you know,
copper coil worm.
It's just a straight pipe
laying in, like, a trough,
like a watering trough,
where they had put water
in it to actually cool it.
I think this George Thorpe--
this is my interpretation.
He knew how to distill
alcohol over in England,
and he had been doing
it with something else.
Yeah, so he didn't have the
same ingredients over there--
He didn't have the
same ingredients.
Over here that
he had over there.
And then when he came over
here, he had-- hey, I have
some different ingredients.
Let me try this.
And it came out better than it
was over there, 'cause that's
what it said in that book.
It was better
than-- than the ale.
So the different mash
is where it started.
Mm-hmm.
I'm getting a whole lot out
of this picture right here.
And I'm thinking, if I can
just get down to the recipe.
This is what I need to know.
Hey, y'all.
This is Jamie.
Hello, gentlemen.
His family's owned
the property since 1907.
What can I help you with?
We've been learning a whole
lot about George Thorpe here.
Yep.
This is really someone's
interpretation, I guess,
of what the still looked like.
What about this black pot here?
I mean, it looks
like to me like it's
cast iron or something.
It could very well be ceramic
because the Indians had--
knew how to make the
pottery. 'Cause that's what
they more than likely had
rather than cast iron.
Now, Jamie's talking
maybe George Thorpe
had a lot of interaction
with the Indians.
They possibly used a
pottery, ceramic type still.
So you know, another
key point here.
So you think this is George
Thorpe, this guy standing here?
Oh yeah, that's
a picture of him.
He's the master
distiller here.
That other fella--
this fella over here is the--
the one who tries it out.
When he falls--
Falls down, we
know it's right.
- There you go.
- That's Tickle over there.
That's definitely Tickle.
I'm thinking we need
to find Indian corn.
Is Indian corn on
the plantation?
We had some we grew.
I've got several boxes
of it we held back.
From 1620?
Well, they weren't that old,
but it's in the direct lineage.
Oh, this
gets us even closer.
We got a direct lineage
to the exact type of corn
- from back then.
- Right.
He's got corn.
He's got the clues.
He's got all the
information we need.
But he's about to
take this over here
and see what this
corn is all about.
This is a one-stop shop.
- Yeah.
Here we go.
Boy, Jerry, I
tell your ass what.
This damn snow come a little
bit unexpected, didn't he?
Damn wintertime has hit us
wide open all of a sudden.
He-he!
We're on that threshold,
crossing the line, so to speak.
We've got a few good weeks we
can do some winterizing, man,
and potentially have a few
more good runs for this season.
Good thing I seen you out
of the corner of my eye.
You know, one thing
that we got to do
is we got to get our
fermentation barrels insulated.
Good cheap way of doing
that would be to use straw.
After we get 'em all
stacked with hay and stuff--
Well, it'll kind of just start
decomposing a little bit too.
Decomposing, goes
through its heat.
It'll keep them damn
barrels warm, son.
Oh, absolutely.
When it gets really cold and
the temperatures start to drop,
that's when yeast goes dormant.
But there's ways around that.
Keep that mash warm so
that yeast can work,
and you can just keep
right on running.
I believe we got a
damn hay cabin here, son.
If we can get mashed in and
run every four or five days,
that's two runs
sitting right there
for this old bad baby pot.
We got a good
barrier around them.
But if we don't get that
stuff stuffed in there
and get rid of all that
air space in there--
Cold air will
get to it, won't it?
Yeah.
We gotta get all them
air spaces closed up.
Yep.
You know, it's time for me
and Jerry to mash in now.
Get this damn sugar down there.
Jerry's actually been doing
all the research on this Bird
Watchers vodka recipe.
It's an inexpensive
way to making a
good, clean, clear, pure vodka.
Coming that way.
Yeah, we got it.
You know, this Bird
Watcher recipe--
Ready?
--what it's designed to do
is we provide the nutrients
and keep our yeast active
and keep it really working.
And that's what we need
moving into this cold weather.
So I'll check the pH
of our water first.
No, we can't ask for
nothing better than that.
7.0.
It's not acidic, and
it's not alkaline.
It's kind of the neutral of
what we want our intake to be.
Jerry-- he's the one that's
been doing the homework on it.
I'm here to learn this.
- So on a 50-gallon wash--
- Mm-hmm.
We're gonna need
100 pounds of sugar,
which you already got in there.
- It's in there.
So the Pace, we're
gonna need 56.9 ounces.
What are these cans?
I think they're,
like, 111 ounces.
- So basically--
- 111 ounces?
Almost a half a can.
About a half a can.
All right, here we go.
Don't splatter me.
Or us.
Nah, you can
put a little more.
- A little more?
- Yeah.
So this is putting
the nutrients, right?
Yeah, this is gon'
be-- this is what we're
gonna use for the nutrients.
10-4.
So that's good.
I'm gon' stir this in
'cause that's thick.
I mean, I understand what you're
doing with the tomato paste.
But I mean, the lemon
juice-- what's that?
That's 100% damn acid.
I know that.
Lemon juice, you know, it
creates an acidic environment
for that yeast to thrive in.
You got your citric acid in it.
And what that does is it
actually excites that yeast
and gets it really working.
That looks like
a damn Bloody Mary.
Yes, sir.
Hell, I'm sitting here
thinking, all I need
is a stalk the celery
right now, and I'll
have me a good stiff drink.
Well, with that
being stirred up good,
all we gotta do is add a
little Epsom salt here to it.
So all we need here
is about a teaspoon.
And then the Epsom salt's
got the magnesium phosphate
in it, which keeps the
yeast excited and working
and keeps 'em moving.
So 1 cup of yeast.
That's there.
It's looking
thereabouts, ain't it?
That's what we need.
Stir it in.
See if she'll go to work,
and we'll start another one.
Now that we got
all this figured out,
we can move on with
the next five barrels,
get this mash in done.
Slicing tomaters!
This mash here
that we're making
is totally different than what
we're normally used to seeing.
It's not a red tint
with clumps all in it.
But it's a natural product--
the tomato paste is.
So it'll break down.
It'll give something
for the yeast to eat.
Gon' stack 'em up.
And once we run it, we've
got so many filtration systems
in this column still
that it's gonna come out
a good, clean, pure alcohol.
Now looky here!
That's good.
All right, Jerry.
By golly, that oughta
keep her good and dry now.
It will.
We'll come back and
check her in a few days
and see how it looks.
Boy, this is back
up in here, Howard.
Yeah, we in the cut.
It feels like we been on
this road for a while.
Along the James
River in eastern Virginia,
Tim and Howard are one
step closer to recreating
America's first spirit.
Jamie Jamieson, he is the
owner of Berkeley Plantation.
I'm looking for Indian corn.
Jamie says, you know, follow me.
I'm gonna take you to
where I have it stored.
I'm glad that we
didn't walk over here.
We'd have never made it.
We'd have had to,
like, pack our bags.
I see a roof.
This is the log
cabin before they
built the big house.
Hey, Tim, I think
I might have some stored
up in the top of this place.
This corn is
hopefully the same corn
that's been planted
over and over,
even probably from the 1600s.
Might be enough for you.
That's what we're
looking for, huh?
This is it.
This is the
original stuff here.
Look at that.
How you got so many
different kinds?
It just
comes up like that.
It's not hybrid corn.
It's just the
regular Indian corn.
I ain't never
seen no corn look
like that before in my life.
It's almost
like it's been dyed.
Jamie, I think you done hit
it on the head right here.
Well, I hope
that'll be some use to you.
It's like every
color you can think
about, from yellows, greens,
reds, purples, even black.
Every cob is totally different.
I couldn't find one
that was identical.
It's not a hybrid.
It's a straight Indian
corn, the same ones
they used back in 1600s.
But then George
Thorpe had another idea.
He'd take it-- the same corn
meal-- and make alcohol.
Well, I think what probably
happened-- you know, these
things happen by accident.
I think somebody had
some they'd left.
Next thing you know, it was
sprouting and fermenting,
and made a strong beer.
So you think some of it
could have been malted cord,
and then somebody just
made of beer of that?
It just rotted in the water?
It just rotted in the water.
And they could smell it--
- that sour.
- Yeah.
They knew they had something.
They knew today had
some strong alcohol there.
I'm gonna make some
strong stuff out of it.
Well, that should
have a unique flavor.
I guarantee they won't
be none other like it.
No, not in 400 years.
Not in 400 years.
It'd be the first anybody's
done it, probably.
Well, let's get it
in the truck, Howard.
I think I got something
in the truck for you, too.
Well, the next step
here is a test batch.
I need to get the right taste
profile and making sure,
can we do this larger scale?
All right.
This trip has actually
come out really good.
You know, I'm just glad that we
found the Berkeley Plantation.
We've learned a lot
of information here.
All right, look here.
I got something over here.
So now we've got some Indian
corn that we can make a mash.
I got three bottles.
That's my Climax moonshine.
Now, when you run this batch,
you gon' let me have a taste--
a little taste of that?
Sure, I will.
'Cause it's gon' be
different from anything else.
I bet it is
gonna be different.
The biggest question is,
how do we make a still?
How do we get a still?
And what is our
interpretation of what
that still is gonna be like?
Thank you.
- Thank you, sir.
Good to meet you.
You have a good
evening, old buddy.
All right.
Man, I got this.
But can I recreate it?
You ever seen old Luther?
He's a damn monster.
He's got a set of nuts
like two footballs in a sack.
I'mma telling you.
Our buddy, Tater, he's got
an old big hog named Luther.
Yeah, that's his barn
right there, ain't it?
I believe it is.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed
that Luther will eat the hell
out of this mayonnaise,
'cause if he will,
we might have solved
our problem with what
to do with this mayonnaise.
Yonder he sits.
What's up, Tater?
Well, hey.
What in the world
y'all doing up in here?
We got lost.
Did you?
We thought old
Luther might be hungry.
How are you, Mark?
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
We got about that
much of something
in the bottom of that barrel.
Oh, yes, sir.
And we need rid of
it-- a ton of mayonnaise.
Mayonnaise?
Yep.
Yeah.
Out of date,
expired mayonnaise.
It's all right, though.
Mark ate a spoonful of
it, and all it did is
give him the crippling *bleep*.
No, Mark didn't
eat none of it.
Well now, that might
be good for you in a way
like that every once in a
while, if a man was bound up.
Tater, he's a country boy.
He's been around
hogs his whole life.
He said he's raised
'em a long time.
Well, I guess they kind
of raised each other.
But you know, that's
another story.
We started out, there was
about 1,500 jars of it.
That'll be enough there to see
if he's gonna want it or not.
I mean, if he don't want
it, there ain't no need
of going no further with it.
- No.
Uh-uh.
I hope he loves it.
How old is old Luther?
I don't know.
I guess nigh on 10 years.
No *bleep*?
Yeah.
Need to feed
them little of it.
It'll bring them along.
You kinda watch.
He's feisty.
Hell, that's all right.
Hell, that's what dogs
is supposed to be.
The dog likes
the mayonnaise.
Wish I felt as good
as that damn dog does.
Gon' end up tripping me,
and I'll have mayonnaise all
over me-- mayonnaise and mud.
He'd lick the hell
out of you, Digger.
Well, you
ain't a *bleep*..
If Luther likes it, we
might be able to talk
Tater into cleaning the
rest of these jars out.
But if he doesn't
choose to go forward with it,
I don't know what the answer is.
We gotta have jars
immediately, is our only cure.
Come here, little feller.
Sooey.
Oh.
Look at this cat right here.
Might get a little intel here.
I don't know.
I bet he knows
everything around here.
He is a big, black cat.
What up, pretty Tom?
Are you a friendly cat?
Yeah?
Next thing you know, he's
gonna, like,..
Look at them paws.
He's black.
He's a fat little
joker too, ain't he?
Uh-oh.
Look, he hears something.
He sees something.
He's looking at something.
He's on the prowl.
Look at them
eyes getting tight.
Man, you got some eyes.
Look at them eyes.
They're flexing in and out.
Look at the way they--
Yeah.
--split down the middle.
And he's an American cat?
Are you an American cat?
I don't think he's from
round these parts, Tim.
Let's see if I can
get a picture of his eyes.
Hey, manny.
Sooey!
Come here, little feller.
Where's my little pig at?
Oh, he's lazy this morning.
Well, he ain't lazy.
Hell, look what he's hauling.
Come on.
We need rid of
this mayonnaise.
And if old Luther
takes a shine to it,
hopefully, Tater will
take us up on this offer.
He needs a damn
double tarp wheelbarrow just
to haul them nuts around in.
What are you
doing there, Luther?
Hell fire, your ears
would make a meal.
By god, he's
a man, ain't he?
Well, here we go.
We're gon' see if he likes it.
Hell, he's going for it
before it gets in the trough.
He'll eat that
mud where it's at.
Yes.
Damn, it's Easter
to him, ain't it?
Well, you know,
I don't know much about
facial expressions on pigs,
but there ain't no doubt
that what's going
through Luther's face
right now is pure joy.
I think he likes it, boys.
I believe he might.
He ain't never had nothing
like that before, has he?
He'll chew his own damn ear
off if he could get to it,
wouldn't he?
- Yeah.
He's eating that, buddy.
Hey, Mark.
Uh-huh.
While that mayonnaise has got
his attention, run back there
and slap him in one
of them big old nuts.
No!
I'll give you $1.
No.
I'll give you $10.
I'll give you $20.
No, I might like it.
I guarantee you he won't.
Ah, he's gentle as a dog.
Hell, he's
getting tired.
You ever got too much
mayonnaise on a sandwich?
No.
I ain't.
How would you like
about 25 times more
than what we got in
that barrel down there?
Hell, I'll feed it to him.
The only hitch
is it's still in jars.
- It is?
- Yep.
We don't wanna see
it go to waste.
I mean, it'll fatten these
hogs up like nobody's business.
Yeah.
But we need 'em cleaned up
so we can reuse them jars.
Hmm.
The second phase of our
plan, that's talking Tater
into cleaning these jars out.
I believe that's gonna
help me and you both out.
All right, then.
Old buddy, we're gonna
be able to hook you up.
He said, thank you, boys.
Your colonary
tract will thank us.
We'll head on out, and we'll
show you where this stuff's at.
And you can get
it as you need it.
We stashed out trailer
in a little old shed
that we've got access to.
We load old Tater up and
show him where they're at.
Well, you can see here,
brother, what we've got.
Good lord.
You ever see so much damn
mayonnaise in all your life?
Not never ever.
And right here's what
you're contending with, Tater.
Right there.
We didn't know
what to do with it.
You know how
mountain people are.
We don't like to waste nothing.
No, you don't waste
nothing, period.
I mean, I ain't
gon' eat it, but--
Now, we're inclined
to pay you a quarter a jar.
How's that?
- All right.
- Sold.
I'm good with that.
That suits me just fine.
I'm really happy
for me and Digger.
I'm happy for Luther.
I hope that don't put old
Luther in hog heaven literally.
No.
Now, them mandarin
oranges, we're
gonna try something with them.
We're gon' hang onto
them for the time being.
If they don't work, you're
welcome to take them.
But if it does what
we're wanting it to do,
we'll take care of it.
By god, I hope this is
ready to rock and roll, baby.
Oh, I feel like it's done.
It's gotta be done.
Look at that
steam coming up.
Me and Mike's
pulling this tarp off.
We noticed that,
you know, you can
almost see the heat signature
come out from under this thing.
The hay's good and warm.
And it's kind of moist,
which is what we want.
Mm-hmm.
Damn!
That's beery, son!
Man, you can get drunk off
them barrels right damn now!
This hay's doing its job.
This stuff is
ready to pump over.
There we go.
Primed and ready
to rock and roll now.
Ready to fire it up?
Hell yeah, let's fire it up.
All right, let's do it.
There we go!
Another run in the hand, baby!
Damn hands!
Jerry, them damn jars are
still awful cool, man.
Me and Mike kind of noticed
the pot's good and warm,
the first couple jars are warm,
but we're losing our heat.
We need to get our damn
heat shield put up.
That'll help direct some
of this heat upward.
Yeah.
That heat will go up
the side of those jars
and start heating everything up.
And the faster it heats
up, the faster it'll run.
Right?
We just got to make
sure the rest of these
jars don't get too cold on
us 'cause they'll condense
too fast.
And when that happens, it'll
just stop everything up.
And we'll have a dang
ticking bomb here.
Jerry.
What?
Come help me grab this.
Well, that's all right.
You can't
handle your one?
I'm not gonna always
be there, Mike.
You gotta learn to work
without me a little bit.
I know you ain't gonna
always be here for me.
There we go.
I think we're good, buddy.
Jerry, them jars are starting
to drip a little bit, buddy.
Good.
Yeah, you can see
it sweating there.
It's starting to move on
up a little bit, ain't it?
- See.
- Yeah, it's hot.
Won't be long, will it, buddy?
About 15 minutes, yeah.
Boy, I'm gonna go ahead
and axe this damn jacket.
I'm getting warm over
here by this pot.
Standing around
this pot, I agree.
Man, this thing's
just working right.
Everything-- all the jars
are starting to percolate.
And we can actually
start to see it as it's
starting to move through.
We can see the first
jar's a little dingy,
and then the second jar
has got a little bit
more clearness to it.
And just as it works up,
we can see the filtration
actually happening.
It's fixing to run.
There it is, Jerry.
Woo!
That's by god ready to go, son!
We need to let a lot of
that run out, though.
Yeah, I think so.
Clean everything out.
Well, we're running now.
And we're gon' to let these
heads and stuff hit the ground.
It's just as clear as it can be.
Go ahead and put this
parrot on here, brother.
We've got good damn
clean vodka right there.
We've got all the hands out.
It's nice and clean.
It's time to drop the hydrometer
in and see what proof we're at.
- Woo!
- Looky there!
Yeah!
190 on the damn dot, baby!
I wanna taste her out.
Damn, boy, that's got a sweet--
a sweet taste to it, don't it?
Pure, clean--
Clean.
It tastes less, but
it's got a sweet note.
And now that we
know what we got going on,
*bleep* will be
no problem to do.
Nope.
We know how to mash it in.
We know how to keep it warm.
I'm gonna back this
heat down just a little bit.
Hey, if it ain't broke,
don't fix it, Jerry!
It is.
If you kill it, it
ain't gon' run at all.
Once that alcohol gets
warm, it don't take much.
You can 'bout hold
a lighter under it.
- I hope so.
- Look.
Let me explain something to you.
You try to run that stuff
too fast, you're gon'
build up too much pressure
in that pot regardless,
whether it's got
alcohol or anything.
We got-- we got 25 points
of pressure points.
I know.
The critical thing
we got about this system
here is when you turn
up the heat too high,
it could blow up
on us at any time.
It's doing a good job, though.
Oh yeah.
Tell you what-- this
Bird Watcher recipe
that Jerry come up with--
- Looky there.
- Man!
Boy!
--it's worked phenomenally.
Woo-hoo!
Boy!
That's good.
That's so pretty.
You know, we're almost at
the end of out third bucket
right now.
So we've got a good 15 gallons
of good, high proof alcohol.
Let's get this up to the truck.
- Yeah buddy.
And get out of here.
We made vodka
that tastes delicious,
and our customers
are gon' love it.
We can give it to 'em
for a cheaper price.
Did you need me to
tote that other bucket?
- Oh no, I got it.
- OK.
I'm just making sure.
I carry you all the time
anyway, so I'm used to it.
I didn't want you to
cry on me or nothing.
Whatever.
Next time,
on "Moonshiners--"
We ain't got nothing
else to pick and harvest.
We'll just go back to
the damn old timers way,
make some damn
birch bark liquor.
Ooh, hoo, hoo!
This
distillation process,
totally different
from what we do.
Applejack is a
form of apple brandy.
But instead of using a
heating distillation process,
we use a freeze
distillation process.
I ain't never thought
I'd be making liquor
with a hammer and a chisel.
We've tried to source
all of our ingredients
as cheap as we could.
If we can turn these
oranges into liquor,
then we're still farther
ahead of the game.
It ain't working much.
Do you think it's stalled?
This is something that's
never posed itself before.