Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 11, Episode 13 - Under Pressure - full transcript
this time on moonshiners...
All the agave
that we have here
is blue agave.
-Okay.
- it's the right agave
to make tequila.
I came to mexico
to learn as much as I can
about the history of tequila
and also how it's made.
this is young agave.
We have to wait,
almost seven, eight years.
that's a long time.
all right,
take that brush that's yonder.
And brush them bees off.
oh no. They're pissed,
they're pissed.
Hot damn, they're pissed!
whoo!
Ow, ow, ow!
oh hell, I don't know
if we can read this.
This temperature has got to be
between 150 and 160 degrees.
We can't get enough
liquid out of it
at this stage.
this is how we make
the moonshine.
all right,
well here's the bees
over here, josh.
I've been saving the honey up,
they really been producing.
in pittsylvania county,
virginia,
tickle and josh
prepare to harvest
a key ingredient.
In an ambitious
new liquor recipe
they're cooking up with
henry and kenny law.
We're going to be making
a corn and wheat based liquor
and we're going to use
honey in there as well.
It just so happens,
I've got a lot of honey bees.
So how come you get a bee suit
and I don't?
I mean, I'd give you this one
but you're quite a bit taller
than I am,
uh, you won't even,
actually fit in the suit.
-That's what duct tape's
good for.
-Is it, is that right?
-You want me to smoke them?
-Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
we're going to be
using a smoker to allow us
to be able to get into
these hives.
Smoke makes bees think
that there's a fire.
And then they go into the mode
to leave their hive.
just, kind of,
lift the lid up.
- you sure
about this now?
-Yes!
therefore,
they're not worried
about the honey
and I can get right in there
and take the honey.
They don't even know
I'm there.
All right.
Okay.
Mmm-hmm.
That is a nice comb of honey,
right there.
I'm thinking,
"well hell I've robbed
some honey bees
with no suit on before,
I think I can go handle it.
Just remain calm,
no matter what."
I'm like, "I got this."
I ain't afraid of these bees,
I'm only afraid of
getting stung.
all right,
I'm going to need
your help here.
All right.
Do you want to hold the comb
or do you want to
brush the bees off it?
god damn,
right on the face. *bleep*
man! *bleep*
- they get you?
-They're pissed.
You lucky, dog,
you got a bee suit.
- well...
- well, nothing.
well, it's because
I've got bees.
All right, take that brush
that's yonder.
And brush them bees off.
Oh no. They're pissed,
they're pissed.
Whoo, they're pissed.
-Whoo! Ow!
- okay.
*bleep*
ow! *bleep*
for one thing,
josh has on a black shirt.
Now, bees instinctively think
this is a bear.
hot damn,
they're pissed. Whoo!
Man!
Bears are notorious
for robbing honey hives.
Ow! Ow. Ow!
So, they instantly
go into action there.
*bleep* bees, they're meanies.
*bleep*
bees really do
all the work, we just come in
and rob them.
this is
some good stuff right here.
These sunnavabitchs
are madder than wet hens.
-If you calm down--
-well, I was calm,
but I ain't calm now.
-They've been lighting
my ass up.
-Yeah, I know it.
Yet, right now,
you being uncalm
is making the bees uncalm.
They're like babies,
however you react,
that's how they're
going to react.
Oh yeah, there we go.
You know, most people have
an extractor.
But I do not have one.
talking about
one of those things
you spin it in?
Yeah, just does it by
centrifugal force.
Spin it for five minutes
and all your honey's out.
ow! *bleep*
whoo!
-Ow!
- he's just taken off
with every tool I need.
God damn!
All right, well,
I'll tell you what,
that right there
ought to give me enough honey
to finish up what we need.
Whoo! Ow!
you're going to have to
pull the stinger out.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
- what you doing?
-I'm just sampling
a little corn whiskey.
-Oh.
-What's good legs look,
look at them good legs
on that liquor.
oh, hell.
hello.
buenos dias.
How you doing, buddy?
I'm doing wonderful.
Now, you tell me what you need
and I'll tell you beyond that.
anytime that killer beaz
is reaching out to us,
it usually ends up
as a good thing.
But you got to go through
hell and half of georgia
to get to the good thing,
with him.
this may be
an oddball request,
no *bleep*,
coming from you.
I've got a buddy
that is looking for
six gallons
of straight rye whiskey.
He told me
he grew up in canada.
Yeah, they don't have
much corn.
That's their predominant grain
up in canada is rye.
no barley, no corn--
-no sugar, just all grain.
all grain! I don't even know
if that's possible.
It's possible, yeah,
that's that, good liquors,
they're all grain.
It just takes so much grain,
you know, because you have to
count on the grain producing
all the sugars and starches,
but it's a top notch drink.
This is no surprise right now.
We see a lot of people
that're wanting
specific types of liquor.
This is just
a sign of the times.
People have got money.
And they're going to spend it
on what they want.
he doesn't want, just,
for it to be straight rye,
he needs it barrel finished.
Is that the same thing
as barrel aging?
Barrel finished,
there's no time constraint
on it,
it's just a quick finish.
Barrel finished whiskey
is where you take
a material whiskey,
that's already barrel aged,
you take it out
and put it into another barrel
for additional flavors.
You know this guy
that's buying this, beaz?
he was a guitar tech
back when I was doing
those projects with the, uh,
lynyrd skynyrd band.
Beaz did a little touring
with lynyrd skynyrd
back in the day.
They had a little comedy skit
they ran before their concerts
and that was beaz.
well, what do you think,
man, is that feasible?
It's something I'd like to do,
beaz. I love any of these
small runs, like this.
This is in digger
and myself's wheelhouse.
A straight rye
is something that, uh,
you know, you don't get
a lot of requests for.
I didn't tell him
what it was going to cost him,
I told him it was
probably expensive.
And he's looking at getting it
in just a couple of months.
of course he is.
is there a possibility?
Let, yeah,
let us look into
grain prices.
Let us see
what we can do about
rapid aging here,
on a small scale.
You know, beaz aske
for the impossible
but I've got an idea.
I've had this on my mind
for a while,
it's just not been
what we could use
on big runs.
But on this small order
it might be
just what the doctor ordered.
Now, it's going to be pricey,
I mean, I'm not talking
$1,000 a gallon,
but it's still going to be
pretty hefty.
okay, very cool.
We're going to go right now,
we're going to start
looking for grain,
but, uh, we'll talk to you
the day after tomorrow,
all right.
all right, guys,
good to hear your voices.
yes, it is.
The big day has come,
just going to pack up here,
get some things
organized here.
I'm going to mexico,
because I'm crazy.
It's all howard's fault,
that's why I'm going
to mexico,
it's howard's fault.
Because I met howard at
the mexican restaurant.
I was trying to show him
a ready to drink can,
a ritual,
you know, the can drink
with the sweet
tea and the moonshine.
So, then, howard gets
a daggone margarita
and starts
talking about tequila.
-Oh, look at this right here.
...Your lime frozen.
Now that's what
I'm cooking with.
my god!
I'm telling you,
that is the bomb.
He got me thinking, you know,
because I'm always thinking,
like, out of the box.
In this business
you've got to be
open minded.
You got to be ready to,
kind of, change
and develop different things.
Over the years,
I've developed all kinds
of recipes,
starting from my base,
that my dad taught me
how to make, climax moonshine.
I don't known nothing
about tequila, other than
it comes from mexico.
That's all I know about it,
so...
Well, I know a guy
that sells tequila,
he's from mexico,
and he told that if I
ever wanted to come to mexico
and learn about tequila,
then just give him a call.
Well, guess what,
I'm going to go
to tequila in mexico.
Tequila, mexico is
where tequila is made.
It's where it was founded.
I, I didn't know
tequila was a place,
I mean, I thought it was
just a drink, really.
I'm, I'm a moonshine guy.
I'm not a tequila guy.
I don't know
anything about tequila.
But, everywhere I go
I'm keep learning more stuff,
you know,
and if you going to be
in the liquor business,
you got to stay open minded.
You got to stay open minded,
you got to be
ready for change.
Somebody's out there's
making something else
all the time.
And that's what tim's
getting ready to do.
Maybe I can make a margarita,
I don't know, but I know
I got a plane to catch.
And the only way
I'm going to catch it
is I've got to get going.
Yeah, I hope the guys will be
happy with this.
I'm thinking they'll be
really happy.
That mash bill's going to be
completely different.
-Totally different.
-Something we can make
a lot of money with.
- in a short
period of time.
- exactly.
Look yonder.
What've you got
in the bed of that thing?
- what do you think?
- look at that,
right there!
- oh hell, yeah.
What do ya'll think, guys?
Them some pretty cherries,
right there.
These babies
are full of damn juice
and they're sweet.
They're just right.
Henry rolls in and he's got
the prettiest cherries
I have ever seen.
Mmm.
They're going to make
some good brandy,
but it's just not
going to make
enough of it.
Only question I got is,
can you get more of these?
We had a whole trailer load
of watermelons
and it filled up one pot.
I love these cherries,
they taste great,
but it don't look like
it's enough of them.
Kenny and I was talking
about it coming on the road,
you know, I'm already set
for that honey wheat.
What about if we mash
the juice out of these
and then if we add
to that mash bill.
Just work it in.
-We'd be getting into
josh's territory then.
-Changes the flavor.
We're basically just changing
the cherry bounce by making it
out of wheat.
Wheat makes it
super smooth and sweet.
It adds a great flavor to it
and it makes a great cap
when you're making your mash.
Look, I, I know
good and well that thing
will smash watermelons,
what you reckon it's
going to do to these cherries?
- it'll work them up
good, baby.
- let's do it.
right, we need
the string on top of it.
Yeah, the string can go
in there.
When we first started building
this fruit smasher,
I thought we were wasting
a lot of time
that we could have been
making liquor with.
we're going to put
the whole box in at one time.
But, it was worth
every second that it took.
It has saved us so much time.
The amount of time
it would take
to beat in these cherries.
it's something that's,
truly unbelievable.
We had a real rough start
to this season,
but things are starting
to look up for us.
I have found that
the cleanest job here
is to let josh do it.
From the past few weeks
everything's going great
and this wheat, cherry,
honey liquor,
that we're looking at making,
this is really going to put us
over the top.
look, look,
you got to clean up
before we go.
-You can't get in my car
like that.
-All right.
oh my god, he sprayed me!
Man,
looks like I pissed my pants.
definitely not
in virginia.
I've been a lot of places,
never seen anything like it.
I see agave plants
around the windows and stuff.
So, there's got to be
some tequila around here.
Well, I came to mexico
to learn as much history
as I can about tequila
and how it's made.
This place is called tequila.
Think about
if it was moonshine,
it'd be
moonshine, virginia, right.
It's educational,
but it's also for
my business side.
Maybe I want to
make moonshine in mexico.
I, maybe I want to bring
tequila back to
the united states
in some fashion.
This is it.
I'm always looking
for opportunities.
Hola, tim, my friend,
welcome home.
-Please, join us.
-Yeah, all right,
I'll come in.
- this is home, man.
I'm meeting up with
jaime orendain.
I got connected with him
through one of
my distributors.
- glad to be here.
- welcome
to our family house.
This house belongs to us
for more than 100 years.
he grew up in tequila,
he knows all about the region.
I mean, this is where
tequila came from.
this is
our center patio.
- this is different,
this is different for me.
- yes!
And that's the house,
but now we're outside again.
- tequila is my,
my town.
-Yeah.
- I have a lot of
remembers here, uh,
-okay.
you know, when I was
a kid, with my grandfather
and my grandmother.
Yeah, I, I see that
it's called tequila.
Is that why tequila is here?
Yes, the name came from the,
the city and then the,
the liquid.
You know,
the reason the most important
distilleries are in tequila
is because you have
very good water.
-Uh-huh.
-You know,
the tequila mountain
used to be a volcano.
And the water
that we have here
came underground,
you know, very good water,
very high quality water.
-It's, kind of,
like moonshining.
-Oh.
We got to have
that good water, you know,
we always looking for
the right spot.
-We need that, the best water.
That's the reason we are here.
-Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Yes, but directly my family,
since 1924,
we start making tequila
with, uh, our family name.
-Let me show you, please.
-Okay.
-This is, uh, don eduardo,
my grandfather.
- mmm-hmm.
and mercedes,
my grandmother.
So, your grandfather,
he was the beginning
of this business?
Yes and he was my teacher.
He told me,
"you want to be
in this business, you have to
learn every single step."
everything.
-I'm the third generation
and I have four kids.
-Uh-huh.
And they know
how to produce tequila
because I teach them
everything, just like
your father taught you.
-Yes, we have tequila
in our blood.
-Yeah.
Jaime and I,
we have a whole lot in common.
He's a third generation
distiller, just like I am.
Was it illegal?
-At the beginning,
that was illegal.
-Yeah.
-You know?
-Uh-huh.
- mmm-hmm.
the history
of using the agave plant
to produce alcohol
dates back to at least
1,000 b.C. To
the ancient olmecs.
And, later, to the aztecs,
who fermented agave sap
into a wine called pulque.
During the spanish invasion
of the aztec empire,
in the early 1500s,
the conquistadors
ran out of brandy
and began distilling
the aztec pulque into
an early predecessor
of tequila called mezcal.
Popularity of
the agave-based liquor
grew through the 1500s.
Then, in 1600, the first
large-scale distillery,
named hacienda cuisillos,
was established
in the town of
santiago de tequila,
in what is now
the state of jalisco, mexico.
By 1893, the town was renamed
tequila and the distinct
mezcal de tequila,
made from
the local blue agave,
became known, simply,
as tequila.
In 1994,
the mexican government
made the mezcal tequila
classification official.
Establishing two, separate,
denominations of origin.
Tequila, which is,
technically, a type of mezcal,
can only be produced
from blue agave.
While mezcal producers
choose from about 30 of
the more than 270 varieties
of agave, that grow in mexico.
So should we get
on the sidewalk,
or just walk down the road?
- it's our town, man,
remember.
-Yeah.
I guess I am walking with
mr. Tequila.
and this is the city,
the city hall.
And this is, uh,
the whole history
of, uh, of the town.
-You see the fields,
the agave plantation?
- uh-huh.
- and the volcano,
this is the tequila volcano.
- ah.
- my grandfather,
don eduardo, is there.
-Uh-huh.
Well, you know,
my dad and his brothers,
also pictured in city hall...
-Oh, really?
-...In my hometown.
-Ah, congratulations. Great.
- yeah,
but as a wanted poster.
It's because they was
convicted of
illegal making moonshine.
oh, my god.
-Yeah.
-Ah, but this is
another kind of picture.
- yeah, yeah, this is,
like, in honor of you.
-Yes.
I'm a little bit jealous here.
They're honoring
jaime's grandfather,
but, you know, back home
they looking at my father as,
maybe, a criminal.
- in mexico,
you can make tequila.
- mmm-hmm.
- but only in
five states.
- okay.
-In jalisco,
there is michoacan,
-uh-huh.
There is nayarit,
there is guanajuato,
and tamaulipas.
-But we are here, in tequila,
-mmm-hmm.
The heart of the production
of the tequila.
hey, I've come
a long way to see every step
in the process
of making tequila.
I'm really excited
to get in this distillery
and see how
they make this stuff.
and we produce here,
tequila verde.
Welcome.
you going to get you
a bite out of them mushrooms,
right there,
-before we go any further?
- no,
I'm afraid of them mushrooms.
well,
them's a pretty color though.
yeah,
you'd probably see
pretty colors, too.
I'm looking forward
to doing this little run.
Yeah, I like these small runs,
they're way more easier.
We got this order from beaz
for 100% rye whiskey
and he just wants six gallons,
so I feel good about it.
It's been a long time
since we ran this much rye,
in any recipe.
-God damn, I'm hurting, boss.
-Yeah.
Yep, never heard me say
that much, do you?
Not with any
credible witnesses.
for this particular type
of whiskey,
you have to bring
your water up
to a hard boil.
Hey, boy,
we're rolling pretty decent.
-What do you think, flame out?
-Yeah.
We cannot, under no means,
permit fire
to be under this pot
once the grain goes in it.
It gels up really quick
and we don't want
any grain in it
to have the opportunity to,
to scorch.
don't forget
your rye malt.
Digger is wanting to use
a little bit of rye malt,
a little bit
for extra measure.
To just,
adjust the flavor profile
a little bit.
The rye malt will give it
more of a earthy note
than the peppery notes
you notice from rye.
That's just simply because
it's sprouted.
That little bit
of growth in there
gives it a whole different
flavor profile.
This mash is thick as
concrete setting up.
But, once it gets cool enough,
that's when you use
your amylase enzyme
and that breaks down
the long-chain sugars.
Within minutes,
it'll turn back
to liquid mash.
All the solids will settle
at the bottom, and, um,
we're ready to go.
oh, hell!
I don't know
if we can read this.
The thermometer has a lot of
condensation in it,
you can barely see the needle,
and you can't see
the numbers at all.
let me see
if we can blow that water
out of there.
It's very critical,
this temperature has got to be
between 150 and 160 degrees
when you pitch that
amylase enzyme.
If it's too hot, it kills it.
If it's too cold,
it don't work.
I don't believe you
done no count.
It never, ever,
entered my mind
to put open flame
to your thermometer,
especially the gauge part
of it, the face of it,
with the glass and the needle
and the numbers.
But, obviously, you know,
it entered digger's mind.
that's good enough,
we can see it.
I believe we're, about,
where we need to be.
The temperature's
not really easy to see,
but, you know,
I can tell we're bumping
right at 160
and as it looks right now,
we're doing all right.
I'm going to start
laying the amylase to it.
get ready to stir,
buddy.
You can't overuse amylase,
I don't care
what anybody says.
it don't change
your flavor.
No flavor imparted,
whatsoever.
amylase enzyme
is in insect saliva,
it's in our saliva.
In essence,
what that enzyme is doing,
it's taking the long-chain,
polysaccharide sugars
and breaking them down to
single-chain,
monosaccharide sugars,
which the yeast can work on
more readily to convert
and make into alcohol.
did it loosen up
down at the bottom
a little bit?
Yeah.
yeah, I don't know
if we got it too cool,
or it's still too hot.
you're not going
to tell by looking at it.
Let's let that sit there
for just a second
and see what it does.
Damn if you ain't made
a bowl of thickening.
I mean,
is it done went too cool?
we either had
bad amylase, pitched it
too hot or too cool.
I don't know, we can't,
necessarily,
trust that thermometer,
since you've burned it up
with the torch.
It's a thermometer.
It's sitting this close to
a damn propane flame.
-Yeah.
-Maybe that's what did it.
This, this close ain't stuck
right on the damn thing.
I was just fanning it,
I wasn't,
I didn't hold it on it
like I was trying to melt it.
we can't
heat it back up,
it'll scorch it immediately.
-We can't get enough liquid
out of it at this stage.
- uh-uh.
Let's dump it.
We'll, we'll make
a whole 'nother run.
Mash this thick
that we have to strain off,
you, you'll get nothing
out of this, I mean,
you might get
a pint of liquor
out of all this.
We can't waste any more time.
We're going to build
a whole 'nother mash,
we got plenty of grain,
you know, we're not going to
sacrifice the quality
of this liquor.
We've got to get it done
so we can concentrate on
how we're going to quickly
barrel finish this liquor.
And we're a day behind, so...
- we're right on time.
-We're right on time.
Let's get some work done.
All right.
We got everything
to damn mash in with,
everybody's here,
brian's done showed up.
We got the stills,
we got the skills
and we're going to mash in
some good cherry,
honey, wheat.
man, that's a lot
of cherry juice.
hard seltzer
is extremely good
for making a lot of money.
But, now people are
buying liquor and we really
don't want to miss the boat.
We want them to be buying
our liquor.
- what's this
right here?
- it's honey.
- damn, that's a lot
of honey, ain't it.
-Two, four, five...
It's going to be
a very high-end product
and now that people
are interested in
spending money
oh, yeah.
We're fixing
to flood the market
with some of the best
honey, wheat, cherry
you've ever seen
in your life.
Probably the only.
first I got to boil
this water.
Once I bring it to the boil
then we'll cook
that meal in.
Once it cooks for an hour,
then we'll add
the wheat bran, honey,
then we'll add the cherries.
all right.
There we go.
There's eight pots out here,
there's a process to this.
It's getting hot,
we're ready to
cook it in, boys.
We start at the first pot.
corn.
that's got to cook
for an hour.
So, as that's doing that,
we move down to the next pot,
start heating that one up,
getting our grain in.
Getting our grain in
and keep moving down the line.
Once we get all eight
of these pots heated up
and grain in there cooking,
then we move right back up
to the first pot again.
Hey, brian, brian,
you bring the water?
Cooked for an hour now.
Now we're gonna start putting
some water in
and cool it down a little bit,
once it cools down just a tad,
then we're gonna
start throwing sugar to it.
Throw the cherries to it,
we'll throw the honey to it
and then we'll throw
some wheat bran in here
and we'll have our mash bill.
Oh, yeah.
A year ago,
won't know anybody could
afford anything high end.
Yo, kenny, brian,
ya'll wanna bring us a bucket
of cherry juice?
That's good stuff, man.
Right now this is the
perfect environment
to make a real,
top-shelf liquor.
All right.
-Lot of suffering
in that bucket.
- you got that right.
It's good stuff
right there, fellas.
Once we get all eight of these
pots mashed in with high
quality ingredients.
-You ever use
wheat bran before?
- no.
We use it all the time.
-Look like oatmeal, don't it?
-Tastes like raisin bran.
It's gonna
be something different.
I can really see how
we can bump our price
up on this and get it.
-All right.
-We need that yeast.
There you go.
I tell you what,
it's fixing to be pay day.
-There you go. All right.
- cover them on up.
-Well, seven more.
-Thank you, buddy.
-That--
-what?
-Can you hold just one minute
without talking?
Oh, that's my baby.
-Gonna make some money, baby.
-Wait a minute, he's throwing
his charm on it.
Throwing his charm on it?
Oh, yeah.
Let's roll, there's
seven more to go.
- what the hell
was that?
uh-huh.
There are different techniques
in distilling
around the world.
So if I can learn
even a simple technique,
maybe I can use that to better
myself as a distiller.
Maybe I can bring that back
home and I can enhance
my technique
and maybe I can make
something special.
you know, he's got
a 40-ton oven they use
to steam their agave.
yeah.
-We take that rocks
and we put it there.
-Is that really strong?
Strong and they
have a temperature control.
- how long
does this take? Okay.
-40 hours.
I see.
-So we got the juice,
we send them to these tanks.
-Yeah.
-Six days?
-Six days.
Uh-huh.
-I do open fermentation too.
-Yeah, me too.
-You know,
you have a lot of flavors.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-And you know
from the air it is...
-Yeah.
Because where it's made at,
it goes into the flavor.
There are a lot
of similarities in making
moonshine and making tequila.
We've made moonshine in
different parts of the country
in the united states
and that region actually
gives a taste profile
to that product.
-Fermentation is ready.
-Mmm-hmm.
We send into
the distillation area.
We have
a double distillation,
we have pot stills.
oh, look at that.
Oh, okay.
-Just like moonshine.
-Yes.
But there is a couple
of different types of tequila.
Okay.
To be reposado,
at least have
to be two months in wood.
For anejo,
have to be in a barrel.
-All right.
-At least one year.
And for extra anejo,
no less than three years.
-So you got to categorize.
What falls into it.
-Yes, we have to categorize.
Let me show you the warehouse
and I have a surprise for you.
-You got a surprise?
-Yes.
The more time I spend
with jaime,
the more I respect him
and the more
I like him actually.
Tequila's in his blood
like moonshine is in my blood.
Hey, I know when I find
someone who's a real deal
and jaime is a real deal.
This is a very special place.
-You know, we age
our tequila in this area.
-Oh, I'm seeing.
In this section
we have the new batch
of the barrels
and this section we have
the very old barrels.
All the barrels we use
came from kentucky.
We buy used barrel for bourbon
and we bring them here.
But today, we're gonna
do a very special thing.
We're gonna open this barrel.
-Okay.
-It's a very old barrel
that we used.
More than 25 years.
The last batch that
we're gonna use in this barrel
is gonna be today.
We're gonna check the proof,
and we're gonna taste.
hey, I'm excited.
You know, jaime's telling me,
"we're gonna pull out
a sample of it,
we're gonna check the proof
of it and actually taste it."
and then I'm gonna
take the tequila.
-Now please.
-Okay, I'm doing
the same thing.
-Oops.
-I lost 100 dollars' worth,
didn't I?
I might have to work a day
to get it back.
jaime takes the sample
of tequila,
and we're checking
the proof of it.
Okay.
okay.
This is the density
that we use.
-And the temperature.
We'll put it inside.
-Mmm-hmm.
-53.
-And then temperature...
-24?
-24.
-53 and 24 temperature.
-Mmm-hmm.
51.5% alcohol.
-A 103 proof, then?
-Yeah, a 103 proof, yes.
-That's the temperature
conversion?
-Yes.
This chart that we're using
explains what you need to do.
It's a little high
and before we bottle it,
-we have to add water.
-Okay.
Whether you need to raise
the proof or lower the proof
to get the correct number.
-And you feel the aromas
from the booze.
-Mmm-hmm.
-The vanilla?
-I'm getting
that bourbon smell.
That came from the barrel.
-That smells really good.
-Yes.
It tastes better.
I've been waiting
all day for this.
And I'm very proud to drink
tequila with you, tim
I'm proud to be here,
it's an honor.
Drinking tequila in tequila.
It don't get no better
than that.
That tastes just as good
as it smells.
-And I can taste all the
traditions you put in this.
-Yes.
-And the passion.
We make tequila with heart
-very, very good.
And with my soul.
you know, I've tasted
a few tequilas in my lifetime
and this tequila
was off the chain.
So, I think I'm on
the right track here.
You know, I came to mexico
to learn about tequila,
and I see that I'm tasting
the best tequila
that I've ever tasted.
But I'd really love to see
where the agave plant grows.
-I gotta get it all of it.
-We can ride to the fields
-to see the agave plantations.
-I wanna see it.
-Tomorrow morning. Yes.
-In the morning?
-Not now? Okay, we're gonna
drink too much.
-Salud.
-We gonna try this again,
ain't we?
-Yeah, we is.
There's a lot riding
on this run.
It may turn out something
really good for us
in the future.
Well, you know it kind
of feels like groundhog day.
First mash didn't work.
We missed
our temperature mark
or the amylase enzyme
didn't do what
it was supposed to do.
But we're gonna remash today.
We've gotta skin
this cat all over again.
-Look here.
-Look there.
-What did you find?
-I got my barbecue
thermometer.
I brought a little, digital
on my smoker.
We're gonna get
it right this time.
-You mean, you don't wanna
clear this one up?
-I can't see it.
If you'd have put
the sunnavabitch up,
it wouldn't have got like that
you left it out
in the weather.
Yeah and that blow torch
didn't have nothing
to do with it.
It's all the weather.
Weather's what's caused
what the blow torch
was trying to fix.
Of course it did.
There will be another reaction
to an action,
always remember that.
Maybe somebody will pay more
attention to taking care
of equipment.
I don't know.
Damn, I hate watching
water boil.
Let's see what
we got here, puss.
-Oh, yes.
-Standard old rye going
in some of that red rye.
All that goodie.
We may have put
too much grain yesterday.
I think that was
our biggest issue.
Other than it
being way too cold.
Let's start putting it
in there.
I'm gonna turn the fire on.
All right.
We'll get
the water a churning.
-Ready?
-Yeah, boy.
Seems like
we just done this.
well,
it smells pretty.
I'm gonna dump a little
of that rye malt in there.
That ought to be plenty.
-We're at 158.
-Put it in there, puss.
To use this amylase,
long as your between
155 and 160,
that's your sweet spot.
But I like to hit right
in the middle of it.
You get a whole lot better
conversion on your starches.
If this don't work
then to hell with it.
-We go buy him some rye.
- yeah.
-That oughta do it
right there.
-Oh, yeah, look yonder, puss.
That's what you're
supposed to do, right there.
Now you hit the nail perfect.
It's liquefying immediately.
Yeah, boy.
Churn them sugars up.
Yesterday's buffet was oatmeal
and today we got oatmeal soup.
That's rye meal soup.
Well, it looked like oatmeal.
-We still have
to strain this out of there.
-Oh, yeah.
Just breaks them sugars down.
Cuts it up.
I believe we got mission
accomplished right here.
Are you gonna pitch the yeast?
Oh, let's wait
until we get it in the barrel.
-Reminds you of slopping hogs.
-That's exactly what's going
through my mind.
This is an all-grain recipe
that was requested
by the client.
-You good there?
-I'm almost good.
So, we can't deviate
from that, we've got to run
what he wants,
we're not gonna add any sugar.
A sophisticated palate
can taste the sugar liquor
in there.
To say I'm excited
about this
little run of whiskey,
that'd be an understatement.
Good.
There's nothing in the world
better than all grain liquor.
♪ rye whiskey, rye whiskey ♪
-you should have
been a singer.
-I know.
All right.
This thing is beautiful, josh,
I'm telling you man.
Beautiful caps.
Look how they're made.
You bend this metal over
right here
and it makes it
much more stronger.
You can never find a cap
any prettier than that
right there.
Josh, I want this cap.
Thank you, buddy.
I appreciate that.
My favorite cap's
one that's got liquor
pumping through it.
Well, they're gonna have
liquor pumping through 'em.
Smells good.
Today is the day we're gonna
run some cherry, honey wheat.
Sure is better.
Yeah, that mash is
good and strong,
she's ready to roll.
We've got all eight of these
stills mashed in.
And it has finally come time
to get this operation
in full swing.
Normally we work
from the center.
But in this case here,
we've got one pump that's
gonna be on this side,
another pump's gonna
be on the other side.
So, we're gonna run those two
into this one pump,
we're gonna run these two
into this one pump.
Every pipe is cut to match,
so when the baby
starts boiling,
-we gotta be ready.
-Ready to go.
All right.
-You got a piece of paper
or do you want me to light it?
-No, sir. I got it.
All right, ready to roll.
All right.
-How's it feel, kenny,
good slick?
-Good slick.
-How's it feel, josh,
good slick?
-Yeah.
It's getting good and hot,
man, it ain't gonna be just
a few minutes here.
When you're running
submarine stills, you gotta
keep that baby stirring
till it starts boiling.
That way we make sure
it doesn't burn at all.
When it starts boiling where
that submarine still is made,
it will follow the contour
of that still,
just like an oval shape.
I got some steam coming
off this thing.
That's just our heads.
That stuff boils off about
a somewhere around 145 degrees
and we'll let them
heads boil off before
we cap these things.
And it won't be in no time
after we cap it
that we'll have liquor
pouring out this thing.
Damn, if I ain't ready,
I'm gonna let it run off
when we're ready.
-Mine is boiling over here.
-You gonna cap it?
Yeah, just cap it.
A little paste.
That's good.
Won't be long,
we'll be making some liquor.
This has been
a long time coming.
Here, josh,
wrap that along right there.
You know, we've had all eight
of these pots up before,
but finally we're gonna run
to full capacity.
It's getting hot already
going over in that.
We've got 4,800 gallons
of mash.
Most moonshiners don't see
that much mash in five years.
We're running this in one day.
Good and it sounds good.
this is like a circus.
I ain't never seen
such a thing.
Breaking my neck
looking at it.
-They're wrapping
the rope around.
-Yes.
What happens
if the rope gets tangled?
I don't know.
Maybe that's
why they have extra,
in case one dies.
oh, my god.
Who in the world ever came
up with such a thing?
I guess they gonna spin,
so it has to unwind.
Yes, at the same time.
-The weight of the guys
have to be similar.
-Same time.
-He's whistling and playing
at the same time.
- the same time.
Now that's what you call loco.
Yes, they are locos.
It's amazing. It's mexico.
The tradition.
- okay, maybe they had
too much tequila.
-Yes.
Or maybe they need
some tequila.
Maybe they need tequila
after this, tim.
I need some tequila
just watching them.
Good and sounds good.
Hey, can I talk
to ya'll for a second?
So now that we've got
the first four stills
capped off,
while we wait, I got something
I want to talk to
the guys about.
- what's the problem,
man?
-I'm just a little frustrated.
What's it going
and what's your problem?
I don't really wanna
say nothing, but...
Me and my woman's
having some issues.
And technically,
I'm homeless right now.
It ain't like I can't go stay
in a motel
or I can't go crash
at my friend's.
It's just the fact
I don't have anywhere
of my own to land in
and I've got trucks
and bikes and tools.
It cost a fortune
to rent a place
and you gotta have all these
credentials, you know,
you gotta have all this
paperwork and stuff
and long story short,
I'm not exactly homeless
but I'm kind of homeless,
I don't really have
a home to go to.
I tell you what.
I got a two-story house,
100 acres of land, big pond,
you need somewhere
to move in to,
you might as well stay
at my place or kenny's.
That sounds just perfect.
One thing you do have here
is good friends.
You can stay home as long.
I love ya'll.
-Thank you ya'll
for always being here.
-Let's get it done.
We don't have liquor here,
folks, I don't know.
We got liquor
on the little one.
Mmm-mmm.
Let's see what
we got going on here.
The honey that we cherished,
is that a mash bill, or what?
I tell you what,
that's a hell of a mash bill.
Almost like a grain liquor,
a brandy,
and damn near mixed drink,
mixed all in one.
It's got one
hell of a smell to it.
It's definitely unique,
and some of the best liquor
I've ever drank
in my life.
Tell you what,
that right there's gonna
be some high-dollar liquor.
Check that out.
Running good, man.
That's a good stream
'cause you got to keep in mind
we've got two stills running
into that one thumper.
Just one burner.
-About time we tried
those other stills.
-Yes, it is.
-Here we go.
-All right.
While these things
are running, we gotta start
heating these other pots up.
That way with these things in,
it's time to cap
them things off,
we'll be running liquor again
off the whole
next set of stills.
Honey, cherry, wheat.
You didn't think
it would be that strong,
did you?
It's about a 105.
There you go.
Yeah, kenny,
you're probably right,
probably 105.
- hold on there,
brother.
We finished running
our small pots
and our big pots
are tailing off right now.
To most moonshiners that would
be one hell of a day
under their belt.
But our day's only
halfway through.
It probably ain't going to be
too much longer
that's gonna be running.
There she come, boys.
tell you what, fellas,
this one's pouring it out,
I can tell you that much.
hell, yeah.
The way we proof liquor,
we never add water to it.
As you run your moonshine,
gradually your proof
will drop,
so we'll add the lower
proof stuff to the higher
proof stuff,
so that way we're always
adding liquor to it
and when it gets down
to the proof that you want it,
that's where we cut it off at.
All right, boss, it's done.
It's done.
Cut it off
and put on some cap.
let it rip, tater chip.
With all eight of these pots,
we just made over 600 gallons
of good liquor in one day.
Damn, still is hot.
Yeah, damn right,
that thing's scalding.
But we're talking about
massive amounts
of liquor right here.
All right, here we go, boys.
This is gonna make our jobs
a whole lot easier.
So what we're gonna do is,
henry's got this pump,
we're just gonna pump it
over here into these totes
and be out of here in no time.
Here she comes.
Things have changed
from back in the day
and doing this stuff.
They'd be bucketing
all this up and trying
to get it out of here.
And you know,
we got these pumps and stuff.
I thought about how those
old-timers got all that stuff
in and out of the woods
when they weren't using
vehicles.
some had mules.
I knew someone,
he had a mule,
got caught five times.
The law would turn up,
the mule got caught
more than anybody.
oh, I hope that stuff's
ready to go, puss.
We're coming in here
to run this rye this morning.
Oh, yeah.
-It ain't doing nothing.
-It's deader than a mackerel.
All this mash that
we've built looks great.
We've got plenty of alcohol
in it for an all grain mash.
I believe this part is
your old drawers.
Oh, they're way too white.
I don't know why we didn't
think about bringing
a little pump.
Damn, it smells good,
don't it?
Like a loaf of hot rye bread.
This mash, it's rich,
it's nothing but rye flavor.
This is gonna be some
best tasting rye liquor
we've ever made.
-You good?
-Better than average.
We get to the end,
the mash is very,
very thick
but it's all flavor
at this point, so,
we feel good about it.
Look at it.
Kinda reminds me
of castrating cattle.
I never did castrate no cows.
With the fact that
there's no sugars,
we're gonna end up
with less abv in this batch.
Therefore we have to get every
bit of that liquid
into the still.
Let's get this lit up
and heating up.
-It goes poof.
-Woah!
That's sure good.
Let's go ahead
and cap this up.
Damn.
You know after
it reaches about 170,
you gotta really keep
an eye on it,
'cause it comes quick.
-This is the part I hate.
-The hurry up and wait.
There'll be liquor
out of here
any minute.
It works quick, ain't it?
Is it done here?
You tell me.
-Oh, yeah. Look, look, look.
-Liquor, puss.
Glad we've dropped
old dodger in there.
There we go!
That's fine stream
right there.
You know, everything's heated
up right now,
starting to push
liquor through.
I'm telling you there's
a tremendous rye odor
right around this still pot.
Holy moly.
I believe my nose lied to me.
What did it say?
It said, "it's the best rye
you've ever smelled
in your life".
-Goddamn, that's rye.
-Yeah.
Inside, outside, upside down.
When we get toward
the end of the middlings
you taste the jar,
man, it's spot on.
It's exactly where this guy's
gonna want his liquor.
-That's really fine,
fine liquor.
-It is.
Rye whiskey, you know it's
a very, very spicy note
in your mouth, I mean,
all your little taste buds
come alive.
-Well?
-I'm a corn liquor man.
But our customer
don't want corn liquor,
and if it's rye he wanted,
it's damn sure rye
he's going to get.
Right there,
we're on jar number six.
We're still pretty stout.
I'm gonna say, we're going
to get close to eight jars
out of this round.
Let's shut her down.
Shut her down,
we'll let it run in there
what it run.
You know now that it's obvious
that we are going to produce
good rye whiskey,
we've got to come up
with a way to age this right.
-May I ask you, puss?
-Uh-huh.
So, you say
you've got a notion
about how we can age this
in two months or less?
I mean, don't you think
it's about time you shared
that information
with me if you have really
thought about it?
You're gonna call me crazy.
Well, that ain't nothing new.
I'm gonna put it on the ufo.
no, I read a little article
about ultrasonic aging
that they're
experimenting with.
Ultrasonic?
What the hell is that?
the first agave
I planted was here
in this area.
This land belongs
to our family from more
than 70 years, maybe.
My whole reason I'm here,
I wanna know
how do you make tequila.
You know,
where does it come from?
All the agave we have here
is blue agave.
That's the right agave
to make tequila.
I don't know
how far it goes
or how many acres,
but as far as I can see
all the way to the mountain.
All I see is agave.
When you plant this,
-they this big?
-Yes, they this big.
Yeah, these ones we actually
planted on may, last year.
Yeah, so it's only one year
and a half.
You know,
these are young agave.
We have to wait almost
seven, eight years.
-That's a long time.
-It is.
In my world, we grow corn
and barley and wheat
and we distill it,
it's a one-year thing.
There's a lot
of work involved here.
Do you have to buy
it from somewhere?
We, we take care
of the smaller agaves,
the baby agaves, the seeds.
And we replant it.
-You see those small,
baby agaves over there?
-I see it coming up.
-Such a sprout.
-Yes.
This agave gives like a two
or five different baby agaves.
Some of these plants,
are producing little plants.
When they get big enough
they pull this
from their mother plant
and transplant those
to make more
and bigger plants.
But how do you plant the whole
field at the same time?
You know, I'm thinking,
do they plant it
with a machine?
One by one.
By hand.
One by one by hand.
I contract guys.
So, they're gonna plant it,
and they're gonna watch
over it every year
until they harvest it
and then they have to come
and chop it,
and then take
it to the distillery.
Remember when you have
a glass of tequila
in your hand,
seven years ago,
that is a lot of people,
-around here
planted the agave.
-Yeah. Planted.
We call this, uh, the valley.
Of agave plantations.
-The valley?
-The valley.
And there is the highlands,
in the south of jalisco,
they make a very good
tequila over there.
-Higher?
-A little bit higher
than this, yes.
You want to try
the best tequila
-and you compare,
you got to try both areas.
-Mmm-hmm.
He recommends that
I go to the highlands,
which is a couple
of hours away,
where the blue agave
is grown in a different
environment.
And it also gives a different
taste profile to the tequila.
So, I'm gonna get the taste
of something else.
So we finished
the field of agaves.
Yeah.
That was a good,
educational trip.
It's very special for my
first time in mexico.
Just meeting with jaime
was a great honor.
It's time to go back.
Because it's tequila time.
It's tequila time?
Anytime is a tequila time.
-Okay. Let's go.
-Come on.
We're gonna head back
to the distillery right now,
have one more drink with jaime
and his sons,
and I'm heading
to the highlands.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
All the agave
that we have here
is blue agave.
-Okay.
- it's the right agave
to make tequila.
I came to mexico
to learn as much as I can
about the history of tequila
and also how it's made.
this is young agave.
We have to wait,
almost seven, eight years.
that's a long time.
all right,
take that brush that's yonder.
And brush them bees off.
oh no. They're pissed,
they're pissed.
Hot damn, they're pissed!
whoo!
Ow, ow, ow!
oh hell, I don't know
if we can read this.
This temperature has got to be
between 150 and 160 degrees.
We can't get enough
liquid out of it
at this stage.
this is how we make
the moonshine.
all right,
well here's the bees
over here, josh.
I've been saving the honey up,
they really been producing.
in pittsylvania county,
virginia,
tickle and josh
prepare to harvest
a key ingredient.
In an ambitious
new liquor recipe
they're cooking up with
henry and kenny law.
We're going to be making
a corn and wheat based liquor
and we're going to use
honey in there as well.
It just so happens,
I've got a lot of honey bees.
So how come you get a bee suit
and I don't?
I mean, I'd give you this one
but you're quite a bit taller
than I am,
uh, you won't even,
actually fit in the suit.
-That's what duct tape's
good for.
-Is it, is that right?
-You want me to smoke them?
-Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
we're going to be
using a smoker to allow us
to be able to get into
these hives.
Smoke makes bees think
that there's a fire.
And then they go into the mode
to leave their hive.
just, kind of,
lift the lid up.
- you sure
about this now?
-Yes!
therefore,
they're not worried
about the honey
and I can get right in there
and take the honey.
They don't even know
I'm there.
All right.
Okay.
Mmm-hmm.
That is a nice comb of honey,
right there.
I'm thinking,
"well hell I've robbed
some honey bees
with no suit on before,
I think I can go handle it.
Just remain calm,
no matter what."
I'm like, "I got this."
I ain't afraid of these bees,
I'm only afraid of
getting stung.
all right,
I'm going to need
your help here.
All right.
Do you want to hold the comb
or do you want to
brush the bees off it?
god damn,
right on the face. *bleep*
man! *bleep*
- they get you?
-They're pissed.
You lucky, dog,
you got a bee suit.
- well...
- well, nothing.
well, it's because
I've got bees.
All right, take that brush
that's yonder.
And brush them bees off.
Oh no. They're pissed,
they're pissed.
Whoo, they're pissed.
-Whoo! Ow!
- okay.
*bleep*
ow! *bleep*
for one thing,
josh has on a black shirt.
Now, bees instinctively think
this is a bear.
hot damn,
they're pissed. Whoo!
Man!
Bears are notorious
for robbing honey hives.
Ow! Ow. Ow!
So, they instantly
go into action there.
*bleep* bees, they're meanies.
*bleep*
bees really do
all the work, we just come in
and rob them.
this is
some good stuff right here.
These sunnavabitchs
are madder than wet hens.
-If you calm down--
-well, I was calm,
but I ain't calm now.
-They've been lighting
my ass up.
-Yeah, I know it.
Yet, right now,
you being uncalm
is making the bees uncalm.
They're like babies,
however you react,
that's how they're
going to react.
Oh yeah, there we go.
You know, most people have
an extractor.
But I do not have one.
talking about
one of those things
you spin it in?
Yeah, just does it by
centrifugal force.
Spin it for five minutes
and all your honey's out.
ow! *bleep*
whoo!
-Ow!
- he's just taken off
with every tool I need.
God damn!
All right, well,
I'll tell you what,
that right there
ought to give me enough honey
to finish up what we need.
Whoo! Ow!
you're going to have to
pull the stinger out.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.
- what you doing?
-I'm just sampling
a little corn whiskey.
-Oh.
-What's good legs look,
look at them good legs
on that liquor.
oh, hell.
hello.
buenos dias.
How you doing, buddy?
I'm doing wonderful.
Now, you tell me what you need
and I'll tell you beyond that.
anytime that killer beaz
is reaching out to us,
it usually ends up
as a good thing.
But you got to go through
hell and half of georgia
to get to the good thing,
with him.
this may be
an oddball request,
no *bleep*,
coming from you.
I've got a buddy
that is looking for
six gallons
of straight rye whiskey.
He told me
he grew up in canada.
Yeah, they don't have
much corn.
That's their predominant grain
up in canada is rye.
no barley, no corn--
-no sugar, just all grain.
all grain! I don't even know
if that's possible.
It's possible, yeah,
that's that, good liquors,
they're all grain.
It just takes so much grain,
you know, because you have to
count on the grain producing
all the sugars and starches,
but it's a top notch drink.
This is no surprise right now.
We see a lot of people
that're wanting
specific types of liquor.
This is just
a sign of the times.
People have got money.
And they're going to spend it
on what they want.
he doesn't want, just,
for it to be straight rye,
he needs it barrel finished.
Is that the same thing
as barrel aging?
Barrel finished,
there's no time constraint
on it,
it's just a quick finish.
Barrel finished whiskey
is where you take
a material whiskey,
that's already barrel aged,
you take it out
and put it into another barrel
for additional flavors.
You know this guy
that's buying this, beaz?
he was a guitar tech
back when I was doing
those projects with the, uh,
lynyrd skynyrd band.
Beaz did a little touring
with lynyrd skynyrd
back in the day.
They had a little comedy skit
they ran before their concerts
and that was beaz.
well, what do you think,
man, is that feasible?
It's something I'd like to do,
beaz. I love any of these
small runs, like this.
This is in digger
and myself's wheelhouse.
A straight rye
is something that, uh,
you know, you don't get
a lot of requests for.
I didn't tell him
what it was going to cost him,
I told him it was
probably expensive.
And he's looking at getting it
in just a couple of months.
of course he is.
is there a possibility?
Let, yeah,
let us look into
grain prices.
Let us see
what we can do about
rapid aging here,
on a small scale.
You know, beaz aske
for the impossible
but I've got an idea.
I've had this on my mind
for a while,
it's just not been
what we could use
on big runs.
But on this small order
it might be
just what the doctor ordered.
Now, it's going to be pricey,
I mean, I'm not talking
$1,000 a gallon,
but it's still going to be
pretty hefty.
okay, very cool.
We're going to go right now,
we're going to start
looking for grain,
but, uh, we'll talk to you
the day after tomorrow,
all right.
all right, guys,
good to hear your voices.
yes, it is.
The big day has come,
just going to pack up here,
get some things
organized here.
I'm going to mexico,
because I'm crazy.
It's all howard's fault,
that's why I'm going
to mexico,
it's howard's fault.
Because I met howard at
the mexican restaurant.
I was trying to show him
a ready to drink can,
a ritual,
you know, the can drink
with the sweet
tea and the moonshine.
So, then, howard gets
a daggone margarita
and starts
talking about tequila.
-Oh, look at this right here.
...Your lime frozen.
Now that's what
I'm cooking with.
my god!
I'm telling you,
that is the bomb.
He got me thinking, you know,
because I'm always thinking,
like, out of the box.
In this business
you've got to be
open minded.
You got to be ready to,
kind of, change
and develop different things.
Over the years,
I've developed all kinds
of recipes,
starting from my base,
that my dad taught me
how to make, climax moonshine.
I don't known nothing
about tequila, other than
it comes from mexico.
That's all I know about it,
so...
Well, I know a guy
that sells tequila,
he's from mexico,
and he told that if I
ever wanted to come to mexico
and learn about tequila,
then just give him a call.
Well, guess what,
I'm going to go
to tequila in mexico.
Tequila, mexico is
where tequila is made.
It's where it was founded.
I, I didn't know
tequila was a place,
I mean, I thought it was
just a drink, really.
I'm, I'm a moonshine guy.
I'm not a tequila guy.
I don't know
anything about tequila.
But, everywhere I go
I'm keep learning more stuff,
you know,
and if you going to be
in the liquor business,
you got to stay open minded.
You got to stay open minded,
you got to be
ready for change.
Somebody's out there's
making something else
all the time.
And that's what tim's
getting ready to do.
Maybe I can make a margarita,
I don't know, but I know
I got a plane to catch.
And the only way
I'm going to catch it
is I've got to get going.
Yeah, I hope the guys will be
happy with this.
I'm thinking they'll be
really happy.
That mash bill's going to be
completely different.
-Totally different.
-Something we can make
a lot of money with.
- in a short
period of time.
- exactly.
Look yonder.
What've you got
in the bed of that thing?
- what do you think?
- look at that,
right there!
- oh hell, yeah.
What do ya'll think, guys?
Them some pretty cherries,
right there.
These babies
are full of damn juice
and they're sweet.
They're just right.
Henry rolls in and he's got
the prettiest cherries
I have ever seen.
Mmm.
They're going to make
some good brandy,
but it's just not
going to make
enough of it.
Only question I got is,
can you get more of these?
We had a whole trailer load
of watermelons
and it filled up one pot.
I love these cherries,
they taste great,
but it don't look like
it's enough of them.
Kenny and I was talking
about it coming on the road,
you know, I'm already set
for that honey wheat.
What about if we mash
the juice out of these
and then if we add
to that mash bill.
Just work it in.
-We'd be getting into
josh's territory then.
-Changes the flavor.
We're basically just changing
the cherry bounce by making it
out of wheat.
Wheat makes it
super smooth and sweet.
It adds a great flavor to it
and it makes a great cap
when you're making your mash.
Look, I, I know
good and well that thing
will smash watermelons,
what you reckon it's
going to do to these cherries?
- it'll work them up
good, baby.
- let's do it.
right, we need
the string on top of it.
Yeah, the string can go
in there.
When we first started building
this fruit smasher,
I thought we were wasting
a lot of time
that we could have been
making liquor with.
we're going to put
the whole box in at one time.
But, it was worth
every second that it took.
It has saved us so much time.
The amount of time
it would take
to beat in these cherries.
it's something that's,
truly unbelievable.
We had a real rough start
to this season,
but things are starting
to look up for us.
I have found that
the cleanest job here
is to let josh do it.
From the past few weeks
everything's going great
and this wheat, cherry,
honey liquor,
that we're looking at making,
this is really going to put us
over the top.
look, look,
you got to clean up
before we go.
-You can't get in my car
like that.
-All right.
oh my god, he sprayed me!
Man,
looks like I pissed my pants.
definitely not
in virginia.
I've been a lot of places,
never seen anything like it.
I see agave plants
around the windows and stuff.
So, there's got to be
some tequila around here.
Well, I came to mexico
to learn as much history
as I can about tequila
and how it's made.
This place is called tequila.
Think about
if it was moonshine,
it'd be
moonshine, virginia, right.
It's educational,
but it's also for
my business side.
Maybe I want to
make moonshine in mexico.
I, maybe I want to bring
tequila back to
the united states
in some fashion.
This is it.
I'm always looking
for opportunities.
Hola, tim, my friend,
welcome home.
-Please, join us.
-Yeah, all right,
I'll come in.
- this is home, man.
I'm meeting up with
jaime orendain.
I got connected with him
through one of
my distributors.
- glad to be here.
- welcome
to our family house.
This house belongs to us
for more than 100 years.
he grew up in tequila,
he knows all about the region.
I mean, this is where
tequila came from.
this is
our center patio.
- this is different,
this is different for me.
- yes!
And that's the house,
but now we're outside again.
- tequila is my,
my town.
-Yeah.
- I have a lot of
remembers here, uh,
-okay.
you know, when I was
a kid, with my grandfather
and my grandmother.
Yeah, I, I see that
it's called tequila.
Is that why tequila is here?
Yes, the name came from the,
the city and then the,
the liquid.
You know,
the reason the most important
distilleries are in tequila
is because you have
very good water.
-Uh-huh.
-You know,
the tequila mountain
used to be a volcano.
And the water
that we have here
came underground,
you know, very good water,
very high quality water.
-It's, kind of,
like moonshining.
-Oh.
We got to have
that good water, you know,
we always looking for
the right spot.
-We need that, the best water.
That's the reason we are here.
-Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Yes, but directly my family,
since 1924,
we start making tequila
with, uh, our family name.
-Let me show you, please.
-Okay.
-This is, uh, don eduardo,
my grandfather.
- mmm-hmm.
and mercedes,
my grandmother.
So, your grandfather,
he was the beginning
of this business?
Yes and he was my teacher.
He told me,
"you want to be
in this business, you have to
learn every single step."
everything.
-I'm the third generation
and I have four kids.
-Uh-huh.
And they know
how to produce tequila
because I teach them
everything, just like
your father taught you.
-Yes, we have tequila
in our blood.
-Yeah.
Jaime and I,
we have a whole lot in common.
He's a third generation
distiller, just like I am.
Was it illegal?
-At the beginning,
that was illegal.
-Yeah.
-You know?
-Uh-huh.
- mmm-hmm.
the history
of using the agave plant
to produce alcohol
dates back to at least
1,000 b.C. To
the ancient olmecs.
And, later, to the aztecs,
who fermented agave sap
into a wine called pulque.
During the spanish invasion
of the aztec empire,
in the early 1500s,
the conquistadors
ran out of brandy
and began distilling
the aztec pulque into
an early predecessor
of tequila called mezcal.
Popularity of
the agave-based liquor
grew through the 1500s.
Then, in 1600, the first
large-scale distillery,
named hacienda cuisillos,
was established
in the town of
santiago de tequila,
in what is now
the state of jalisco, mexico.
By 1893, the town was renamed
tequila and the distinct
mezcal de tequila,
made from
the local blue agave,
became known, simply,
as tequila.
In 1994,
the mexican government
made the mezcal tequila
classification official.
Establishing two, separate,
denominations of origin.
Tequila, which is,
technically, a type of mezcal,
can only be produced
from blue agave.
While mezcal producers
choose from about 30 of
the more than 270 varieties
of agave, that grow in mexico.
So should we get
on the sidewalk,
or just walk down the road?
- it's our town, man,
remember.
-Yeah.
I guess I am walking with
mr. Tequila.
and this is the city,
the city hall.
And this is, uh,
the whole history
of, uh, of the town.
-You see the fields,
the agave plantation?
- uh-huh.
- and the volcano,
this is the tequila volcano.
- ah.
- my grandfather,
don eduardo, is there.
-Uh-huh.
Well, you know,
my dad and his brothers,
also pictured in city hall...
-Oh, really?
-...In my hometown.
-Ah, congratulations. Great.
- yeah,
but as a wanted poster.
It's because they was
convicted of
illegal making moonshine.
oh, my god.
-Yeah.
-Ah, but this is
another kind of picture.
- yeah, yeah, this is,
like, in honor of you.
-Yes.
I'm a little bit jealous here.
They're honoring
jaime's grandfather,
but, you know, back home
they looking at my father as,
maybe, a criminal.
- in mexico,
you can make tequila.
- mmm-hmm.
- but only in
five states.
- okay.
-In jalisco,
there is michoacan,
-uh-huh.
There is nayarit,
there is guanajuato,
and tamaulipas.
-But we are here, in tequila,
-mmm-hmm.
The heart of the production
of the tequila.
hey, I've come
a long way to see every step
in the process
of making tequila.
I'm really excited
to get in this distillery
and see how
they make this stuff.
and we produce here,
tequila verde.
Welcome.
you going to get you
a bite out of them mushrooms,
right there,
-before we go any further?
- no,
I'm afraid of them mushrooms.
well,
them's a pretty color though.
yeah,
you'd probably see
pretty colors, too.
I'm looking forward
to doing this little run.
Yeah, I like these small runs,
they're way more easier.
We got this order from beaz
for 100% rye whiskey
and he just wants six gallons,
so I feel good about it.
It's been a long time
since we ran this much rye,
in any recipe.
-God damn, I'm hurting, boss.
-Yeah.
Yep, never heard me say
that much, do you?
Not with any
credible witnesses.
for this particular type
of whiskey,
you have to bring
your water up
to a hard boil.
Hey, boy,
we're rolling pretty decent.
-What do you think, flame out?
-Yeah.
We cannot, under no means,
permit fire
to be under this pot
once the grain goes in it.
It gels up really quick
and we don't want
any grain in it
to have the opportunity to,
to scorch.
don't forget
your rye malt.
Digger is wanting to use
a little bit of rye malt,
a little bit
for extra measure.
To just,
adjust the flavor profile
a little bit.
The rye malt will give it
more of a earthy note
than the peppery notes
you notice from rye.
That's just simply because
it's sprouted.
That little bit
of growth in there
gives it a whole different
flavor profile.
This mash is thick as
concrete setting up.
But, once it gets cool enough,
that's when you use
your amylase enzyme
and that breaks down
the long-chain sugars.
Within minutes,
it'll turn back
to liquid mash.
All the solids will settle
at the bottom, and, um,
we're ready to go.
oh, hell!
I don't know
if we can read this.
The thermometer has a lot of
condensation in it,
you can barely see the needle,
and you can't see
the numbers at all.
let me see
if we can blow that water
out of there.
It's very critical,
this temperature has got to be
between 150 and 160 degrees
when you pitch that
amylase enzyme.
If it's too hot, it kills it.
If it's too cold,
it don't work.
I don't believe you
done no count.
It never, ever,
entered my mind
to put open flame
to your thermometer,
especially the gauge part
of it, the face of it,
with the glass and the needle
and the numbers.
But, obviously, you know,
it entered digger's mind.
that's good enough,
we can see it.
I believe we're, about,
where we need to be.
The temperature's
not really easy to see,
but, you know,
I can tell we're bumping
right at 160
and as it looks right now,
we're doing all right.
I'm going to start
laying the amylase to it.
get ready to stir,
buddy.
You can't overuse amylase,
I don't care
what anybody says.
it don't change
your flavor.
No flavor imparted,
whatsoever.
amylase enzyme
is in insect saliva,
it's in our saliva.
In essence,
what that enzyme is doing,
it's taking the long-chain,
polysaccharide sugars
and breaking them down to
single-chain,
monosaccharide sugars,
which the yeast can work on
more readily to convert
and make into alcohol.
did it loosen up
down at the bottom
a little bit?
Yeah.
yeah, I don't know
if we got it too cool,
or it's still too hot.
you're not going
to tell by looking at it.
Let's let that sit there
for just a second
and see what it does.
Damn if you ain't made
a bowl of thickening.
I mean,
is it done went too cool?
we either had
bad amylase, pitched it
too hot or too cool.
I don't know, we can't,
necessarily,
trust that thermometer,
since you've burned it up
with the torch.
It's a thermometer.
It's sitting this close to
a damn propane flame.
-Yeah.
-Maybe that's what did it.
This, this close ain't stuck
right on the damn thing.
I was just fanning it,
I wasn't,
I didn't hold it on it
like I was trying to melt it.
we can't
heat it back up,
it'll scorch it immediately.
-We can't get enough liquid
out of it at this stage.
- uh-uh.
Let's dump it.
We'll, we'll make
a whole 'nother run.
Mash this thick
that we have to strain off,
you, you'll get nothing
out of this, I mean,
you might get
a pint of liquor
out of all this.
We can't waste any more time.
We're going to build
a whole 'nother mash,
we got plenty of grain,
you know, we're not going to
sacrifice the quality
of this liquor.
We've got to get it done
so we can concentrate on
how we're going to quickly
barrel finish this liquor.
And we're a day behind, so...
- we're right on time.
-We're right on time.
Let's get some work done.
All right.
We got everything
to damn mash in with,
everybody's here,
brian's done showed up.
We got the stills,
we got the skills
and we're going to mash in
some good cherry,
honey, wheat.
man, that's a lot
of cherry juice.
hard seltzer
is extremely good
for making a lot of money.
But, now people are
buying liquor and we really
don't want to miss the boat.
We want them to be buying
our liquor.
- what's this
right here?
- it's honey.
- damn, that's a lot
of honey, ain't it.
-Two, four, five...
It's going to be
a very high-end product
and now that people
are interested in
spending money
oh, yeah.
We're fixing
to flood the market
with some of the best
honey, wheat, cherry
you've ever seen
in your life.
Probably the only.
first I got to boil
this water.
Once I bring it to the boil
then we'll cook
that meal in.
Once it cooks for an hour,
then we'll add
the wheat bran, honey,
then we'll add the cherries.
all right.
There we go.
There's eight pots out here,
there's a process to this.
It's getting hot,
we're ready to
cook it in, boys.
We start at the first pot.
corn.
that's got to cook
for an hour.
So, as that's doing that,
we move down to the next pot,
start heating that one up,
getting our grain in.
Getting our grain in
and keep moving down the line.
Once we get all eight
of these pots heated up
and grain in there cooking,
then we move right back up
to the first pot again.
Hey, brian, brian,
you bring the water?
Cooked for an hour now.
Now we're gonna start putting
some water in
and cool it down a little bit,
once it cools down just a tad,
then we're gonna
start throwing sugar to it.
Throw the cherries to it,
we'll throw the honey to it
and then we'll throw
some wheat bran in here
and we'll have our mash bill.
Oh, yeah.
A year ago,
won't know anybody could
afford anything high end.
Yo, kenny, brian,
ya'll wanna bring us a bucket
of cherry juice?
That's good stuff, man.
Right now this is the
perfect environment
to make a real,
top-shelf liquor.
All right.
-Lot of suffering
in that bucket.
- you got that right.
It's good stuff
right there, fellas.
Once we get all eight of these
pots mashed in with high
quality ingredients.
-You ever use
wheat bran before?
- no.
We use it all the time.
-Look like oatmeal, don't it?
-Tastes like raisin bran.
It's gonna
be something different.
I can really see how
we can bump our price
up on this and get it.
-All right.
-We need that yeast.
There you go.
I tell you what,
it's fixing to be pay day.
-There you go. All right.
- cover them on up.
-Well, seven more.
-Thank you, buddy.
-That--
-what?
-Can you hold just one minute
without talking?
Oh, that's my baby.
-Gonna make some money, baby.
-Wait a minute, he's throwing
his charm on it.
Throwing his charm on it?
Oh, yeah.
Let's roll, there's
seven more to go.
- what the hell
was that?
uh-huh.
There are different techniques
in distilling
around the world.
So if I can learn
even a simple technique,
maybe I can use that to better
myself as a distiller.
Maybe I can bring that back
home and I can enhance
my technique
and maybe I can make
something special.
you know, he's got
a 40-ton oven they use
to steam their agave.
yeah.
-We take that rocks
and we put it there.
-Is that really strong?
Strong and they
have a temperature control.
- how long
does this take? Okay.
-40 hours.
I see.
-So we got the juice,
we send them to these tanks.
-Yeah.
-Six days?
-Six days.
Uh-huh.
-I do open fermentation too.
-Yeah, me too.
-You know,
you have a lot of flavors.
-Yeah. Yeah.
-And you know
from the air it is...
-Yeah.
Because where it's made at,
it goes into the flavor.
There are a lot
of similarities in making
moonshine and making tequila.
We've made moonshine in
different parts of the country
in the united states
and that region actually
gives a taste profile
to that product.
-Fermentation is ready.
-Mmm-hmm.
We send into
the distillation area.
We have
a double distillation,
we have pot stills.
oh, look at that.
Oh, okay.
-Just like moonshine.
-Yes.
But there is a couple
of different types of tequila.
Okay.
To be reposado,
at least have
to be two months in wood.
For anejo,
have to be in a barrel.
-All right.
-At least one year.
And for extra anejo,
no less than three years.
-So you got to categorize.
What falls into it.
-Yes, we have to categorize.
Let me show you the warehouse
and I have a surprise for you.
-You got a surprise?
-Yes.
The more time I spend
with jaime,
the more I respect him
and the more
I like him actually.
Tequila's in his blood
like moonshine is in my blood.
Hey, I know when I find
someone who's a real deal
and jaime is a real deal.
This is a very special place.
-You know, we age
our tequila in this area.
-Oh, I'm seeing.
In this section
we have the new batch
of the barrels
and this section we have
the very old barrels.
All the barrels we use
came from kentucky.
We buy used barrel for bourbon
and we bring them here.
But today, we're gonna
do a very special thing.
We're gonna open this barrel.
-Okay.
-It's a very old barrel
that we used.
More than 25 years.
The last batch that
we're gonna use in this barrel
is gonna be today.
We're gonna check the proof,
and we're gonna taste.
hey, I'm excited.
You know, jaime's telling me,
"we're gonna pull out
a sample of it,
we're gonna check the proof
of it and actually taste it."
and then I'm gonna
take the tequila.
-Now please.
-Okay, I'm doing
the same thing.
-Oops.
-I lost 100 dollars' worth,
didn't I?
I might have to work a day
to get it back.
jaime takes the sample
of tequila,
and we're checking
the proof of it.
Okay.
okay.
This is the density
that we use.
-And the temperature.
We'll put it inside.
-Mmm-hmm.
-53.
-And then temperature...
-24?
-24.
-53 and 24 temperature.
-Mmm-hmm.
51.5% alcohol.
-A 103 proof, then?
-Yeah, a 103 proof, yes.
-That's the temperature
conversion?
-Yes.
This chart that we're using
explains what you need to do.
It's a little high
and before we bottle it,
-we have to add water.
-Okay.
Whether you need to raise
the proof or lower the proof
to get the correct number.
-And you feel the aromas
from the booze.
-Mmm-hmm.
-The vanilla?
-I'm getting
that bourbon smell.
That came from the barrel.
-That smells really good.
-Yes.
It tastes better.
I've been waiting
all day for this.
And I'm very proud to drink
tequila with you, tim
I'm proud to be here,
it's an honor.
Drinking tequila in tequila.
It don't get no better
than that.
That tastes just as good
as it smells.
-And I can taste all the
traditions you put in this.
-Yes.
-And the passion.
We make tequila with heart
-very, very good.
And with my soul.
you know, I've tasted
a few tequilas in my lifetime
and this tequila
was off the chain.
So, I think I'm on
the right track here.
You know, I came to mexico
to learn about tequila,
and I see that I'm tasting
the best tequila
that I've ever tasted.
But I'd really love to see
where the agave plant grows.
-I gotta get it all of it.
-We can ride to the fields
-to see the agave plantations.
-I wanna see it.
-Tomorrow morning. Yes.
-In the morning?
-Not now? Okay, we're gonna
drink too much.
-Salud.
-We gonna try this again,
ain't we?
-Yeah, we is.
There's a lot riding
on this run.
It may turn out something
really good for us
in the future.
Well, you know it kind
of feels like groundhog day.
First mash didn't work.
We missed
our temperature mark
or the amylase enzyme
didn't do what
it was supposed to do.
But we're gonna remash today.
We've gotta skin
this cat all over again.
-Look here.
-Look there.
-What did you find?
-I got my barbecue
thermometer.
I brought a little, digital
on my smoker.
We're gonna get
it right this time.
-You mean, you don't wanna
clear this one up?
-I can't see it.
If you'd have put
the sunnavabitch up,
it wouldn't have got like that
you left it out
in the weather.
Yeah and that blow torch
didn't have nothing
to do with it.
It's all the weather.
Weather's what's caused
what the blow torch
was trying to fix.
Of course it did.
There will be another reaction
to an action,
always remember that.
Maybe somebody will pay more
attention to taking care
of equipment.
I don't know.
Damn, I hate watching
water boil.
Let's see what
we got here, puss.
-Oh, yes.
-Standard old rye going
in some of that red rye.
All that goodie.
We may have put
too much grain yesterday.
I think that was
our biggest issue.
Other than it
being way too cold.
Let's start putting it
in there.
I'm gonna turn the fire on.
All right.
We'll get
the water a churning.
-Ready?
-Yeah, boy.
Seems like
we just done this.
well,
it smells pretty.
I'm gonna dump a little
of that rye malt in there.
That ought to be plenty.
-We're at 158.
-Put it in there, puss.
To use this amylase,
long as your between
155 and 160,
that's your sweet spot.
But I like to hit right
in the middle of it.
You get a whole lot better
conversion on your starches.
If this don't work
then to hell with it.
-We go buy him some rye.
- yeah.
-That oughta do it
right there.
-Oh, yeah, look yonder, puss.
That's what you're
supposed to do, right there.
Now you hit the nail perfect.
It's liquefying immediately.
Yeah, boy.
Churn them sugars up.
Yesterday's buffet was oatmeal
and today we got oatmeal soup.
That's rye meal soup.
Well, it looked like oatmeal.
-We still have
to strain this out of there.
-Oh, yeah.
Just breaks them sugars down.
Cuts it up.
I believe we got mission
accomplished right here.
Are you gonna pitch the yeast?
Oh, let's wait
until we get it in the barrel.
-Reminds you of slopping hogs.
-That's exactly what's going
through my mind.
This is an all-grain recipe
that was requested
by the client.
-You good there?
-I'm almost good.
So, we can't deviate
from that, we've got to run
what he wants,
we're not gonna add any sugar.
A sophisticated palate
can taste the sugar liquor
in there.
To say I'm excited
about this
little run of whiskey,
that'd be an understatement.
Good.
There's nothing in the world
better than all grain liquor.
♪ rye whiskey, rye whiskey ♪
-you should have
been a singer.
-I know.
All right.
This thing is beautiful, josh,
I'm telling you man.
Beautiful caps.
Look how they're made.
You bend this metal over
right here
and it makes it
much more stronger.
You can never find a cap
any prettier than that
right there.
Josh, I want this cap.
Thank you, buddy.
I appreciate that.
My favorite cap's
one that's got liquor
pumping through it.
Well, they're gonna have
liquor pumping through 'em.
Smells good.
Today is the day we're gonna
run some cherry, honey wheat.
Sure is better.
Yeah, that mash is
good and strong,
she's ready to roll.
We've got all eight of these
stills mashed in.
And it has finally come time
to get this operation
in full swing.
Normally we work
from the center.
But in this case here,
we've got one pump that's
gonna be on this side,
another pump's gonna
be on the other side.
So, we're gonna run those two
into this one pump,
we're gonna run these two
into this one pump.
Every pipe is cut to match,
so when the baby
starts boiling,
-we gotta be ready.
-Ready to go.
All right.
-You got a piece of paper
or do you want me to light it?
-No, sir. I got it.
All right, ready to roll.
All right.
-How's it feel, kenny,
good slick?
-Good slick.
-How's it feel, josh,
good slick?
-Yeah.
It's getting good and hot,
man, it ain't gonna be just
a few minutes here.
When you're running
submarine stills, you gotta
keep that baby stirring
till it starts boiling.
That way we make sure
it doesn't burn at all.
When it starts boiling where
that submarine still is made,
it will follow the contour
of that still,
just like an oval shape.
I got some steam coming
off this thing.
That's just our heads.
That stuff boils off about
a somewhere around 145 degrees
and we'll let them
heads boil off before
we cap these things.
And it won't be in no time
after we cap it
that we'll have liquor
pouring out this thing.
Damn, if I ain't ready,
I'm gonna let it run off
when we're ready.
-Mine is boiling over here.
-You gonna cap it?
Yeah, just cap it.
A little paste.
That's good.
Won't be long,
we'll be making some liquor.
This has been
a long time coming.
Here, josh,
wrap that along right there.
You know, we've had all eight
of these pots up before,
but finally we're gonna run
to full capacity.
It's getting hot already
going over in that.
We've got 4,800 gallons
of mash.
Most moonshiners don't see
that much mash in five years.
We're running this in one day.
Good and it sounds good.
this is like a circus.
I ain't never seen
such a thing.
Breaking my neck
looking at it.
-They're wrapping
the rope around.
-Yes.
What happens
if the rope gets tangled?
I don't know.
Maybe that's
why they have extra,
in case one dies.
oh, my god.
Who in the world ever came
up with such a thing?
I guess they gonna spin,
so it has to unwind.
Yes, at the same time.
-The weight of the guys
have to be similar.
-Same time.
-He's whistling and playing
at the same time.
- the same time.
Now that's what you call loco.
Yes, they are locos.
It's amazing. It's mexico.
The tradition.
- okay, maybe they had
too much tequila.
-Yes.
Or maybe they need
some tequila.
Maybe they need tequila
after this, tim.
I need some tequila
just watching them.
Good and sounds good.
Hey, can I talk
to ya'll for a second?
So now that we've got
the first four stills
capped off,
while we wait, I got something
I want to talk to
the guys about.
- what's the problem,
man?
-I'm just a little frustrated.
What's it going
and what's your problem?
I don't really wanna
say nothing, but...
Me and my woman's
having some issues.
And technically,
I'm homeless right now.
It ain't like I can't go stay
in a motel
or I can't go crash
at my friend's.
It's just the fact
I don't have anywhere
of my own to land in
and I've got trucks
and bikes and tools.
It cost a fortune
to rent a place
and you gotta have all these
credentials, you know,
you gotta have all this
paperwork and stuff
and long story short,
I'm not exactly homeless
but I'm kind of homeless,
I don't really have
a home to go to.
I tell you what.
I got a two-story house,
100 acres of land, big pond,
you need somewhere
to move in to,
you might as well stay
at my place or kenny's.
That sounds just perfect.
One thing you do have here
is good friends.
You can stay home as long.
I love ya'll.
-Thank you ya'll
for always being here.
-Let's get it done.
We don't have liquor here,
folks, I don't know.
We got liquor
on the little one.
Mmm-mmm.
Let's see what
we got going on here.
The honey that we cherished,
is that a mash bill, or what?
I tell you what,
that's a hell of a mash bill.
Almost like a grain liquor,
a brandy,
and damn near mixed drink,
mixed all in one.
It's got one
hell of a smell to it.
It's definitely unique,
and some of the best liquor
I've ever drank
in my life.
Tell you what,
that right there's gonna
be some high-dollar liquor.
Check that out.
Running good, man.
That's a good stream
'cause you got to keep in mind
we've got two stills running
into that one thumper.
Just one burner.
-About time we tried
those other stills.
-Yes, it is.
-Here we go.
-All right.
While these things
are running, we gotta start
heating these other pots up.
That way with these things in,
it's time to cap
them things off,
we'll be running liquor again
off the whole
next set of stills.
Honey, cherry, wheat.
You didn't think
it would be that strong,
did you?
It's about a 105.
There you go.
Yeah, kenny,
you're probably right,
probably 105.
- hold on there,
brother.
We finished running
our small pots
and our big pots
are tailing off right now.
To most moonshiners that would
be one hell of a day
under their belt.
But our day's only
halfway through.
It probably ain't going to be
too much longer
that's gonna be running.
There she come, boys.
tell you what, fellas,
this one's pouring it out,
I can tell you that much.
hell, yeah.
The way we proof liquor,
we never add water to it.
As you run your moonshine,
gradually your proof
will drop,
so we'll add the lower
proof stuff to the higher
proof stuff,
so that way we're always
adding liquor to it
and when it gets down
to the proof that you want it,
that's where we cut it off at.
All right, boss, it's done.
It's done.
Cut it off
and put on some cap.
let it rip, tater chip.
With all eight of these pots,
we just made over 600 gallons
of good liquor in one day.
Damn, still is hot.
Yeah, damn right,
that thing's scalding.
But we're talking about
massive amounts
of liquor right here.
All right, here we go, boys.
This is gonna make our jobs
a whole lot easier.
So what we're gonna do is,
henry's got this pump,
we're just gonna pump it
over here into these totes
and be out of here in no time.
Here she comes.
Things have changed
from back in the day
and doing this stuff.
They'd be bucketing
all this up and trying
to get it out of here.
And you know,
we got these pumps and stuff.
I thought about how those
old-timers got all that stuff
in and out of the woods
when they weren't using
vehicles.
some had mules.
I knew someone,
he had a mule,
got caught five times.
The law would turn up,
the mule got caught
more than anybody.
oh, I hope that stuff's
ready to go, puss.
We're coming in here
to run this rye this morning.
Oh, yeah.
-It ain't doing nothing.
-It's deader than a mackerel.
All this mash that
we've built looks great.
We've got plenty of alcohol
in it for an all grain mash.
I believe this part is
your old drawers.
Oh, they're way too white.
I don't know why we didn't
think about bringing
a little pump.
Damn, it smells good,
don't it?
Like a loaf of hot rye bread.
This mash, it's rich,
it's nothing but rye flavor.
This is gonna be some
best tasting rye liquor
we've ever made.
-You good?
-Better than average.
We get to the end,
the mash is very,
very thick
but it's all flavor
at this point, so,
we feel good about it.
Look at it.
Kinda reminds me
of castrating cattle.
I never did castrate no cows.
With the fact that
there's no sugars,
we're gonna end up
with less abv in this batch.
Therefore we have to get every
bit of that liquid
into the still.
Let's get this lit up
and heating up.
-It goes poof.
-Woah!
That's sure good.
Let's go ahead
and cap this up.
Damn.
You know after
it reaches about 170,
you gotta really keep
an eye on it,
'cause it comes quick.
-This is the part I hate.
-The hurry up and wait.
There'll be liquor
out of here
any minute.
It works quick, ain't it?
Is it done here?
You tell me.
-Oh, yeah. Look, look, look.
-Liquor, puss.
Glad we've dropped
old dodger in there.
There we go!
That's fine stream
right there.
You know, everything's heated
up right now,
starting to push
liquor through.
I'm telling you there's
a tremendous rye odor
right around this still pot.
Holy moly.
I believe my nose lied to me.
What did it say?
It said, "it's the best rye
you've ever smelled
in your life".
-Goddamn, that's rye.
-Yeah.
Inside, outside, upside down.
When we get toward
the end of the middlings
you taste the jar,
man, it's spot on.
It's exactly where this guy's
gonna want his liquor.
-That's really fine,
fine liquor.
-It is.
Rye whiskey, you know it's
a very, very spicy note
in your mouth, I mean,
all your little taste buds
come alive.
-Well?
-I'm a corn liquor man.
But our customer
don't want corn liquor,
and if it's rye he wanted,
it's damn sure rye
he's going to get.
Right there,
we're on jar number six.
We're still pretty stout.
I'm gonna say, we're going
to get close to eight jars
out of this round.
Let's shut her down.
Shut her down,
we'll let it run in there
what it run.
You know now that it's obvious
that we are going to produce
good rye whiskey,
we've got to come up
with a way to age this right.
-May I ask you, puss?
-Uh-huh.
So, you say
you've got a notion
about how we can age this
in two months or less?
I mean, don't you think
it's about time you shared
that information
with me if you have really
thought about it?
You're gonna call me crazy.
Well, that ain't nothing new.
I'm gonna put it on the ufo.
no, I read a little article
about ultrasonic aging
that they're
experimenting with.
Ultrasonic?
What the hell is that?
the first agave
I planted was here
in this area.
This land belongs
to our family from more
than 70 years, maybe.
My whole reason I'm here,
I wanna know
how do you make tequila.
You know,
where does it come from?
All the agave we have here
is blue agave.
That's the right agave
to make tequila.
I don't know
how far it goes
or how many acres,
but as far as I can see
all the way to the mountain.
All I see is agave.
When you plant this,
-they this big?
-Yes, they this big.
Yeah, these ones we actually
planted on may, last year.
Yeah, so it's only one year
and a half.
You know,
these are young agave.
We have to wait almost
seven, eight years.
-That's a long time.
-It is.
In my world, we grow corn
and barley and wheat
and we distill it,
it's a one-year thing.
There's a lot
of work involved here.
Do you have to buy
it from somewhere?
We, we take care
of the smaller agaves,
the baby agaves, the seeds.
And we replant it.
-You see those small,
baby agaves over there?
-I see it coming up.
-Such a sprout.
-Yes.
This agave gives like a two
or five different baby agaves.
Some of these plants,
are producing little plants.
When they get big enough
they pull this
from their mother plant
and transplant those
to make more
and bigger plants.
But how do you plant the whole
field at the same time?
You know, I'm thinking,
do they plant it
with a machine?
One by one.
By hand.
One by one by hand.
I contract guys.
So, they're gonna plant it,
and they're gonna watch
over it every year
until they harvest it
and then they have to come
and chop it,
and then take
it to the distillery.
Remember when you have
a glass of tequila
in your hand,
seven years ago,
that is a lot of people,
-around here
planted the agave.
-Yeah. Planted.
We call this, uh, the valley.
Of agave plantations.
-The valley?
-The valley.
And there is the highlands,
in the south of jalisco,
they make a very good
tequila over there.
-Higher?
-A little bit higher
than this, yes.
You want to try
the best tequila
-and you compare,
you got to try both areas.
-Mmm-hmm.
He recommends that
I go to the highlands,
which is a couple
of hours away,
where the blue agave
is grown in a different
environment.
And it also gives a different
taste profile to the tequila.
So, I'm gonna get the taste
of something else.
So we finished
the field of agaves.
Yeah.
That was a good,
educational trip.
It's very special for my
first time in mexico.
Just meeting with jaime
was a great honor.
It's time to go back.
Because it's tequila time.
It's tequila time?
Anytime is a tequila time.
-Okay. Let's go.
-Come on.
We're gonna head back
to the distillery right now,
have one more drink with jaime
and his sons,
and I'm heading
to the highlands.
Someone needs to stop Clearway Law.
Public shouldn't leave reviews for lawyers.