Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Rise 'n Shine! - full transcript

Narrator:
Hidden deep within the hollows

Of a forgotten corner
Of america,

Summer has returned
To the great smoky mountains.

And that means one thing --
It's moonshine season.

Man:
Fire in the hole!

[ laughs ]

Narrator:
A centuries-old war.

For every shiner,
It's a chance to grab his share

Of a $100 million jackpot --
Tax-free.

Change is in the air
This season.

New faces...



Look here.

...New methods...

Josh: yes, sir!

...And more danger.

[ dog barks ]

Last season, a legend was lost.

And now a new one
Will claim the crown.

Tim smith could be america's
Most-wanted moonshiner.

Narrator:
Fortunes will be made.

Man: gonna make
Some dough-re-mi here.

Narrator:
Friendships will be tested.

And everyone...
Might not make it through.

Watch out!
Watch out!

Tickle:
If you really love your country,



You're gonna have to love
Moonshine.

Man #2: fire!

Man #3: moonshine is a part
Of our history.

It exists, but it doesn't,
Almost like a myth.

[ dog barks ]

I'm america's
Most-wanted moonshiner.

[ laughs ]

That's not a good feeling
To be wanted by the law.

Man #4: [ distorted ]
You can't outrun the law.

You can outsmart them.

Officer:
Police! Search warrant!

Chuck: it's very hard
To catch moonshiners.

Let's skedaddle.

They're very smart.

Man #5:
There can only be one chief.

I'm worrying if we're gonna
Pull this thing off.

Uh-oh.

Golly, that's good.

Man #6: we could supply the
Whole world with moonshine,

And everybody would be happy.

Man #7: this is how we make
The moonshine!

Narrator:
Franklin county, virginia.

Moonshiner tim smith
Is on the lookout.

Tim:
That is a quiet plane.

It's about the quietest plane
I've ever heard.

It's almost like it had
An electric motor on it.

Try and look.

Directly over my head?

That's unbelievable how quiet
That plane was.

That's just a good example
Right there of what's going on.

The abc guys --
They're not fooling around.

I hear a whole lot
Of moonshine stills

Are being found and busted up.

Newscaster:
In hardin county,

Deputies say they busted up
A moonshine operation.

A husband and wife accused
Of running a distillery

Right in front of their home.

Officer: he actually did make
The statement

That he watched
The "Moonshiners" show

And thought, "If these guys
Can do it, I can do it."

Narrator: after last season,

Tim was paid a visit
By several agents

Of virginia's department of
Alcoholic beverage control,

The abc.

Tim: I'm sitting at the table,
And there's a knock at the door.

And it's the abc guys
Coming to investigate me.

Fortunately,
I didn't have anything

That I was doing anything wrong.

Narrator: tim is a
Third-generation moonshiner.

He and his partner, tickle,
Have been brewing moonshine

In these woods
For the past 30 years.

Now with the season upon them
And the heat turned up,

Tim and tickle have their backs
Against the wall.

Them abc guys came around.

They want to look
At everything.

They always do.

Every time I come hunting,
There's planes flying over.

I think these guys has got,
Like, them drones or --

You know, the remote-controlled
Plane with a camera on them.

They ain't got
Nothing better to do.

I know it, but that's their job.
They're looking for us.

Narrator:
Across appalachia,

Moonshine has been a way of life
For centuries.

The first settlers landed here
And started 'shining.

Then they passed
The practice down

Through generations of families.

Each summer, when the corn
Harvest is in full swing,

'shiners take to the woods
To brew illegal liquor,

Hidden far from the lawmen bent
On destroying them.

It's the time of year

When an age-old game
Of cat and mouse begins,

And this season,
There's a new lawman in town.

Deputy sheriff chuck
Is on the hunt.

He knows these woods
Like the back of his hand.

He's been using that knowledge
To gain an edge

In law enforcement
For the past 10 years.

Chuck knows better than anyone

Catching a moonshiner red-handed
Is no easy task.

Deep in the heart of
Graham county, north carolina,

Reside two men who are the last
Of their kind,

Men who live off the land

And make moonshine
Like their forefathers did.

Mark is a fourth-generation
Moonshiner,

Mountain man,
And an expert marksman

Who spent his entire life
In these backwoods.

For the first time,

Cameras are being led into this
Secret and mysterious world.

Mark's partner
And brother-in-law, jeff,

Has been making fabled moonshine

In this high country
His entire life.

[ engine sputters ]

[ laughs ]

Whoo!

Narrator: jeff's mentor
And living legend, jim tom,

Has been making moonshine
And copper moonshine stills

Since he was 12 years old.

[ echoing ] hello!

Narrator: jim tom has taught
Most of the locals

Almost all there is to know
About the art of moonshine.

For the best moonshiners,

Each season can bring a paycheck
Of up to 100 grand, tax-free.

So it's no wonder every season
Brings a few first-timers.

120 miles to the south,

Two rookies
Hit the ground running.

Throw it.

My name's josh.

I don't think it's wrong
For two entrepreneurs

Like bill and myself to make
A little bit of homemade liquor.

Getting busted would be
A very bad thing,

And I definitely
Don't want that to happen.

But there's something
About making moonshine

And carrying on a heritage
And old ways.

Is it worth the risk?
It is until you get caught.

Bill: me and josh are two
Different animals, really.

We're both striving
For the same goal,

But we have a tendency to take
Different paths to get there.

This underground still
We're putting in --

It's been a learning curve
As we go.

Josh: working on
This underground still here

Has actually cost me
Thousands of dollars

In more ways than one.

Come on.

In a lot of ways,
Cutie pie's been my savior.

She's been there for me
When nobody else has.

I can't put into words how much
Cutie pie means to me.

She's been my best friend
Through it all.

Narrator: making moonshine
Is a rite of passage,

And it has to be earned,

So josh and bill
Are going for broke

Building a massive illegal
Still site underground.

But time is not on their side.

Go on.

Morning.

All right, bill.

I need you to go get
My little saw...

And make sure it's got plenty
Of gas and oil in it.

I thought that building
This project

Was gonna be fairly simple.

And it turned in to be
A two-year project.

It's been a lot of work.

Narrator: most moonshiners
Want to hide their stills

Under dense foliage,
But josh and bill?

They've decided to build it
In the last place

Anyone would look --

Right underneath a stage
Used for outdoor concerts.

Bill: we're not trying
To break the law.

But I know there are some things

That we could be prosecuted for
On this project.

Josh:
I don't want to go to jail,

But right now, this is about
Keeping barney's dream alive.

[ chainsaw revving ]

[ laughs ]
Whoo! That's great!

Narrator: barney barnwell,

South carolina's most notorious
Moonshiner and raconteur.

He combined his love for
Moonshine, animals, and music

Into a 24/7 lifestyle.

Bill:
He was a great entertainer.

He was a pretty good moonshiner.

He was a really good teacher.

He was also still a student
In life.

He started these festivals up
Here at the plum hollow farm.

Josh: I knew barney
For about seven or eight years,

And I was kind of
One of his right-hand men.

The underground still was
Kind of like a dream of barney's

So he could have his getaway
Where he could do his thing.

Bill: even though
He's been gone a year,

We're still out here fulfilling
His dying wish.

Josh: we've put so much
Hard work into this thing,

But we still got a lot to do

And a very short amount of time
To do it in.

I'm really hoping and praying
We get her done

Before the festival.

[ dog barks ]

Narrator:
50 miles to the northeast,

A 'shiner hell-bent on building
A moonshine empire

Has asked us to conceal
His identity,

And for good reason.

Coming up on "Moonshiners,"
Tickle tempts fate.

Watch out!

...Mark and jeff
Have some bad luck...

...While moonshiner x
Gets a visitor.

And josh and bill are between
A rock and a hard place.

Bill,
That's a live explosive!

And all our moonshiners race to
Keep one step ahead of the law.

Narrator:
Franklin county, virginia.

Veteran moonshiner tim
And his partner, tickle,

Are already facing
A huge obstacle.

The abc has them
In their sights.

Tim and tickle need a plan "B."

They looking for moonshine,

They looking for pieces
Of a moonshine still,

Or it could be anything
Around here.

I got a trapdoor.

You got to know how
To get in this thing.

See?
You got to get like this.

Then you got to get around
On the other side.

That's deep down in there,
Ain't it?

It's a long ways
Under there.

That's ancient *bleep*

Give me a stick.

Catch you
Some snakes in there.

And see?
Make some noise down there.

Kind of tricky here.

How long it been since
Anybody been under that?

Uh-oh.
I don't think there's no step.

Tim!

Narrator:
300 miles to the south,

In topton, north carolina,

Jeff and mark are on a hunt

To find a location to set up
Their still.

But a mild winter

And early spring
Has caught them off guard.

Distillation of alcohol
For moonshiners

Generally takes place
In the woods

Near a source of
Very cool, clean water.

Water is used both as
An ingredient in the mash

And as a tool to condense
Alcohol vapor

As it travels through the still.

Mark and jeff use what's known

As a north carolina
High country still,

Which consists of a copper pot

That sits inside a metal
Or earthen furnace.

The mash, also known
In these parts as beer,

Is a mixture of water,
Corn, and sugar,

Which is heated until it boils.

Oftentimes, after it cools,

Yeast is added
To begin fermentation.

Later, it's used
To make moonshine.

An old moonshiners cooking
Secret -- fresh bear fat.

Back in franklin county,

Tim and tickle have fallen
Into a tight spot.

Tim!

What happened?

The ladder broke.

There ain't no ladder here
From about 4 feet down.

You all right?

Yeah, I think I'm all right.
I just fell in the dirt.

A good thing
You fell in that.

I know it.

See this right here?
This is a good hiding place.

Them holes -- that's where

We put a little stash
In there, you see?

Them holes go a long ways
In there.

Oh, yeah.

I see some jugs in there.

How old are they?

I don't know.

But, you see, if we hadn't
Have come down here,

We wouldn't have knew
They was in there.

Narrator: having unearthed his
Old stash of illegal moonshine,

Tim and tickle will have
To work quickly

To dispose of any evidence left
On tim's property...

Let's go, man.

...And avoid the prying eyes
Of the abc.

Scottish immigrants
Who first settled

In the blue ridge mountains
During the late 1700s

Were the first to make
American corn whiskey.

They brought with them
A commitment to freedom,

The right to bear arms,

And, most importantly,

The right to make a drink
Without taxation.

The scots were
Positively allergic

To any form of government

And sought solitude
In the deep wilderness,

A place known as
The appalachian mountains.

It's here where they applied
Their famed spirit-making skills

From the highlands of scotland,

Creating the first batches
Of corn whiskey

Made under
The moonlit mountain sky.

This moonshine was the first
American whiskey

And the precursor to what
Would be known as bourbon.

Just outside of strasburg,
South carolina,

Rookie moonshiners bill and josh

Have fallen behind
On the construction

Of their underground still site.

What you got going on?

Priorities.

Bill and josh have designed
And are building

An underground still site
Containing two rooms --

One for fermenting

And the other
For brewing moonshine.

A secret tunnel will connect
The two rooms,

Allowing for a quick getaway
If the law comes knocking.

The only problem is --

The plum hollow festival
Is right around the corner.

And if they're not done in time,

The giant hole
Will put a bull's-eye

On their secret location.

We got to get the hole
Filled in,

So that's sort
Of our main priority.

What's gonna hold this up
In the air?

We just boring
Through a hole first.

But what's gonna hold them
Up in the air

Once you start
Digging around it?

Bear with me, okay?

Josh: sometimes
Me and my friend bill --

We bump heads on our projects
A little bit.

He likes to tell me what to do,

And I like to tell him
What to do,

So hopefully,
Under this deadline,

We won't be under
Too much pressure

And we can work together.

Of everything on all
These projects we're doing,

This one task is the thing
That involves us

Getting buried alive
If we don't do it right.

Narrator:
400 miles to the northeast,

Having cleared his property
Of all evidence

Of illegal moonshining activity,

Tim is operating
In unfamiliar territory.

Tim: normally,
At this time of the year,

I'd be out scouting around,

Looking for locations to set up
A new still site.

This year,
I'm gonna do the same thing,

Except in a legal fashion.

I'm in the middle of trying
To get this distillery going,

And it doesn't take
But one little mistake

And the abc guys
Are gonna be all over me.

Narrator: last season,

Tim met with veteran
Moonshiner chuck miller

To learn what it takes
To go legal.

First, you got to get
Your formula approved.

Then your label's
Got to be approved.

And then you got to get
The state to accept it.

Tim has to face an ugly reality.

The cost of entry to going legal
Is through the roof.

You gonna be a distiller
And a processor,

You got to have a bond
Of $200,000.

$200,000?Yeah.

Lacking the necessary $200,000

And with options running out,

Tim's gonna have to take matters
Into his own hands.

What is he doing?

Hey. What are you doing
In there?

Sleeping?

Yep.

I got an idea.
What's that?

We measure 24'x24'.

I'm gonna put the building
Right over there.

Hey.

What are we
Gonna do that with?

I got a ruler.

What do you think?

Gonna come look at it?

We can.

All right, let's go.

Tim: the first step
To have a distillery,

I got to get me a building.

You can't just put it out
In the woods nowhere.

Get two cones,
And I'm gonna get two cones.

Let's see
What it look like.

You got to have water
And electricity

And concrete foundation.

So, I'm thinking,
I own property.

Stand right here.

It's legal. It's legit.

Let's see
What 24 feet is.

If I find me a flat place
On my property,

Maybe I just start with that.

All right.
That's 24'x24' right there.

Got to move that crap
Right there out of the way.

If I set it on fire...

I was just thinking
The same thing -- burn it.

Let's do it.
Let's set this thing on fire.

There you go.

Whew!

Yeah.

That ought to burn, huh?

All right.

Well,
Let's see what she'll do.

Watch out!

Narrator:
Tim and tickle have decided

Their best chance to go legal
Is right in tim's backyard.

That ought to burn, huh?

But, first,
They got to make some room.

Let's see what she'll do.

Watch out!

I think I put too much gas
In it.

I think you put too much
On there.

I can smell your hair.

Yeah.
Burned the hair on my arm.

Get the side
Of my head, too.

Well, you don't have
To get a haircut.

Not if you burn it off.

[ both laugh ]

If that's the worst
Thing that goes wrong,
We'll be all right.

Yeah, we'll be all right.

Narrator:
Moonshiner x is smack-dab
In the middle of a run.

He knows that,
Like any successful business,

He needs to be flexible,

Which is why he's making
A mini run

In the dead of night
For a loyal customer.

Back in graham county,

Mark and jeff have hurried
To assemble their still.

They know this high country
Like no one else.

But mark is worried that
They weren't as cautious

As they normally would be.

Deputy sheriff chuck
Is on the move

And looking for signs of any
Illegal moonshine activity

That he can find.

With the perimeter secured,

Mark and jeff
Can fire up the still

For the first time this season.

Unlike most
Modern-day moonshiners,

Mark and jeff use a traditional
Wood-burning still.

It can be easier
To spot the smoke,

But they believe in the
Traditional way of doing things.

When the mash, or beer,

Sitting in the pot
Is heated to 172 degrees

By the fire in the furnace,

The alcohol contained
In it vaporizes

And collects inside the cap.

This alcohol vapor then travels
Through a pipe

To the thump keg

And then flows through
Another pipe into a coil

Sitting in a barrel
Of ice-cold water.

This condenser is known in
The region as the flake stand.

When the alcohol vapor travels
Through the flake stand,

It cools, condenses, and flows
Out of the bottom

As the liquid known
As moonshine.

It could take up to an hour

For 50 gallons of mash to reach
The 172 degrees needed

For the alcohol to evaporate.

But as the heat rises,
So does the danger.

120 miles to the southwest,

Rookie moonshiners josh and bill
Have run into a big problem.

Josh:
We're in the south,

And, as you know, there's rocks
And red clay everywhere.

We ran into a roadblock,

'cause it's right where one
Of our posts has got to go.

So it's got to come out
Of the ground.

If it ain't one thing,
It's 10 more.

We're gonna have to put
A little dynamite in

And try to break it in half
Or something

So we can pull it out of there.

Narrator: josh and bill
Don't have the dynamite

They need
To demolish the boulder,

So they decide to make an
Improvised explosive device.

This is an m4020 right here.

Hopefully,
It will break it in half.

Or maybe if we got
A big-enough blast,

It'll blow it
Out of the hole.

[ chuckles ]

Don't you think
You ought to put that out

Before we go to fooling
With our apparatus there?

I'll put the cigarette out.

Thank you, sir.

Yeah, buddy.

You ready to do this?

I'm ready for you
To do this.

I'm gonna leave you
With it.

Fire in the hole!

Wait a second.
Let me get a hold of cutie pie.

Cutie pie!
Come on, girl.

Cutie pie!

Come on.

Cutie pie,
You go hang out with bill.

All right.

Good girl.

She gonna go up?

Come on.

I don't know
What happened there.

You want to go
Check on it?

Don't go over there.

Don't go over there.
I'm serious.

Oh, man. Don't -- I'm for real.
Don't go over there.

Bill!

Come on, come on.

You want to go
Check on it?

Narrator:
Josh and bill are attempting

To break up a large rock

From the foundation of
Their underground still site,

But their homemade
Explosive device has stalled.

Don't go over there.

Don't go over there.
I'm serious.

I'm for real.
Don't go over there.

Bill,
That's a live explosive.

Can you see the fuse?

No?

It went out, didn't it?

I guarantee it burned off.

Oh, man.

It did something.

[ laughs ]

It was a dud.

That was $17 worth
Of damn powder.

We forgot to tape it.

There ain't but one thing
To do --

Either dig it out
Or make another one.

Make another what?

Make it work right.

You gonna build
Another one?

I'd like to.

It's important to wrap
The dynamite with tape

Because it puts it
Under more pressure,

And anytime you put an explosive
Under more pressure,

It gives you more of a bang.

Which direction
Is this charge gonna go?

Depends on where
We pack it at.

The weakest point
Is which way it'll go.

Is the weakest point
Of this thing our caps,

Or is it
The cardboard tube itself?

We'll hold it together
With duct tape.

I've spent all my money and put
All my eggs in one basket

To try to get this thing done
Before the festival.

Man, I hope this works.

She's ready.

Picked out a location where
We want to build something.

First, we got to dig
The footing.

So I got this old backhoe,
But it's got a flat tire.

I've been checking on this tire,

And it's kind of expensive
'cause it's kind of an odd size.

I'm just waiting on tickle
To show up.

Soon as he gets here,
We're gonna go get a used tire.

I don't have no idea
Where tickle's at.

I wish he would show up,
'cause if he shows up,

We can go ahead and get started.

Where in the hell is tickle at?

He should have been here
An hour ago.

Narrator: with tickle a no-show,
Tim's on his own.

I can't even pick this tire.
It's not even a one-man job.

I think that's the tire
Right there.

Narrator: since these
Are discarded tires,

There's no guarantee
They'll hold.

Tim grabs a second one
To be safe.

Tickle's not even here
To help me.

Easy.

Talk about a short fuse.

Narrator: it's take two
For josh and bill,

Whose first explosive failed
To break up a rock

From their still foundation.

They've already lost
Precious time.

If this doesn't work,

They'll have to completely
Rehaul their construction plans.

Are you ready?
I'm ready.

All right,
I'm gonna light it.

Fire in the hole, bill.
You ready?

Bill, we might want
To back up some.

This is probably gonna be
A pretty good blast.

I ain't gonna go
Check on it.

What was that fizzle?I don't know.

I was hoping it wasn't the fuse
Burning off.

Uh-oh.

It didn't burn out,
Did it?

I ain't gonna go
Look at it.

It looks like
It's still smoking.

I don't think
It's gonna go.

Will that do?

[ laughs ]

That was great!

Josh: we finally blew that rock
Out of the ground

Without killing ourselves,

And now we can move on to things
That we need to do.

Good job, sir.

Narrator: back in virginia,

Progress on the legal still
Has stalled.

Tim needs to replace a tire
On his backhoe,

But his partner, tickle,
Is still m.I.A.

Tim: tickle --
He hasn't showed up yet,

And I know for sure I can't take
This tire off myself

'cause it's too big.

He may be a little bit
Late sometimes,

But this is just crazy.

There he is.

About time you showing up.

Tickle:
I showed up quite a bit late,

And tim -- well,
I could tell he's upset.

But that's just gonna have
To be all right,

Because this right here --
It ain't making me no money.

I got a family
I got to take care of

And I got to provide for.

If he's upset, he's just
Gonna have to be upset.

I'm late. So what?

Whew!

See?
That's the problem.

Yeah, that's a big hole.

There's a great big hole
In the rim,

And great big hole in the rim
Means it's not gonna hold air.

We got to fix that

Before we can think about
Putting another tire on it.

I'm gonna take
A break now...

Work on it later.

Narrator: jeff and mark
Have fired up their still,

And after an hour,

The mash is nearing
The temperature required

For the alcohol to vaporize.

Once the vapor reaches
The flake stand,

It's condensed into moonshine.

Jeff and mark jumped the gun.

They fired up the still
And cooked the mash

Before it was ready.

As a result,

The alcohol content of their
'shine is way too low to sell.

Coming up...

I tend to be the guy

That's always at the wrong place
At the right time

Or the right place
At the wrong time.

In my life,
I've fell off a cliff.

I've been shot in the knee
With a 9-millimeter.

I've been hit by a car.

I've totaled three motorcycles.

I've broke this wrist twice
And broke this hand.

I blew this knee out.
I broke that foot.

I broke a bunch
Of my toes, fingers,

My collarbone, my tailbone.

It's too much
To even list, really.

It goes on and on.
But it's been fun.

Narrator: firing up early
Has backfired on jeff and mark.

And now they'll have to
Start all over again.

Nighttime is fast approaching.

Mark and jeff have to regroup.

60 miles to the east,

Moonshiner x
Is scouting a location

To brew his next batch
Of 'shine.

Tim: every day,
I keep picking up the newspaper

And I see people
Have been arrested

For moonshining or possession
Of moonshine.

It looks like the sentences

Is getting a little bit
More stiffer.

Tim: I know a guy --
He's getting a year in jail

For a first-time offense.

I mean,
That's serious right there.

[ police radio beeps, static ]

Narrator:
This season on "Moonshiners"...

[ thunder crashes ]

Oh, my god.
This is a major catastrophe.

I'm thinking about getting
Somebody else to help me.

Somebody else to help me
Do this, too.

Narrator:
Tensions run high.

Josh: years I've been working
On this project.

You change design
Every 10 minutes, dude.

And somebody come in
And tell me what to do.

This is *bleep* me
The *bleep* off.

Narrator:
And funds run low.

Until we get this thing built,
We ain't making no moonshine.

Narrator:
As all our moonshiners

Try to stay one step
Ahead of the law.

Man: the law comes in,
Whatever you do, don't stay.

Run like a turkey.

You can go and make it
In the woods again.

What choice have we got
Right now?

Jim tom: the man that don't
Look back gets away.