Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - Moonshine Goldmine - full transcript

Narrator:
Tonight on "Moonshiners"...

I'll be through this hole
In the next little bit.

You watch.
You gonna be under that hole.

Bill:
This one task is the thing

That involves us
Getting buried live.

Tim: I done left
Out of the woods.

I done made my decision
That I'm going legal.

You got all your money tied up

And ain't got the money
To finish going legal.

Chuck: fire!

Mark: moonshine is a part
Of our history.



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

[ dogs barking ]

Tim: I'm america's
Most wanted moonshiner.

[ laughs ]

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

Don:
I live on the edge of anarchy.

Chuck:
Police! Search warrant!

It's very hard
To catch moonshiners.

Skedaddle.They're very smart.

Josh:
There can only be one chief.

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

Golly, that's good.

Jeff: we can supply
The whole world with moonshine,

And everybody would be happy.



Bill:
If you really love your country,

You're gonna have to
Love moonshine.

Narrator: in the depths
Of the north carolina mountains,

Moonshiners jeff and mark
Are feeling the heat

After needing to dump
A batch of 'shine gone bad.

And now they suspect their site
Has been compromised.

[ radio beeps ]

Jeff:
[ breathing heavily ]

Narrator:
120 miles to the southwest,

Rookie moonshiners josh and bill
Continue work

On their underground still site,
A tribute to their late friend

And moonshining mentor
Barney barnwell.

It's up to bill to reign in
Josh's hot temper.

These two often find
Themselves at odds,

But their loyalty to barney
Keeps them motivated

To meet their ultimate goal --

To complete their underground
Still site and brew moonshine.

Bill: we've got our one existing
Hole that our still's in,

And we've got another hole

That we're gonna be putting
Another still in.

And we got about six feet
Of red clay

That we've got to
Tunnel through.

It's got to be big enough
To get our barrels

From one side to the other.

It's gonna be beautiful.

Narrator:
With the music festival

Taking place on these grounds
In just weeks,

They've got their work
Cut out for them.

Hey, how's it going
Down there?

It's going.

Is it working as hard and fast
As you thought it would?

No.

Josh: it's getting to be
Pretty frantic.

We're running out of time.

And as far as the actual
Digging of the hole,

We need something a lot more
Aggressive than that.

Well, bring your mattock
Down here.

So you want me
To do the digging.

You're not gonna
Hand me a mattock.

How about we both
Get mattocks?

I already got a tool
In my hand. I'm good.

Bill:
I don't always agree with josh,
But time is of the essence.

Our deadline's getting closer
By the minute.

I just don't want a cave-in.

Chisel the sides in.

Narrator:
To dig out the tunnel,

Josh will use a tool
Called a mattock.

It's faster than the electric
Chisel, but imprecise.

One wrong swing
With the mattock,

And the entire tunnel could
Collapse, burying them alive.

Look at that.

Bill:
We got these clay walls.

We still don't have everything
Shored up properly.

The frame is not finished yet.

We won't go too high. We want to
Leave enough dirt up there --

I was just marking it.

I was gonna come from
About right there down.

I think if we go too fast, it's
Gonna start caving in on us.

That'd be pretty much
Disastrous.

We'd go back to square one.

Narrator:
400 miles to the northeast,

Moonshiners tim and tickle
Have hit a roadblock

Building their legal distillery.

The backhoe they need
To dig their foundation

Has a rusted-out wheel
And needs to be replaced.

The clock is ticking,
And they're hurting for cash.

Look what I got
In the back.

Oh, you got
A wheel and a tire.

Yeah.
Why's that?

We went over there
To get the wheel,

But it's got a tire on it.

He said I had to take
The tire and wheel together.

Narrator:
Tim shelled out 900 bucks

For the new backhoe,
Wheel, and tire.

That's another $900
They'll have to make back

With sales of moonshine.

Tim: j.T.'s 16 now.

And all the knowledge
That was handed down to me --

I'm trying to hand it down
To my son in the right way,

In a legal way,

So that j.T. Can go to work
Just like a regular job.

Tickle: you got to have room
To get out of the way.

This thing fall on your toe,
Weighted like that...

Yeah.

...Somebody going to the doctor
With a broke foot.

Narrator: the guys
Need to use extreme caution.

Just one of these tractor tires

Weighs a bone-crushing
500 pounds.

Let it go -- easy now.

Easy. Easy. Easy.Get that on the ground.

All right,
Watch your feet.

[ exhales sharply ]

Yeah, that thing is heavy.

Yeah.

Just about.

[ drill whirring ]

[ engine turns over ]

[ rattling ]

Making a little bit
Of noise.

Ah, that's not
A good sound at all.

Sound like metal
Rubbing against metal.

It's grinding in there.

Tim and tickle have gotten off
To a rough start this season.

Tim's plan to go legal

Isn't sitting well
With his partner in crime.

I don't know.

If this thing breaks down while
We're digging that footing,

We're stuck right there
And we can't go no farther.

We got to dig a foot
Before we can be able to build.

Not really.

We can set posts
Around the side of it

And go ahead and start building
The build, like a pole barn.

We're gonna build a shed.Yeah.

I'm trying to build
A nice commercial building

With a cement floor.

We ain't doing nothing
But spending money.

The longer we wait
To get this going,

The less money
We got coming in.

Tim: every day I keep having
More problems.

We're not getting nowhere.

Tickle's got this idea

That we ought to put
These poles in the ground,

Put it together like --
I call it a shed.

He calls it a pole building.

I just want to do something.

What choice
Have we got right now?

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

Narrator:
300 miles to the south...

After the secrecy of their
Still site was compromised,

Jeff and mark
Abandoned it immediately,

Following
Old moonshiners' code --

Once your site has been
Discovered, you never go back,

Not even for your still.

Now they're on the hunt
For a more remote location.

With one batch of mash
Already wasted,

The pressure's on
To find a spot and fire up.

Deputy sheriff chuck
Understands moonshiners tricks

Better than anyone
And knows where to look.

Jeff and mark
Continue their search

For the right water source.

The water
Needs to be cold enough

To condense the moonshine vapor
Back into liquid quickly.

Looks like jeff and mark are
At the mercy of mother nature.

Temperatures
Are well above average.

We could be setting some new
Records across the southeast.

It's feeling
A lot like summer already.

Narrator: after the warm
Winter and spring,

The creeks are low,
Making ice-cold water scarce.

300 miles to the north,

It's back to the drawing board
For tim and tickle.

They're 900 bucks in the hole,

And to make matters worse,
The backhoe is still busted.

With no money left to rent one,

They'll need to rethink
Their plan for the stillhouse --

And fast.

You know, I'm not no
Perfectionate drawer

Or nothing here,

But I kind of got an idea
In my head what I want.

But, you know, we got to do it
The professional way

And do it the right way.

Tickle:
The only thing I'm worried about

Is just how much
This thing's gonna cost.

Right now there's no cash money
Going into my pocket.

I'm gonna try to get
Some prices together

To see how much
The whole total project is.

Tim: tickle's thinking
Like back in the woods --

Let's throw something up
In a couple hours, you know?

This thing may take a couple
Of months to put it together.

Narrator: coming up...

Bill: I got some concerns
About the red clay

Coming down on our heads.

If you don't want to dig it,
Then stay over there.

I want to dig it.
I just don't want to die.

And now you want somebody to go
100% legal. It's just crazy.

You know, ain't nothing illegal
Till you get caught.

Narrator:
After a run-in with the cops,

Most moonshiners
Would have packed it in.

Not jeff and mark.

But they've got
Another holdup --

They can't find a water source
Cold enough for their still.

Mark is the last of his kind,

A mountain man who was
Born and raised in these woods.

As a last resort, he'll lead
Them to a more remote location,

A place only he would know.

Deeper into the woods

Means farther away
From free-flowing stream water.

Building up enough water
Pressure for their operation

Is going to require skill.

Back in south carolina,

Digging out the tunnel
Is taking longer than expected.

But while josh focuses all his
Strength on breaking through,

Bill has safety concerns.

I'll be through this hole
In the next little bit.

You watch.

You gonna be
Through this hole?

Yes, I am.

You gonna be
Under that hole.

Bill: me and josh are
Butting heads a little bit

On exactly how we're
Gonna punch through.

I got some concerns
About a cave-in,

The red clay
Coming down on our head.

Narrator: seven tons of red clay
Form the roof of the tunnel.

One misplaced swing
Of the mattock,

And it could
All come crashing down.

If it falls,
It could crush josh and bill.

[ exhales sharply ]

Josh: I'm worried sick
That we're not gonna be able

To get this thing done
Before the festival.

We just got like two weeks now.

We're so pressed that we're
Not gonna make our deadline.

Bill: this one task is
The thing that involves us

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

All right, bill.

I'm used to being
Meticulous to details,

And I think there's
Definitely safety concerns,

Digging a tunnel this big
Without shoring it up.

If you don't want
To dig it,

Then stay over there and figure
Out something else to do,

And I'll dig it out.

I want to dig it.
I just don't want to die.

Narrator: with their
Revised plan in place,

Tim, tickle, and j.T.
Prep the ground

For the legal stillhouse.

Tim: if we put the posts up
And square it up right,

We can build a shed,
A pole building.

And as soon as I can
Get enough money,

We can come back
And finish it on the inside.

Tickle: if nothing else,
If we got to,

If it, you know, takes a little
While to get some money,

We can get us a roof up.

And we can hang some tarps up
Around the thing

And run a batch off
To make a few extra dollars

To finish it if we got --

Not legal.

Not legal.

I'm just saying
We might have to

To get some money
To finish the building.

Yeah, I know,
But we can't do that.

If we have to.

Tickle: moonshine is making
A comeback now

Because people like me
Got to make ends meet.

[ thunder rumbles ]

[ thunder crashes ]

[ dog barking ]

Narrator: forced
To abandon their old still,

Jeff and mark have to build
A new one from scratch.

They'll build what is known

As a north carolina
High-country still.

Constructing this type of still
Relies on knowledge

That's been passed down
For generations.

But the materials are expensive,

And they need to make the money
Back as soon as they can.

Most people think
Running from the law

Is the most dangerous part
Of moonshining.

[ metal crunches ]

They're wrong.

It's explosions.

If a still isn't built correctly

Small leaks will allow
The high-proof alcohol vapor

To escape.

If enough of it
Reaches the still fire,

It will trigger an explosion.

In 1923, in goldfield, nevada,

A moonshine still exploded
In a building on main street.

The blaze destroyed nearly
All of the town's businesses,

Engulfing 27 blocks of buildings

Before it was finally
Brought under control.

The town never recovered.

And in philadelphia in 2002,

A large-scale illegal
Moonshine operation was revealed

When a still explosion
Tore a gaping hole

In the roof
Of an industrial building.

[ explosion ]

Building the cap is the last
And most important step.

To keep alcohol from escaping,
It must be a perfect fit.

Now that josh and bill
Have made good progress digging,

They need to assess
The distance to the other side.

All right, josh, I'm gonna
Punch you a center line.

It's gonna be five foot tall,
Off my floor in here.

Bill: this project
That we've taken on --

It's been a lot of work.

It's been a lot of headache.
It's been a lot of heartache.

It's been 14 months

Since I first put my hands
In on this project.

Josh's blood, sweat, and tears

Have been going into it
For years.

I'm gonna punch her
Straight on through.

Bring it on.
All right.

Narrator: they're inching closer
To a major milestone

In the nearly
Two-year-long project.

Sounds pretty solid,
Like you ain't going anywhere.

It's coming.

Bill: it's all about carrying on
Barney barnwell's legacy.

Two feet in -- it's starting
To get difficult.

We're making it bigger, better
Than any of us ever dreamed of

When we first started
This thing.

There you go.
It came through.

It came through?
Yeah.

I love it when a plan
Comes together.

How far?
Foot and a half.

Two feet?

We've got about two feet
Of digging left to go.

And I'm just hoping
The tunnel doesn't collapse.

Narrator: coming up...

[ drill whirs ]

Mark: not enough water.

I'm thinking about putting
A copper pot in.

Mm-hmm.

That right there does not
Seem like good business.

[ footsteps approaching ]

Narrator:
Jeff and mark get a move

On assembling
Their new still at the site.

Jeff: I got her, yeah.

Depending on the amount
Of stills a moonshiner operates,

He can make as much as $100,000
In a single season, tax free.

Even with
Moonshine season under way

And with customers
Growing impatient,

Jeff and mark
Refuse to cut corners.

They'll build a wooden trough
To carry water to the still.

While an electric pump
Is more efficient,

It's noisy and could attract
Attention from the law.

We'll shoot a beam through it.

Narrator: to avoid human error
In calculating slope,

Jeff and mark have come equipped
With a high-tech laser level.

The trough is made
From four planks of wood

Placed on about
A 30-degree incline.

Jeff and mark will use
1" plastic pipe

To carry water from the spring
Downhill to the trough.

Allowing gravity to do the work,

Water will flow down the trough
To the condenser barrel,

Known as the flake stand,

Where it cools
The condensing coil

That turns alcohol vapor
To liquid moonshine.

While mark takes position
At the water's source,

Jeff clears away any brush that
Could block the laser's path.

[ beeping ]

Ah.

With the still position
Determined,

Jeff and mark
Start the task of digging.

The hole ensures even footing.

Along with the steel casing,
The ground provides insulation.

Back in virginia,

Tim and tickle make progress
On their structure.

You can never get all the dirt
Back to the same hole.

Tickle: well, no,
You got a post in it.

[ laughs ]

With the posts all in place,

The legal distillery
Begins to take shape.

So, what kind of still

You talking about
Putting in here now?

I'm thinking about putting
A copper pot in.

Well, a copper pot's nice.

It's smaller.

But it make it
Look good, you know?

Mm-hmm.

Tickle: where we gonna get
The money for a copper pot at?

We ain't got the money

To build the building
We're gonna put it in.

That right there, to me, does
Not seem like good business.

I know where there's
A couple pots

That we could
Be using right now.

And now you want somebody to go
100% legal. It's just crazy.

You know, ain't nothing illegal
Till you get caught.

Speeding ain't illegal
Till you get caught.

Why don't you just let me
Show you something?

What are you gonna show me?

I'm just gonna
Show you something.

All right, let's finish these
Two, three holes.

All right, let's do that.

And then I'll go with you...
For whatever.

Narrator:
For jeff and mark,

Providing ample water flow
Is the next hurdle.

They dam the creek
With wood and sandbags

To supply a steady flow
Of ice-cold water.

They drill a hole
Through the dam to fit a hose,

Which will carry water
To the still site.

As the dam fills,
They get to work on the trough.

Josh and bill don't bother
With traditional methods.

Taking a break from digging,
They bring out the big guns

To start constructing
Their high-tech moonshine still.

With a good supply
Of fermented mash,

A still this size
Could earn a moonshiner

Close to 1,000 bucks
A week, tax free.

Bill: there's gonna be
A lot of steam pressure

Coming out of the boiler.

Everything is gonna
Need to be airtight

From the time it comes
Out of the boiler,

Through each mash barrel,
Through the slobber box,

Until it comes out of the worm.

The weld's a really
Important part of the process

To make sure we get this right

'cause we don't want
To blow ourselves up.

Josh: a union is so you can
Take two pieces of pipe

And connect them together
And they'll be watertight.

And a nipple is so you can
Tie onto that.

It's just another piece of pipe
That you've threaded

And cut a piece off of
So you can weld one end

Or screw it
On to something else.

It's just so you can screw two
Pieces together like a coupling.

Now we're welding.

[ drill whirs ]

Narrator: jeff and mark
Finish assembling their trough

As water continues
To collect in the dam.

Testing the water flow
Marks a crucial moment.

Now they can see if their dam
Is getting the job done.

Coming up...

Josh:
Right now it's man vs. Hole.

Come on!

Tickle: I'm telling you,
This right here

Is gonna get us going
Like we need to be going.

[ squealing ]

[ snorting ]

Narrator: deputy sheriff chuck
Has gathered evidence,

And he's honing in on an area

Known to supply water
To shiners.

But we just have to be
Lucky one time.

Narrator: jeff and mark's
Progress grinds to a halt.

The dam they've built to supply
Water to the condenser

Is leaking.

Without a steady supply
Of cold water,

This operation
Doesn't stand a chance.

Jeff and mark must now
Deconstruct their dam

To find the source of the leak.

All they can do is wait.

The dam must fill up

Before they can test the water
Pressure at the trough.

Mark sets off to check
If their fix

Has helped increase
The water flow.

If not, they could find
Themselves back at square one.

[ squeal in distance ]

But something stops him
Dead in his tracks.

[ squealing ]

Josh and bill make headway
On the tunnel.

They'll soon find out
If they're home free

Or if the tunnel
Comes crashing down.

Bill: we're almost all the way
Through with our tunnel here,

About to connect this side
With the other side.

Josh:
Right now it's man vs. Hole.

I have spent countless hours
Down here digging and working

That I could have been
On other jobs making money.

It's just been an endless cost,

Plus very labor-intensive
Project.

Come on!

Yes, sir!

Sweet!

That's what I'm
Talking about.

[ grunting ]

Bill:
I don't want to jinx it,

But we need to get some shoring
Up in there pretty soon.

Whew.

Josh:
We're really getting close

To getting
This tunnel dug through.

Wish my friend was here to see
This project come together.

It sucks that he's not here
'cause he sure would love this.

And it makes me sad
That he's gone.

Barney and my mom died
Just back to back.

My mom died of cancer,
And barney died of cancer

Within just a few months
Of each other.

It's just been crazy.

But we're getting there.

Josh: let's celebrate.

We've earned it.We have.

Bill: having the tunnel
Dug through now

Will allow us
To start our framing.

I mean, we got our work
Cut out for us still,

So we need to get back at it.

Here's to barney.

Here's to barney.

[ squealing in distance ]

[ snorting ]

[ squealing ]

[ squealing ]

Narrator:
The coast is clear for now.

With caution, mark continues on

To check the water flow
At the trough.

This far in the game,

They can't afford
Another discouraging defeat.

In virginia, tickle leads tim
Back into the woods --

All-too-familiar territory
They'd abandoned

With tim's efforts to go legal.

But they're short of funds,
And tickle thinks he can help.

Tickle: I'm telling you,
This right here

Is gonna get us going
Like we need to be going.

All right.

That's our old still.

What do you think?

The place still don't
Look bad, does it?

Looks just like
What we left.

That's my whole point.

It looks just like
What we left.

Nobody's been down here.

Nobody's
Still found this yet.

We deep down in the woods,

And don't nobody know
Where it's at.

We can still be
Making money right here

To supply us with money
To go legal.

Well...

[ laughs ]

Narrator: josh and bill have
Broken through the tunnel

Joining the two rooms
Of their underground still.

With several tons of dirt
Looming over their heads,

Bill constructs a brace
As a precaution.

Josh:
Here. Take this out.

Take this board down.

I'm not taking
This board down.

I've done hit my head on it
Three times.

I hate you getting
Little bumps on your noggin,

But I got seven and a half tons
Of dirt above my head.

If seven and a half tons of dirt
Wanted to break something,

That little toothpick
Ain't gonna stop it no way.

You know
What that toothpick does?

It makes me feel better.

I'm telling you
That that little toothpick

Don't make *bleep* no way.

You just move the son of a gun,
And let's keep it going.

'cause if you don't
Take it down,

I'm gonna take a chain saw
And cut the son of a bitch up

In little pieces.

I feel comfortable
With it holding up.

Well, then get the hell out
Of the hole, and I'll dig it.

Take it down.
I'm serious.

Take it down. Get it
The hell out of here.

Thank you.

Bill: I feel like,
From a builder's point of view,

There's a better approach
We could be taking.

But it's far too late
In the project

To be wasting time
Butting heads.

I'm about done
Digging for today.

Good, 'cause you're
Making a mess.

Josh: me and bill keep arguing
About this or that.

Our festival's coming up.
We're running out of time.

I'm really starting
To stress out about it.

You're hardheaded, man.

Whatever, man.

There can only be
One chief.

Know what I'm saying?

Narrator:
With enough water now flowing

Down the trough
To the flake stand,

Jeff and mark can move on
To a crucial last step.

Before they can
Fire up their mash,

Jeff and mark pressure-test
The still and pipes

By running a batch
Of water through it.

They've chosen to burn wood
Instead of using propane.

Copious smoke produced with this
Method could blow their cover.

From above, the smoke
Means shine in the making

Or a forest fire.

Both are likely
To attract the authorities.

[ airplanes passing ]

Deputy sheriff chuck
Is on patrol.

Communicating with his
Counterparts in the sky,

He's on high alert for anything
That might indicate moonshining,

Like smoke
Rising from the forest.

Once jeff and mark
Stoke the fire

To a high enough temperature,
It'll stop producing smoke.

Until then,
They're sitting ducks.

When the smoke clears, they'll
Start heating up the mash.

In an attempt to bring him back

To the more lucrative
Illegal side of moonshining,

Tickle brings tim
To their old still site.

Nearly tapped out of savings,
They're low on options.

While risky,
Doing an illegal run

Could be their only chance to
Finish their legal distillery.

It's a catch-22 that's got them
Between a rock and a hard place.

We pretty much
Are out of money.

It ain't
Nowhere near finished.

You so close
To going legal

That you got
All your money tied up

And ain't got the money
To finish going legal.

Tickle: we just wait around
Till we get some more money,

And this right here is a perfect
Opportunity to make it.

I'm not saying run it all
The time like we did last year.

Just run it enough

To help get us our
Building supplies and stuff.

I don't understand why tim
Don't want to come down here

And just make a run.

My kids can't eat
Building supplies,

And that's what I'm
Spending my money on.

I done left
Out of the woods.

I done made made my decision
That I'm going legal,

And I don't want
To come back.

Tim: tickle -- he's thinking
About short term here.

He's thinking about,
You know, get back in the woods,

Make some quick cash.

I'm trying to look out
For my future,

And then the biggest thing
Is j.T.'s future.

If we keep doing
This moonshining in the woods,

We're gonna get caught
Sooner or later,

And that's just gonna
Jeopardize everything.

Tim: you get caught,

All that money we done put
On the legal stillhouse --

Can't go legal.

Well, don't get caught.

I ain't planning
On getting caught.

I ain't planning
On doing it.

I don't know.

[ sighs ]

I know why tickle's
Worried about the money.

We're running out here.

But there's
Too much at risk right now,

And he doesn't
Really even understand

That I'm trying
To protect both of us.

There's lots of things
That I can't tell tickle.

And I can't tell my family.
I can't tell anybody, really.

You know, it's better that way.

It's just too risky
For all of us here.

You know, my dad taught me
Everything I know,

And if there's one thing
I've learned,

It's that a good moonshiner
Always have a backup plan.

Narrator:
Next time on "Moonshiners"...

Jeff: it's leaking
Pretty good, mark.

Here's a shovel.

You gonna dig a little while,
And I got to go.

Tickle:
Tim's the main man,

But I'm getting
All the grunt work here.

I'm tired of this.

Bill: watch out!
Watch out! Watch out!

Why wasn't you
Paying attention?

I ain't moving any more
Of your *bleep* dirt, josh.

Dang!

[ squealing ]