Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 3, Episode 2 - A Shiner in Kentucky - full transcript
An argument between Josh and Bill threatens their partnership. Plus, can Tim change his moonshining ways and adjust to work in a legal Kentucky distillery?
Tonight on "Moonshiners"...
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
Tim's a renowned illegal
Moonshiner,
And we're gonna be watching him.
How much you reckon it'd cost me
To get a still made?
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
We argue, just argue,
And I'm sick of it!
This is how we make
The moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
It's the first
Few weeks of moonshine season.
Moonshiners across appalachia
Are mashed in and brewing.
The shine is flowing,
And the law is on high alert.
Deep in the mountains
Of north carolina,
Jeff and mark are carving out
A moonshine empire.
Their plan is to build
A giant 500-gallon still,
Using it to squeeze out
Rival moonshiners
By any means necessary.
Hidden away on this abandoned
Logging trail,
It'll be one of the biggest
Operations
The county has seen in years.
Yeah.
Jeff and mark were able to find
A secure still site,
But it'll need
A lot of prep work
Before distilling can begin.
But even at a site this remote,
Power tools could attract
Attention.
I'm just in here looking around.
The noise from the chain saw
Will travel for miles,
But it's a risk
They'll have to take.
The clock is ticking,
And it's time to shine.
250 miles to the northwest...
Tim has crossed the state lines
And arrived in kentucky.
He's alone, a stranger
In unfamiliar territory,
And he's about to take
The biggest risk of his life --
Going legal.
I'm going to meet a guy
Named steve beam.
He just started
A new distillery.
Limestone branch distillery
Is the name of it,
And he's part
Of the beam family.
Tim might be the best shiner
In southern virginia,
But by entering the whiskey
Business in kentucky,
He's going up against
The heaviest hitters
In the liquor business.
Home to mega-distillers
Like jim beam,
Maker's mark, and wild turkey,
Kentucky bourbon
Is the largest export
Of all u.S. Spirits worldwide.
For over 300 years,
Kentucky moonshiners
Have enjoyed easy access
To the vast distribution route
Provided
By the mississippi river
And its tributaries.
They have a major head start
In getting their booze
To markets,
So tim can never let up
If he's going to compete
With the big guns.
I'm a little bit nervous
About this situation.
It's been a long road.
I've been jumping fences and
Doing things to beat the system,
And now I'm across that fence.
So it's gonna be a ride.
Hello.
Welcome to limestone.
Although tim and steve
Have been negotiating
This partnership for months,
It's the first time
The two will meet in person.
- Hey, tim.
- Hey, steve. How you doing?
Welcome to the distillery.
Thank you. Thank you.
It's nice
To finally meet you.
Your reputation
Has preceded you.
Yeah? Okay.
I was just admiring
Your display case here.
You got, like, some antiques
And stuff in there.
This is some of
Our family heritage.
Uh-huh.
My great grandfather had
His own distillery.
We got his notes here from
When he was a master distiller,
And the bourbon
That we're doing today
Comes from his notes.
Steve was showing me in
His display case these records.
I got a little bit concerned
Because on my side of the story,
We don't have any documentation
Because that was the rule.
That's the code,
That we don't tell
And we don't
Write anything down.
My family's been legal
Since the beginning.
My family's been illegal
Since the beginning.
So, you know,
Maybe we can work it out.
Maybe.
Right.
Come on back,
And we'll show you
The distillery.
All right.
Here we are.
This
10,000-square-foot distillery
Is nothing like the woods.
It's all cold, hard steel.
The whiskey here
Is produced from two stills,
A 500-gallon
Modern stainless steel one,
And a handmade 150-gallon
Copper pot,
The pride and joy
Of the beam family.
But for tim,
The real differences
Are up against the wall.
What have you got
All these clipboards for?
This is all of our records
That correspond
To these mash tanks.
Oh, I see.
You got a number on it.
Yep.
Each fermenter is numbered
With a serial number,
And it all gets recorded.
A serial number on this?Absolutely.
Aww, nah.
See, I wouldn't want to put
A serial number on it.
Maybe I just keep up
With when it's ready.
No, no.
The government requires you
To have everything
Serial numbered
And records kept that correspond
To those numbers.
Wow.
The big thing
Is this documentation,
All of this paperwork.
I'm not feeling so comfortable
In writing everything down
And telling everyone
Exactly what I'm doing.
Well, the government has just
All got it locked down.
They got it locked down.
You can thank al capone
For that.
How about that?
Tim will have to watch his step.
Only five miles
From the distillery,
A lawman is on the hunt.
You know,
The sun goes down here,
And then the moonshiners
Come out at night.
It is a constant
Cat-and-mouse game.
Deputy sheriff kevin williams
Has a zero-tolerance policy
On moonshiners,
And he's hell-bent
On taking down
Every shiner in his district.
Moonshiners have
What they call their "Hotspots."
People are buying up land,
They're buying up farms,
With intentions of retiring
And coming to this county.
And that leaves
A lot of vacant properties.
It's not uncommon to find
A still operation set up
On those properties.
We've been asked
By property owners
To keep an eye on their property
For that specific reason.
Deputy sheriff williams
Has just received a tip
That shiners are squatting
One of these
Abandoned properties.
Experience has taught him
To be on his guard.
Shiners in kentucky are armed
And don't take kindly
To the law snooping around.
Had some visitors.
A snakeskin.
There's no sign of any recent
Activity in this location,
But sheriff williams
Isn't done yet.
There are hundreds
Of illegal shiners
Operating across the county
At this very moment
And thousands more
Across the country.
350 miles to the southeast,
Josh, bill, and cutie pie
Are scouring
The south carolina woods,
Searching for a still site.
They've got 500 gallons
Of strawberries fermenting
And almost ready
To distill into brandy.
And if they don't get a still
Up and running soon,
The fruit will spoil,
And they'll be left
With worthless vinegar.
Here now, we are trying
To find water sources.
We're trying to find cover
From the air.
We're trying to find a place
That we can actually get to.
It's really tough
To find the right spot.
It's good and cold.
It tastes clean enough.
Tastes clean enough
To make liquor out of.
Cold running water
Is one of the most
Important features
Of a still site.
It's used to cool down the worm
During installation,
And without it,
The alcohol vapor
Won't condense into moonshine.
As long as we can
Set the condenser unit
Lower than the surface
Of that water right there,
We got this little
Damn waterfall here
That's keeping us from having to
Run 300 yards of black pipe...
It saves a lot of work,
Don't it?
...Up the side of the mountain
Up here.
All you'd have to do
Is build it up
To a certain point
And then build a dip in it,
Let it flow out there
All the time.
I think we found a spot.
Sweet.
We're actually agreed
On something?
Yeah.
Yeah, this is starting out
A little bit too smooth.
Well, I think we're
Gonna do good this season.
As long as we don't
Get caught.
I'm so excited about this spot.
It has cover, good water,
It's really secluded.
It's hard to get to.
We haven't made
Any shine this season,
But we're right
On the tip of it.
We couldn't have
A better spot.
Back in virginia,
Tickle is on his own.
He's been handed the keys
To tim's moonshine kingdom,
But tim's old submarine pots
Won't make it another season.
You son of a bitch!
As one last favor,
Tim gave tickle the name
Of a fellow moonshiner
Who could give him
A crash course
On still construction.
All right.
I been driving now
About 6, 6½ hours.
I'm coming up here
To see this guy mark
Because, being as I'm taking
Over all this territory,
I'm gonna have to upgrade,
You know?
What I've been doing
Just ain't gonna cut it.
If I can't make enough moonshine
To supply this area,
Other people are gonna move in,
And it could easily get taken
Away from me.
That's the last thing I want.
Well, the place I hear
That mark hangs out at.
Biker bar, you know,
That ain't my kind of place.
I see a fella out there,
And it looks like it may be him.
Coming up...
Josh,
What happened to cutie pie?
What the hell?
Holy *bleep*
In tennessee,
Tickle is in uncharted
Territory.
He can no longer rely
On his former partner, tim,
So he's seeking help
From a legendary still builder.
I see a fella out there,
And it looks like it may be him.
But he needs to be careful.
Shiners don't take kindly
To drop-in visitors.
Ah *bleep*
Tickle is in for a tough season
Without tim.
But tim has problems of his own.
At the limestone branch
Distillery in kentucky,
Tim is already learning that
Moonshining is very different
When uncle sam is watching.
From when we get
A grain of corn in here,
We track it
From the very beginning,
All the way
Till it gets mashed,
Till it comes
Out the still.
Wow.
He's documenting
The corn that's coming in
To the moonshine that's leaving.
I mean, what for?
I just look at it
And I know when it's ready
And I cook it.
And I know what I get out of it.
We come over here,
And we've got a scale.
A scale?
And we have to weigh
All that alcohol.
What do you weigh it for?
It'll tell you
How many gallons you got.
Well, I mean,
It's a 55-gallon drum.
It's got 55 gallons in it.
It depends
On how hot it is
Is how many gallons
That you're gonna have.
But your weight
Never changes.
Then you have to convert it
From weight and proof
To how many gallons.
We've got an app for that.
He's got an app on his phone.
I'm used to making moonshine
Where there's not even
A reception.
This is the critical part,
'cause we have to pay tax
Every gallon we make.
You know,
I've been all of my life
Of not writing things down,
Not documenting anything,
So I'm scared
That I may mess up.
Oh, it's too complicated.
No, it's not complicated.
All you have to do
Is fill the numbers in.
You know, I think tim, overall,
Is a little overwhelmed
With all the record keeping,
Which is required
In a legal distillery.
It sounds like I got to start
Writing stuff down.
You've got to write every step,
Every single step.
It's not my rule.
It's uncle sam's rule.
We've got our still
Over here.
It's 150 gallons,
And it was handmade
Over in spain.
You see the detail.
Somebody had a really steady
Hand to hammer in that.
Looks good.
Yeah.
The beam family still
Is known as an alembic.
First developed
Around the year 800 a.D.
By an arab alchemist,
The word "Alembic"
Roughly translates
To "That which refines."
Some say its rounded shape
And copper construction
Give the alcohol a unique taste.
I know this still
Is his baby and everything,
But it's not good
For my moonshine,
Not the way it is.
I'm gonna have to change
Something,
And we need to upgrade.
We need to do something.
We got to make
Some more moonshine yet.
250 miles to the southeast,
Like tim, jeff and mark
Have plans of their own
To go bigger this season
With a 500-gallon still.
But they need a way
To distribute all that shine.
That's where
Jeff's son lance comes in.
♪ and the home of the brave ♪
Lance is on a mission.
He needs to recruit
An experienced driver,
Someone who can quickly move
Large quantities of shine.
Lance has the perfect person
In mind --
His cousin ty.
All right.
They're fixing to make
The last pedal.
Just a few miles away,
An amateur shiner
Is just getting
His foot in the door.
My route's normally
About 300 miles
All through the mountains
Of western north carolina.
This is my home turf.
Wayne's a meat delivery man,
And it's his last day
On the job.
But he has more on his mind
Than hamburgers and steaks.
With a son in college
And bills to pay,
He's venturing into a more
Profitable and dangerous career.
I'm going into something new,
And I've got to make it work.
Just like the meat
I've been delivering,
I'm gonna turn around,
And now it's gonna be moonshine.
Like many locals,
Wayne has heard
About the big money
To be made moonshining
In this territory,
And he wants in.
I've been
In this territory a long time.
I know these people
From way back.
He's keeping no secrets
When it comes to his new
Moonshining career.
The connections he's made
As a meat distributor
Are already helping him out
With the transition.
Oh, hey *bleep*
I'm glad you're back here.
Oh, man. She hooked me up.
50 pounds!
Wayne hasn't started
Shining yet,
But he's already broken
A fundamental rule --
The more people who know
You're making shine,
The more likely
You are to get busted.
Unlike wayne,
120 miles to the southeast,
Josh and bill
Are playing it safe,
And their caution
May have paid off.
They've finally found
A still site.
With 500 gallons of strawberries
Fermenting back home,
They need to quickly prepare
The site before the wine turns.
Their first step --
Dam the creek
To create
A reservoir of cool water.
So, all we got to do
Is dam it up just a little bit
All the way around
And put the plastic
In here, drape it over it,
And then throw our rocks
And our sand and our mortar.
Josh's plan
Is to dam up the creek
And build up the sides
With concrete,
Creating an artificial pond
To collect water.
They can then set their still
On the low ground downstream,
And the flow of gravity will
Move the water through a trough
From the pool
To the condenser barrel.
The running water
Will cool the worm,
Turning heated alcohol vapor
Into liquid moonshine.
Still working
On getting the game plan
For exactly how we're gonna
Build our dam.
We've both got
Little bit different ways
Of going about doing it.
I tell you, the concrete
Needs to be on the top
No matter what,
'cause it ain't gonna wash away.
But he wants to put sand on top.
It doesn't take a rocket
Scientist to figure out
The sand's gonna wash off
The top of sand
When you got
A creek running by it.
I don't know, man.
It just bothers me to be putting
The concrete structure --
There's concrete in every
God dang river in america.
I know, but this --
This is --
What are bridges
Made out of?
Eh.
130 miles away in tennessee,
Tickle can't start shining yet.
He's stuck
After getting rejected
By one of popcorn sutton's
Protégés.
Talked to tim.
He told me he was gonna make
A few phone calls,
Don't go nowhere.
I'm gonna go wait in the car.
Coming up...
Steve?We'll experiment.
Hey, kevin.
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
We're working with tim.
Never have found where
That actual still site was.
I'll be damned.
This is jackpot here.
Just outside newport, tennessee,
Tickle was denied help
By still builder mark,
So he called his partner tim.
Now all he can do is wait.
Hey, boy!
Come on out of in there.
I talked to tim.
You seem to check out
All right.
Be at that address
8:00 in the morning.
You know what? I'm just glad
He wants to talk to me.
That's all.
Over at the limestone branch
Distillery in kentucky,
Tim's proving that you can take
A shiner out of the woods,
But you can't take
The woods out of a shiner.
Looks like I got
A whole lot of work to do.
But I can make it work.
So, what's going on?
Well, I got an idea.
I've been looking at this
Right here.
You got, uh --
It looks like a 550-gallon,
500-gallon still.
I want to use this to primarily
Be my moonshine still.
Okay.
But I just want to make
Some changes to it.
You don't have
A thumper in it.
You got to have a doubler
In this system.
A doubler or thumper
Is a key part of tim's setup.
It allows a moonshiner to do
A double distillation
In one run,
Raising the alcohol content
And refining
The flavor of the shine.
In the distillery's
Current setup,
Tim would
Have to run a batch twice
To get the same results he had
In the virginia backwoods.
I come from a long line
Of distillers,
And we never used a thump keg.
This is not in the backwoods,
But I'm open to suggestions.
So we'll see what tim has
To bring to the table.
How long?
How long is it gonna take?
Yeah.
Hmm,
Maybe three days.
Okay.So, we need to make
This thing
A souped-up moonshine still.
All right.
This is your baby.
I'm not gonna worry about it.
I'm not even gonna move it.
I'm gonna leave it right there.
Okay.
Yeah.
250 miles to the southeast
In north carolina,
Jeff and mark have just finished
The cap to their new
500-gallon steel still.
It's a big step beyond
Their traditional copper stills,
But the larger size is crucial
To their plans
To take over the county.
...To neutralize the acid
That's in your alcohol.
Copper reacts with alcohol
To remove the sulfides produced
During distillation,
Improving its taste.
Meanwhile, only 10 miles away,
Legendary moonshiner jim tom
Is getting along just fine
Without his former partners.
With over 60 years
Of moonshining experience,
Jim tom has no shortage
Of customers
For his traditional
Copper pot stills.
Hey, how you doing?
But a moonshiner
Can never be too careful
When dealing with strangers.
Even a friendly face
Can belong to an undercover cop.
I was looking for a fella
Named jim tom.
Old sammy over there,
I went to high school with him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, what I was wanting is
I'm losing my job.
Mm-hmm.
And my boy's in college.
Mm-hmm.
And I need to make
Some money.
And I hear you can make
Some good money with moonshine,
And I need somebody
To build me a still.
Yep.
Oh.
Well, how much you reckon
It'd cost me
To get a still made?
Right.
Would you help me
With my first run a little bit?
I don't try to be.
How long it take you
To build it?
Two weeks?
You think
That'd be a good idea?
I got a little saying
For you.
Okay.
Jesus turned water into wine.
Right.
Us hillbillies
Turn water into shine.
Yeah.
Jim tom may believe in keeping
Illegal moonshine culture alive,
But over in kentucky,
Tim is doing his best
To work within the confines
Of the law,
And he's attracting
Unwanted attention.
Sheriff kevin williams knows
That one of the biggest shiners
In the game
Has moved into his district.
It's time to fire
A warning shot.
Steve?We'll experiment.
Hey, kevin.How are you?
Good, how are you?
Good. Good.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
How's everything going here?Going good.
Been busy.
Good. Good.
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
We're working with tim.
He's right over here.
Tim, this is kevin.Hey.
Officer williams with
The county sheriff's office.
How you doing?
Good.
I heard you were here
Doing some work with steve.
Yeah, I'm,
Uh, I'm learning
Some legal
Distillation practices,
I guess you could say.
I hope you're aware
That the manufacturing
Of undocumented distilled liquor
Is a criminal offense.
I'm trying to do everything
Right in the legal way.
Steve is my tutor,
I guess.
He's trying to train me
In the proper way
Of doing things,
Writing things down
And documenting what I do.
It's critical
That you write things down
Just to keep yourself and steve
Out of trouble.
Yeah,
I understand that.
Okay, well,
On behalf of the commonwealth,
Welcome to kentucky.
Just keep things legal.
Yeah, I'm gonna try.
All right.
Okay.
Nice to meet you.
You know, tim's a renowned
Illegal moonshiner.
The trust that tim does things
The right way
And the legal way
As he moves forward.
And we're gonna be watching him.
Whew.
Yeah.
I know.
Coming up...
I'm not arguing no more!
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
We argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
In graham county,
North carolina,
While jeff and mark
Put the finishing touches
On their huge
Stainless-steel still,
Jeff's son lance
Is handling distribution.
Lance's cousin ty
Is a dirt-track racer,
And he might have
The skills needed
To become
A full-fledged bootlegger.
120 miles to the northeast
In tennessee,
Tickle's on his way
To meet with mark,
One of the last shiners alive
To have worked
With popcorn sutton.
Well, I believe
I've found our location,
At least, I hope it is.
"Private property.
No trespassing"
Oh, man.
Even though
Mark is friends with tim,
An illegal moonshiner
Can never let his guard down.
Mark.
Hey, tickle.
I appreciate
You meeting me.
You're on time.
That's a good start.
Well, we are out here
In the woods a ways, ain't we?
Yeah.
Yeah, a little bit.
This is kind of
Sacred ground to me.
This is popcorn sutton's
Old house.
And a lot of old memories
Here.
Yee-haw!
Popcorn sutton's fame
For making the best shine
In the mountains
Extended across appalachia
And as far west as california.
It's a lost art.
When I'm gone,
It's all over with.
'cause nobody else ain't gonna
Work this hard.
And mark learned
All he knows about shining
Directly from the master.
What have you got in mind,
Tickle,
That I can maybe
Help you with?
Well, tim, as you know,
He's going legal.
Right.
And he has left me
This whole territory there
That is just mine
To run now.
And as far as what I know,
I can't make enough liquor
To supply that.
I'm after some new ways
Of making it,
Where I can take this territory
And supply it with liquor.
I understand.
Popcorn,
He pounded in me copper.
We do copper pots.
You've never used copper,
Right?
No, I have never
Used copper.
I'm gonna show you
How to do it.
I'm gonna make one,
Get you to help me.
We'll make a one-barrel pot.
You perfect your recipe.
You can use it.
You can make
Small batches.
And then you can make you one
As big as you want it.
That sounds good to me.All right.
Mark, he's a great guy.
He's got a wealth of knowledge
About this style of pot,
And this is something
That I can take back to my home
And really just transform
The whole region.
120 miles to the northeast,
Rookie moonshiner wayne
Is anxious to get started,
But he needs a patch of woods
To set up shop.
I heard there was
A still in here years ago.
Never have found where
That actual still site was.
Experienced moonshiners avoid
Returning to old sites.
If the place is well-known
To locals,
Then it could also be known
To the law.
I think
The water source is up here.
No one's ever gonna suspect
If anybody's up here
Making moonshine.
I just need to find
A good place to get my water.
There's a spring head
Right up there.
I'll be damned.
That's what I was looking for.
Look at that.
That's perfect.
Bet that water's good, too.
Oh, yeah.
I'll just pipe that right down
To that spot.
This is set up.
I mean, this is --
This is perfect.
All the work's done for me.
I ain't got to do jack.
The site may seem ideal,
But using it is a risk
That could get him arrested.
And if the still site
Is claimed by rival shiners,
Wayne's mistake
Could get him hurt or worse.
Over in south carolina,
Josh and bill have chosen
A virgin site,
But they'd better move fast.
Their strawberry mash
Is about to turn to vinegar.
All right. The still's gonna be
Our low point.
It's still gonna
Be on the plastic.
Right. Right.
That's why
I wanted plastic,
So it wouldn't erode
Out the backside.
If it ever starts
Mining out the backside,
It'll mine
The whole damn thing out.
But since we got the plastic
On the tail end,
We really don't need
Our pipe.
It'll still erode
Everything away.
Trust me.
You need a spillway. Trust me.
We seem to never really
Be able to agree on very much.
He fights me
Every step of the way.
Once we get it all set
Like we want it,
A bag of sakrete,
And just shake it
All over this thing
And put a layer
All over it.
I don't want to totally cover up
Everything on that end yet.
I just don't want
To leave too much concrete
Laying around this creek.
I mean, it's man and nature kind
Of thing once again, you know?
The creek's gonna give to us.
We got to make sure
To treat it right.
I'm sick of it.
I mean, it's impossible
To work with somebody
When they're not willing
To work with you.
Well,
Quit fighting me.
I ain't fighting.
You are fighting me.I'm talking about the pipe.
You argued about every
Freakin' step of the way.
I ain't arguing, now!
I'm telling you
My suggestions.
Suggestions, ass.
I'm telling you
What's on my mind,
'cause you know
I ain't gonna work
Until I get what's
On my mind off my mind.
I'm gonna kill him.
I'm not arguing no more!
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
I'm sick of arguing!
You argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
I'm done fighting!
It's either *bleep* work it out,
Or I'm done *bleep* working!
I'm not understanding it.
I'm done. I'm done.
...To a different place,
Down yonder.
In kentucky...
Tim's making
Some backwoods modifications
To the distillery
By adding a thump keg
To double output.
I think we don't
Even need this no more,
So I've got an idea.
We cut it off here
And piece this together.
That sounds good.
This morning, we had to come in
And redo the plumbing
On the inside
So it can recirculate.
We've cut this line
And cut that line
And removed
The 60-gallon barrel..
There you go....And reconnected it.
You need a torch?
No.
How are you gonna put it
Together without a torch?
We got these things right here,
And just push them on there.
You think
That's gonna hold water?
I hope so.
I don't think so.
Tim has
These compression things.
I've never used those before.
I don't trust them because
I don't know how long
That's gonna last.
Steve, he's still a little bit
Shaky about it, you know,
'cause he's not for sure
How the system works.
But I'm very confident
In my work,
And I think
It's gonna work real good.
It looks like
It's going in.
Let me go turn it on.
All right. You ready?
Yeah.
Is it on?
Yeah, it's on.
all right.
All right.
It should be recirculating.
It's going through.
I can feel it.
Good.
Yeah.
No leak.
Oh!
*bleep*
Oh, it's leaking!
I knew that's the one
That didn't connect good.
All right.
Shut it off.
The hell?
Holy *bleep*
Tim's new partnership
Is off to a rocky start,
But his disagreements with steve
Don't compare
To the blowouts
Between josh and bill.
quit fighting me. I ain't arguing, now!
I'm telling you
My suggestions.
You argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
Something happened
And he blew a gasket
And he run off.
If he wants to damn do it all
*bleep* up and it not work,
Then fine.
Do it yourself.
I'll go over here.
He got his ways
He's wanting to do it,
And I've got my ways
I'm wanting to do it.
I love being his partner,
I just wished he wouldn't
Fight me all the time.
We might work it out.
I hope so, I mean,
'cause this spot's too good.
Every day counts
During shine season.
Josh and bill
Had better patch it up quick
If they have any hopes
Of making liquor
Before their mash
Goes bad.
thank you, sir.
I know it's your nature
To know
Exactly what you're doing
And to be in charge
Of what you do,
And I understand that.
I have been a little combative
Today all around.
And I'm a bossy,
Mother scratching,
Son of a gun sometimes.
But I got somebody else
In my life
That wants to argue
About everything.
I don't need that
At work, too, man.
Can we please be a team?
I think
We got things worked out.
I think we both realized
It's gonna take teamwork,
And we always end up
Pulling it together.
Josh,
What happened to cutie pie?
cutie pie!
I hope
She's all right, man.
I hope she ain't got sick
Or something.
You know what I mean?
I think she might have
Something in her throat.
We might have to do
An x-ray on her.
I don't know what I'd do
If something happened
To my baby.
That's my best buddy.
It may be some kind of cough,
And that scares me to death,
'cause that could be anything.
I think I'm gonna take her
To the vet.
You mind if I skip out?
We got a little ways
Before our dam fills up.
I'll hold down the fort.
You get her took care of.
Cutie pie's my life.
I love her to death.
She's my best friend.
I don't know
If I could deal with it
If something happened to her.
In north carolina,
Jeff and mark are setting out
On the riskiest part
Of their plan --
Moving their operation
Into the woods.
Their still is camouflaged,
But they have to travel
On public roads,
And any blind curve could hide
A police officer waiting
To strike.
At daylight,
Take the rest of our barrels in.
If mark and jeff are caught,
They could face tens of
Thousands of dollars in fines
And years in prison.
Mnh.
Ain't man enough.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Wow.
Now we got
This hole in there,
Not to mention
All these dents.
Oh, god.
You know how I feel about
Cutting liquor down, man.
The man that makes liquor's
Got to be proud of his product.
Mnh.
I've been making moonshine
Out here in the swamp
For quite a few years.
Have you said anything
To anybody about doing this?
Oh, I ain't said nothing.
What is this?!
Papaw said that make
An old man feel young
And a young man
Just want to feel.
You know what I tell people
That want to start moonshining?
You'd better love it.
You won't be doing it long.
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
Tim's a renowned illegal
Moonshiner,
And we're gonna be watching him.
How much you reckon it'd cost me
To get a still made?
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
We argue, just argue,
And I'm sick of it!
This is how we make
The moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
It's the first
Few weeks of moonshine season.
Moonshiners across appalachia
Are mashed in and brewing.
The shine is flowing,
And the law is on high alert.
Deep in the mountains
Of north carolina,
Jeff and mark are carving out
A moonshine empire.
Their plan is to build
A giant 500-gallon still,
Using it to squeeze out
Rival moonshiners
By any means necessary.
Hidden away on this abandoned
Logging trail,
It'll be one of the biggest
Operations
The county has seen in years.
Yeah.
Jeff and mark were able to find
A secure still site,
But it'll need
A lot of prep work
Before distilling can begin.
But even at a site this remote,
Power tools could attract
Attention.
I'm just in here looking around.
The noise from the chain saw
Will travel for miles,
But it's a risk
They'll have to take.
The clock is ticking,
And it's time to shine.
250 miles to the northwest...
Tim has crossed the state lines
And arrived in kentucky.
He's alone, a stranger
In unfamiliar territory,
And he's about to take
The biggest risk of his life --
Going legal.
I'm going to meet a guy
Named steve beam.
He just started
A new distillery.
Limestone branch distillery
Is the name of it,
And he's part
Of the beam family.
Tim might be the best shiner
In southern virginia,
But by entering the whiskey
Business in kentucky,
He's going up against
The heaviest hitters
In the liquor business.
Home to mega-distillers
Like jim beam,
Maker's mark, and wild turkey,
Kentucky bourbon
Is the largest export
Of all u.S. Spirits worldwide.
For over 300 years,
Kentucky moonshiners
Have enjoyed easy access
To the vast distribution route
Provided
By the mississippi river
And its tributaries.
They have a major head start
In getting their booze
To markets,
So tim can never let up
If he's going to compete
With the big guns.
I'm a little bit nervous
About this situation.
It's been a long road.
I've been jumping fences and
Doing things to beat the system,
And now I'm across that fence.
So it's gonna be a ride.
Hello.
Welcome to limestone.
Although tim and steve
Have been negotiating
This partnership for months,
It's the first time
The two will meet in person.
- Hey, tim.
- Hey, steve. How you doing?
Welcome to the distillery.
Thank you. Thank you.
It's nice
To finally meet you.
Your reputation
Has preceded you.
Yeah? Okay.
I was just admiring
Your display case here.
You got, like, some antiques
And stuff in there.
This is some of
Our family heritage.
Uh-huh.
My great grandfather had
His own distillery.
We got his notes here from
When he was a master distiller,
And the bourbon
That we're doing today
Comes from his notes.
Steve was showing me in
His display case these records.
I got a little bit concerned
Because on my side of the story,
We don't have any documentation
Because that was the rule.
That's the code,
That we don't tell
And we don't
Write anything down.
My family's been legal
Since the beginning.
My family's been illegal
Since the beginning.
So, you know,
Maybe we can work it out.
Maybe.
Right.
Come on back,
And we'll show you
The distillery.
All right.
Here we are.
This
10,000-square-foot distillery
Is nothing like the woods.
It's all cold, hard steel.
The whiskey here
Is produced from two stills,
A 500-gallon
Modern stainless steel one,
And a handmade 150-gallon
Copper pot,
The pride and joy
Of the beam family.
But for tim,
The real differences
Are up against the wall.
What have you got
All these clipboards for?
This is all of our records
That correspond
To these mash tanks.
Oh, I see.
You got a number on it.
Yep.
Each fermenter is numbered
With a serial number,
And it all gets recorded.
A serial number on this?Absolutely.
Aww, nah.
See, I wouldn't want to put
A serial number on it.
Maybe I just keep up
With when it's ready.
No, no.
The government requires you
To have everything
Serial numbered
And records kept that correspond
To those numbers.
Wow.
The big thing
Is this documentation,
All of this paperwork.
I'm not feeling so comfortable
In writing everything down
And telling everyone
Exactly what I'm doing.
Well, the government has just
All got it locked down.
They got it locked down.
You can thank al capone
For that.
How about that?
Tim will have to watch his step.
Only five miles
From the distillery,
A lawman is on the hunt.
You know,
The sun goes down here,
And then the moonshiners
Come out at night.
It is a constant
Cat-and-mouse game.
Deputy sheriff kevin williams
Has a zero-tolerance policy
On moonshiners,
And he's hell-bent
On taking down
Every shiner in his district.
Moonshiners have
What they call their "Hotspots."
People are buying up land,
They're buying up farms,
With intentions of retiring
And coming to this county.
And that leaves
A lot of vacant properties.
It's not uncommon to find
A still operation set up
On those properties.
We've been asked
By property owners
To keep an eye on their property
For that specific reason.
Deputy sheriff williams
Has just received a tip
That shiners are squatting
One of these
Abandoned properties.
Experience has taught him
To be on his guard.
Shiners in kentucky are armed
And don't take kindly
To the law snooping around.
Had some visitors.
A snakeskin.
There's no sign of any recent
Activity in this location,
But sheriff williams
Isn't done yet.
There are hundreds
Of illegal shiners
Operating across the county
At this very moment
And thousands more
Across the country.
350 miles to the southeast,
Josh, bill, and cutie pie
Are scouring
The south carolina woods,
Searching for a still site.
They've got 500 gallons
Of strawberries fermenting
And almost ready
To distill into brandy.
And if they don't get a still
Up and running soon,
The fruit will spoil,
And they'll be left
With worthless vinegar.
Here now, we are trying
To find water sources.
We're trying to find cover
From the air.
We're trying to find a place
That we can actually get to.
It's really tough
To find the right spot.
It's good and cold.
It tastes clean enough.
Tastes clean enough
To make liquor out of.
Cold running water
Is one of the most
Important features
Of a still site.
It's used to cool down the worm
During installation,
And without it,
The alcohol vapor
Won't condense into moonshine.
As long as we can
Set the condenser unit
Lower than the surface
Of that water right there,
We got this little
Damn waterfall here
That's keeping us from having to
Run 300 yards of black pipe...
It saves a lot of work,
Don't it?
...Up the side of the mountain
Up here.
All you'd have to do
Is build it up
To a certain point
And then build a dip in it,
Let it flow out there
All the time.
I think we found a spot.
Sweet.
We're actually agreed
On something?
Yeah.
Yeah, this is starting out
A little bit too smooth.
Well, I think we're
Gonna do good this season.
As long as we don't
Get caught.
I'm so excited about this spot.
It has cover, good water,
It's really secluded.
It's hard to get to.
We haven't made
Any shine this season,
But we're right
On the tip of it.
We couldn't have
A better spot.
Back in virginia,
Tickle is on his own.
He's been handed the keys
To tim's moonshine kingdom,
But tim's old submarine pots
Won't make it another season.
You son of a bitch!
As one last favor,
Tim gave tickle the name
Of a fellow moonshiner
Who could give him
A crash course
On still construction.
All right.
I been driving now
About 6, 6½ hours.
I'm coming up here
To see this guy mark
Because, being as I'm taking
Over all this territory,
I'm gonna have to upgrade,
You know?
What I've been doing
Just ain't gonna cut it.
If I can't make enough moonshine
To supply this area,
Other people are gonna move in,
And it could easily get taken
Away from me.
That's the last thing I want.
Well, the place I hear
That mark hangs out at.
Biker bar, you know,
That ain't my kind of place.
I see a fella out there,
And it looks like it may be him.
Coming up...
Josh,
What happened to cutie pie?
What the hell?
Holy *bleep*
In tennessee,
Tickle is in uncharted
Territory.
He can no longer rely
On his former partner, tim,
So he's seeking help
From a legendary still builder.
I see a fella out there,
And it looks like it may be him.
But he needs to be careful.
Shiners don't take kindly
To drop-in visitors.
Ah *bleep*
Tickle is in for a tough season
Without tim.
But tim has problems of his own.
At the limestone branch
Distillery in kentucky,
Tim is already learning that
Moonshining is very different
When uncle sam is watching.
From when we get
A grain of corn in here,
We track it
From the very beginning,
All the way
Till it gets mashed,
Till it comes
Out the still.
Wow.
He's documenting
The corn that's coming in
To the moonshine that's leaving.
I mean, what for?
I just look at it
And I know when it's ready
And I cook it.
And I know what I get out of it.
We come over here,
And we've got a scale.
A scale?
And we have to weigh
All that alcohol.
What do you weigh it for?
It'll tell you
How many gallons you got.
Well, I mean,
It's a 55-gallon drum.
It's got 55 gallons in it.
It depends
On how hot it is
Is how many gallons
That you're gonna have.
But your weight
Never changes.
Then you have to convert it
From weight and proof
To how many gallons.
We've got an app for that.
He's got an app on his phone.
I'm used to making moonshine
Where there's not even
A reception.
This is the critical part,
'cause we have to pay tax
Every gallon we make.
You know,
I've been all of my life
Of not writing things down,
Not documenting anything,
So I'm scared
That I may mess up.
Oh, it's too complicated.
No, it's not complicated.
All you have to do
Is fill the numbers in.
You know, I think tim, overall,
Is a little overwhelmed
With all the record keeping,
Which is required
In a legal distillery.
It sounds like I got to start
Writing stuff down.
You've got to write every step,
Every single step.
It's not my rule.
It's uncle sam's rule.
We've got our still
Over here.
It's 150 gallons,
And it was handmade
Over in spain.
You see the detail.
Somebody had a really steady
Hand to hammer in that.
Looks good.
Yeah.
The beam family still
Is known as an alembic.
First developed
Around the year 800 a.D.
By an arab alchemist,
The word "Alembic"
Roughly translates
To "That which refines."
Some say its rounded shape
And copper construction
Give the alcohol a unique taste.
I know this still
Is his baby and everything,
But it's not good
For my moonshine,
Not the way it is.
I'm gonna have to change
Something,
And we need to upgrade.
We need to do something.
We got to make
Some more moonshine yet.
250 miles to the southeast,
Like tim, jeff and mark
Have plans of their own
To go bigger this season
With a 500-gallon still.
But they need a way
To distribute all that shine.
That's where
Jeff's son lance comes in.
♪ and the home of the brave ♪
Lance is on a mission.
He needs to recruit
An experienced driver,
Someone who can quickly move
Large quantities of shine.
Lance has the perfect person
In mind --
His cousin ty.
All right.
They're fixing to make
The last pedal.
Just a few miles away,
An amateur shiner
Is just getting
His foot in the door.
My route's normally
About 300 miles
All through the mountains
Of western north carolina.
This is my home turf.
Wayne's a meat delivery man,
And it's his last day
On the job.
But he has more on his mind
Than hamburgers and steaks.
With a son in college
And bills to pay,
He's venturing into a more
Profitable and dangerous career.
I'm going into something new,
And I've got to make it work.
Just like the meat
I've been delivering,
I'm gonna turn around,
And now it's gonna be moonshine.
Like many locals,
Wayne has heard
About the big money
To be made moonshining
In this territory,
And he wants in.
I've been
In this territory a long time.
I know these people
From way back.
He's keeping no secrets
When it comes to his new
Moonshining career.
The connections he's made
As a meat distributor
Are already helping him out
With the transition.
Oh, hey *bleep*
I'm glad you're back here.
Oh, man. She hooked me up.
50 pounds!
Wayne hasn't started
Shining yet,
But he's already broken
A fundamental rule --
The more people who know
You're making shine,
The more likely
You are to get busted.
Unlike wayne,
120 miles to the southeast,
Josh and bill
Are playing it safe,
And their caution
May have paid off.
They've finally found
A still site.
With 500 gallons of strawberries
Fermenting back home,
They need to quickly prepare
The site before the wine turns.
Their first step --
Dam the creek
To create
A reservoir of cool water.
So, all we got to do
Is dam it up just a little bit
All the way around
And put the plastic
In here, drape it over it,
And then throw our rocks
And our sand and our mortar.
Josh's plan
Is to dam up the creek
And build up the sides
With concrete,
Creating an artificial pond
To collect water.
They can then set their still
On the low ground downstream,
And the flow of gravity will
Move the water through a trough
From the pool
To the condenser barrel.
The running water
Will cool the worm,
Turning heated alcohol vapor
Into liquid moonshine.
Still working
On getting the game plan
For exactly how we're gonna
Build our dam.
We've both got
Little bit different ways
Of going about doing it.
I tell you, the concrete
Needs to be on the top
No matter what,
'cause it ain't gonna wash away.
But he wants to put sand on top.
It doesn't take a rocket
Scientist to figure out
The sand's gonna wash off
The top of sand
When you got
A creek running by it.
I don't know, man.
It just bothers me to be putting
The concrete structure --
There's concrete in every
God dang river in america.
I know, but this --
This is --
What are bridges
Made out of?
Eh.
130 miles away in tennessee,
Tickle can't start shining yet.
He's stuck
After getting rejected
By one of popcorn sutton's
Protégés.
Talked to tim.
He told me he was gonna make
A few phone calls,
Don't go nowhere.
I'm gonna go wait in the car.
Coming up...
Steve?We'll experiment.
Hey, kevin.
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
We're working with tim.
Never have found where
That actual still site was.
I'll be damned.
This is jackpot here.
Just outside newport, tennessee,
Tickle was denied help
By still builder mark,
So he called his partner tim.
Now all he can do is wait.
Hey, boy!
Come on out of in there.
I talked to tim.
You seem to check out
All right.
Be at that address
8:00 in the morning.
You know what? I'm just glad
He wants to talk to me.
That's all.
Over at the limestone branch
Distillery in kentucky,
Tim's proving that you can take
A shiner out of the woods,
But you can't take
The woods out of a shiner.
Looks like I got
A whole lot of work to do.
But I can make it work.
So, what's going on?
Well, I got an idea.
I've been looking at this
Right here.
You got, uh --
It looks like a 550-gallon,
500-gallon still.
I want to use this to primarily
Be my moonshine still.
Okay.
But I just want to make
Some changes to it.
You don't have
A thumper in it.
You got to have a doubler
In this system.
A doubler or thumper
Is a key part of tim's setup.
It allows a moonshiner to do
A double distillation
In one run,
Raising the alcohol content
And refining
The flavor of the shine.
In the distillery's
Current setup,
Tim would
Have to run a batch twice
To get the same results he had
In the virginia backwoods.
I come from a long line
Of distillers,
And we never used a thump keg.
This is not in the backwoods,
But I'm open to suggestions.
So we'll see what tim has
To bring to the table.
How long?
How long is it gonna take?
Yeah.
Hmm,
Maybe three days.
Okay.So, we need to make
This thing
A souped-up moonshine still.
All right.
This is your baby.
I'm not gonna worry about it.
I'm not even gonna move it.
I'm gonna leave it right there.
Okay.
Yeah.
250 miles to the southeast
In north carolina,
Jeff and mark have just finished
The cap to their new
500-gallon steel still.
It's a big step beyond
Their traditional copper stills,
But the larger size is crucial
To their plans
To take over the county.
...To neutralize the acid
That's in your alcohol.
Copper reacts with alcohol
To remove the sulfides produced
During distillation,
Improving its taste.
Meanwhile, only 10 miles away,
Legendary moonshiner jim tom
Is getting along just fine
Without his former partners.
With over 60 years
Of moonshining experience,
Jim tom has no shortage
Of customers
For his traditional
Copper pot stills.
Hey, how you doing?
But a moonshiner
Can never be too careful
When dealing with strangers.
Even a friendly face
Can belong to an undercover cop.
I was looking for a fella
Named jim tom.
Old sammy over there,
I went to high school with him.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, what I was wanting is
I'm losing my job.
Mm-hmm.
And my boy's in college.
Mm-hmm.
And I need to make
Some money.
And I hear you can make
Some good money with moonshine,
And I need somebody
To build me a still.
Yep.
Oh.
Well, how much you reckon
It'd cost me
To get a still made?
Right.
Would you help me
With my first run a little bit?
I don't try to be.
How long it take you
To build it?
Two weeks?
You think
That'd be a good idea?
I got a little saying
For you.
Okay.
Jesus turned water into wine.
Right.
Us hillbillies
Turn water into shine.
Yeah.
Jim tom may believe in keeping
Illegal moonshine culture alive,
But over in kentucky,
Tim is doing his best
To work within the confines
Of the law,
And he's attracting
Unwanted attention.
Sheriff kevin williams knows
That one of the biggest shiners
In the game
Has moved into his district.
It's time to fire
A warning shot.
Steve?We'll experiment.
Hey, kevin.How are you?
Good, how are you?
Good. Good.
Good to see you.
Good to see you.
How's everything going here?Going good.
Been busy.
Good. Good.
I hear you're doing some work
With tim smith.
Yeah.
We're working with tim.
He's right over here.
Tim, this is kevin.Hey.
Officer williams with
The county sheriff's office.
How you doing?
Good.
I heard you were here
Doing some work with steve.
Yeah, I'm,
Uh, I'm learning
Some legal
Distillation practices,
I guess you could say.
I hope you're aware
That the manufacturing
Of undocumented distilled liquor
Is a criminal offense.
I'm trying to do everything
Right in the legal way.
Steve is my tutor,
I guess.
He's trying to train me
In the proper way
Of doing things,
Writing things down
And documenting what I do.
It's critical
That you write things down
Just to keep yourself and steve
Out of trouble.
Yeah,
I understand that.
Okay, well,
On behalf of the commonwealth,
Welcome to kentucky.
Just keep things legal.
Yeah, I'm gonna try.
All right.
Okay.
Nice to meet you.
You know, tim's a renowned
Illegal moonshiner.
The trust that tim does things
The right way
And the legal way
As he moves forward.
And we're gonna be watching him.
Whew.
Yeah.
I know.
Coming up...
I'm not arguing no more!
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
We argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
In graham county,
North carolina,
While jeff and mark
Put the finishing touches
On their huge
Stainless-steel still,
Jeff's son lance
Is handling distribution.
Lance's cousin ty
Is a dirt-track racer,
And he might have
The skills needed
To become
A full-fledged bootlegger.
120 miles to the northeast
In tennessee,
Tickle's on his way
To meet with mark,
One of the last shiners alive
To have worked
With popcorn sutton.
Well, I believe
I've found our location,
At least, I hope it is.
"Private property.
No trespassing"
Oh, man.
Even though
Mark is friends with tim,
An illegal moonshiner
Can never let his guard down.
Mark.
Hey, tickle.
I appreciate
You meeting me.
You're on time.
That's a good start.
Well, we are out here
In the woods a ways, ain't we?
Yeah.
Yeah, a little bit.
This is kind of
Sacred ground to me.
This is popcorn sutton's
Old house.
And a lot of old memories
Here.
Yee-haw!
Popcorn sutton's fame
For making the best shine
In the mountains
Extended across appalachia
And as far west as california.
It's a lost art.
When I'm gone,
It's all over with.
'cause nobody else ain't gonna
Work this hard.
And mark learned
All he knows about shining
Directly from the master.
What have you got in mind,
Tickle,
That I can maybe
Help you with?
Well, tim, as you know,
He's going legal.
Right.
And he has left me
This whole territory there
That is just mine
To run now.
And as far as what I know,
I can't make enough liquor
To supply that.
I'm after some new ways
Of making it,
Where I can take this territory
And supply it with liquor.
I understand.
Popcorn,
He pounded in me copper.
We do copper pots.
You've never used copper,
Right?
No, I have never
Used copper.
I'm gonna show you
How to do it.
I'm gonna make one,
Get you to help me.
We'll make a one-barrel pot.
You perfect your recipe.
You can use it.
You can make
Small batches.
And then you can make you one
As big as you want it.
That sounds good to me.All right.
Mark, he's a great guy.
He's got a wealth of knowledge
About this style of pot,
And this is something
That I can take back to my home
And really just transform
The whole region.
120 miles to the northeast,
Rookie moonshiner wayne
Is anxious to get started,
But he needs a patch of woods
To set up shop.
I heard there was
A still in here years ago.
Never have found where
That actual still site was.
Experienced moonshiners avoid
Returning to old sites.
If the place is well-known
To locals,
Then it could also be known
To the law.
I think
The water source is up here.
No one's ever gonna suspect
If anybody's up here
Making moonshine.
I just need to find
A good place to get my water.
There's a spring head
Right up there.
I'll be damned.
That's what I was looking for.
Look at that.
That's perfect.
Bet that water's good, too.
Oh, yeah.
I'll just pipe that right down
To that spot.
This is set up.
I mean, this is --
This is perfect.
All the work's done for me.
I ain't got to do jack.
The site may seem ideal,
But using it is a risk
That could get him arrested.
And if the still site
Is claimed by rival shiners,
Wayne's mistake
Could get him hurt or worse.
Over in south carolina,
Josh and bill have chosen
A virgin site,
But they'd better move fast.
Their strawberry mash
Is about to turn to vinegar.
All right. The still's gonna be
Our low point.
It's still gonna
Be on the plastic.
Right. Right.
That's why
I wanted plastic,
So it wouldn't erode
Out the backside.
If it ever starts
Mining out the backside,
It'll mine
The whole damn thing out.
But since we got the plastic
On the tail end,
We really don't need
Our pipe.
It'll still erode
Everything away.
Trust me.
You need a spillway. Trust me.
We seem to never really
Be able to agree on very much.
He fights me
Every step of the way.
Once we get it all set
Like we want it,
A bag of sakrete,
And just shake it
All over this thing
And put a layer
All over it.
I don't want to totally cover up
Everything on that end yet.
I just don't want
To leave too much concrete
Laying around this creek.
I mean, it's man and nature kind
Of thing once again, you know?
The creek's gonna give to us.
We got to make sure
To treat it right.
I'm sick of it.
I mean, it's impossible
To work with somebody
When they're not willing
To work with you.
Well,
Quit fighting me.
I ain't fighting.
You are fighting me.I'm talking about the pipe.
You argued about every
Freakin' step of the way.
I ain't arguing, now!
I'm telling you
My suggestions.
Suggestions, ass.
I'm telling you
What's on my mind,
'cause you know
I ain't gonna work
Until I get what's
On my mind off my mind.
I'm gonna kill him.
I'm not arguing no more!
A knuckle sandwich
Is about to come out!
I'm sick of arguing!
You argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
I'm done fighting!
It's either *bleep* work it out,
Or I'm done *bleep* working!
I'm not understanding it.
I'm done. I'm done.
...To a different place,
Down yonder.
In kentucky...
Tim's making
Some backwoods modifications
To the distillery
By adding a thump keg
To double output.
I think we don't
Even need this no more,
So I've got an idea.
We cut it off here
And piece this together.
That sounds good.
This morning, we had to come in
And redo the plumbing
On the inside
So it can recirculate.
We've cut this line
And cut that line
And removed
The 60-gallon barrel..
There you go....And reconnected it.
You need a torch?
No.
How are you gonna put it
Together without a torch?
We got these things right here,
And just push them on there.
You think
That's gonna hold water?
I hope so.
I don't think so.
Tim has
These compression things.
I've never used those before.
I don't trust them because
I don't know how long
That's gonna last.
Steve, he's still a little bit
Shaky about it, you know,
'cause he's not for sure
How the system works.
But I'm very confident
In my work,
And I think
It's gonna work real good.
It looks like
It's going in.
Let me go turn it on.
All right. You ready?
Yeah.
Is it on?
Yeah, it's on.
all right.
All right.
It should be recirculating.
It's going through.
I can feel it.
Good.
Yeah.
No leak.
Oh!
*bleep*
Oh, it's leaking!
I knew that's the one
That didn't connect good.
All right.
Shut it off.
The hell?
Holy *bleep*
Tim's new partnership
Is off to a rocky start,
But his disagreements with steve
Don't compare
To the blowouts
Between josh and bill.
quit fighting me. I ain't arguing, now!
I'm telling you
My suggestions.
You argue just to argue,
And I'm sick of it!
Something happened
And he blew a gasket
And he run off.
If he wants to damn do it all
*bleep* up and it not work,
Then fine.
Do it yourself.
I'll go over here.
He got his ways
He's wanting to do it,
And I've got my ways
I'm wanting to do it.
I love being his partner,
I just wished he wouldn't
Fight me all the time.
We might work it out.
I hope so, I mean,
'cause this spot's too good.
Every day counts
During shine season.
Josh and bill
Had better patch it up quick
If they have any hopes
Of making liquor
Before their mash
Goes bad.
thank you, sir.
I know it's your nature
To know
Exactly what you're doing
And to be in charge
Of what you do,
And I understand that.
I have been a little combative
Today all around.
And I'm a bossy,
Mother scratching,
Son of a gun sometimes.
But I got somebody else
In my life
That wants to argue
About everything.
I don't need that
At work, too, man.
Can we please be a team?
I think
We got things worked out.
I think we both realized
It's gonna take teamwork,
And we always end up
Pulling it together.
Josh,
What happened to cutie pie?
cutie pie!
I hope
She's all right, man.
I hope she ain't got sick
Or something.
You know what I mean?
I think she might have
Something in her throat.
We might have to do
An x-ray on her.
I don't know what I'd do
If something happened
To my baby.
That's my best buddy.
It may be some kind of cough,
And that scares me to death,
'cause that could be anything.
I think I'm gonna take her
To the vet.
You mind if I skip out?
We got a little ways
Before our dam fills up.
I'll hold down the fort.
You get her took care of.
Cutie pie's my life.
I love her to death.
She's my best friend.
I don't know
If I could deal with it
If something happened to her.
In north carolina,
Jeff and mark are setting out
On the riskiest part
Of their plan --
Moving their operation
Into the woods.
Their still is camouflaged,
But they have to travel
On public roads,
And any blind curve could hide
A police officer waiting
To strike.
At daylight,
Take the rest of our barrels in.
If mark and jeff are caught,
They could face tens of
Thousands of dollars in fines
And years in prison.
Mnh.
Ain't man enough.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Wow.
Now we got
This hole in there,
Not to mention
All these dents.
Oh, god.
You know how I feel about
Cutting liquor down, man.
The man that makes liquor's
Got to be proud of his product.
Mnh.
I've been making moonshine
Out here in the swamp
For quite a few years.
Have you said anything
To anybody about doing this?
Oh, I ain't said nothing.
What is this?!
Papaw said that make
An old man feel young
And a young man
Just want to feel.
You know what I tell people
That want to start moonshining?
You'd better love it.
You won't be doing it long.