Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 5, Episode 10 - Caved In - full transcript
After coming to blow with Bill, Josh fears he may have finally gone too far. Patti and David aim to make up for lost time with a scorching new brew but alarm bells have them running for the hills.
Everybody runs through
This world so fast,
Uproar of just day-to-day life,
You know, run here, do this.
Moonshining for me,
I get to go back in the woods.
I get time to myself.
It's therapeutic.
After I get back so far
Off a road,
I forget that
Anything even exists.
Sitting there listening to
That still run,
It's no more peace
That you'll find on this earth.
It's the last scorching weeks of
Summer in shine country
As bands of outlaws
Race to meet demand,
Battling both exhaustion...
Ahh!...And one another.
In north carolina,
A shine site millions of years
In the making...
Listen.
You hear that?
...Swamp shine
Gets smoking-hot.
Let see if we can see somebody.
Put that light down.
The metacarpal,
That's broken.
...And in south carolina,
A partnership is shattered.
What I'm worried about
Is what's gonna happen
Between me and bill,
'cause that's my best friend.
♪ no one can hold me down ♪
♪ or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so don't waste your breath
Saying ♪
♪ crime never pays ♪
♪ we're going for a ride ♪
♪ running to survive ♪
♪ and living outside the law ♪
♪ we're living
Outside the law ♪
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
This ain't the first time
You x-rayed this hand,
I don't think, is it?
-I can't remember.
-I don't think it is.
In south carolina,
One shiner's in a world of hurt.
The measure of a man
Is how he controls his self,
And yesterday, I lost my temper.
I feel like such an ass.
Been awhile.
I hope it's a long while
After this one.
About how much do you weigh,
If you want to say?
-189.
-about how tall?
6'2" and some change.
Okay.
And how did you
Injure your hand?
Uh...
You want to *bleep*
Duke it out?
I'm sick of hearing you
Run your *bleep*
Aah!
*bleep*
What's wrong
With you, man?
*bleep*
Damn it, man!
Keep running your
*bleep*
It's a classic boxer.
Okay.
I guess you could say we
Had something of a falling out.
That's kind of
An understatement.
Me and josh been mad
At each other before,
But it's never
Come to fisticuffs.
All righty.
I got a couple bumps and bruises
This morning,
But I've took a whole lot worse
Ass-kicking than that.
I can't dwell on the past.
Just move forward
Is all I can do.
The fourth hand bone here,
The metacarpal, that's broken.
What does fixing it mean?
Fixing it means surgery.
There's a couple options.
One, you can pin it together,
The other is to
Make a small incision
And put plates
And screws in it.
What's the healing time?
It takes six weeks or so
For the bones to heal together.
Otherwise we've got to
Splint you and cast you.
Do that for about
Three or four weeks
And then
We start the exercises.
That's not good.
Mike, that's really bad.
Yeah.
I climb trees
And I work on motors,
And I need my hand now.
Mike, I can't wait
Till next week.
Like, I need it now.
-well, here's the thing.
I mean,
I'm gonna be honest with you,
If you can't do the recovery,
It's not worth
Doing the surgery.
Can't have surgery.
It's just not an option.
I've got a lot going on
And I don't really have the time
For this.
Okay.
I'll get some of them 2x4s
To put on here,
And I'll be ready
To rock and roll.
Way we left things yesterday,
I told him I was gonna have to
Sleep on it.
That I'd do some soul searching
And figure out if, you know,
If we were going to ever be able
To move forward again.
Was it worth it?
I'm man enough to admit
That I was wrong in what I did.
This broken hand's not gonna
Stop me from moonshining.
What I'm worried about is like,
You know,
What's gonna happen
Between me and bill,
'cause that's my best friend.
The last thing I want to do is
Mess my friendship up with bill.
That means everything
In the world to me.
That means more than
Any liquor still
Or, you know, any broken bone.
This time,
I kind of crossed a line.
I should've never done
What I did,
And, you know, but I did it.
♪♪
-we gonna break a sweat.
-big time.
Been over 100 degrees
Just about the whole month.
In the searing heat
Of the louisiana swamps,
Two shiners are trying to
Keep their cool.
It ain't like
Up in the mountains,
You just got perfect weather
For it, you know?
After two low-proof runs...
130.
That ain't worth a crap.
...Patti and david
Are desperate to fix their mash
And make up for lost time.
Here in louisiana,
It gets extremely hot,
And that's been
Killing our yeast.
It's been 105, 110 degrees
Here lately,
And that yeast has to be
In the '70s to be able to work.
The yeast has got to be able to
Break the sugar down
And let it ferment.
That's where the alcohol
Comes from.
If that yeast is not working,
It's not gonna produce any
High-proof alcohol at all.
Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
God, that hurt.
Huh?
That *bleep* hurt.
Having a hell of a time.
Jerked my butt down
The dang hill, that rope.
Daddy's down there
Laughing at me.
I thought it was kind of funny.
Yeah,
'cause that water's cool.
Yeah,
I think that'll work.
I believe I'm doing more work
Than you.
Daddy always lets me do all the
Digging and all the hard work.
Have to keep an eye on daddy,
'cause he'll just walk off
From you.
Perfect.
Move your hand.
No, it don't.
I think it's good.
Even with
Their temperature corrected,
The two shiners
Are still weeks behind,
So for their new batch,
They're cooking up a high-dollar
Recipe with some heat.
Oh, yeah.
I'm throwing everything
In there, even the top part.
This mash here
Is gonna be called cajun shine.
Gonna have jalapeños in it.
We normally stick with
Just corn, but we're behind.
We need to make some money.
I've never done
The jalapeño moonshine.
But cajuns,
We like everything hot,
So adding some jalapeño shine
To the market,
I think is gonna be pretty good
For us.
The hot oils that give
Jalapeños their fiery kick
Will be released
During fermentation,
Then slowly absorbed
By the alcohol mash
And burned off
During distillation,
Yielding both a smooth and spicy
Premium liquor
With a price point 50% higher
Than typical shine.
Whew.
Yeast, I'll pour it on here
And it'll break things down
And start fermenting
My ingredients in here,
And we'll see how these work.
I'm not really sure
How they're going to do.
We're kind of far behind.
Those two runs put us in a bind.
But with us doing this barrel
In the water,
I think it's gonna get us
Back on track.
Hopefully in a few days,
We'll be running some moonshine.
♪♪
Pretty country, ain't it?
Yeah.
High up in the smoky mountains,
Two carolina shiners
Are on the hunt for a new home.
After stockpiling 180 gallons of
Their family-recipe scotch...
...Jeff, mark, and lance
Abandoned their creek-side camp
When they discovered intruders
May have been there
The night before.
Well, let's go see
If we can find this thing.
Time is running out,
And we're gonna have to
Get to running
If we're gonna make any money
This year.
Yeah.
Yeah, this is a different world
Down in here. You can feel it.
You start seeing all this stuff.
It's got a little creepy feeling
To it.
Got him.
But it's about the coolest place
I ever seen to run liquor.
Yep.
I just wonder
How old this cave is.
I don't know.
Ain't no telling.
Spooky-looking place,
Isn't it?
♪♪
Hey, jeff?
Coming up, bonnie and clyde
In the kentucky backwoods.
I'll teach you everything
You need to know.
And for a carolina shiner,
One is the loneliest number.
Son of a bitch.
I kind of need bill for this.
Deep in the carolina backwoods,
Jeff and mark are scoping out
A subterranean shine site.
Hey, jeff?
♪♪
We searched all over the cave,
And we finally found water.
The spring-fed caverns dotting
The appalachian countryside
Have long served shiners.
During prohibition,
Outlaws rigged up
Their subterranean lairs
With all the creature comforts
Of home,
Including sleeping quarters,
Picnic tables to entertain,
And for the hungry shiner,
Succulent hogs
For the slaughter.
But not all underground liquor
Dens were kept under wraps.
The infamous bangor cave
Near birmingham, alabama,
Was outfitted with a bandstand,
Dance floor,
And a bar
Carved from the cave's own rock.
The popular cavern club
Proved to be a public nuisance
For local authorities,
Who repeatedly raided the site
Until a fire finally
Shut it down in 1939.
We've got a lot of stuff
To get in here.
It's gonna be a lot of trips
Up and down that
If we don't rig up something,
Ain't it?
We'll get it figured out.
♪♪
Hey, gucci, come here.
Let me see your puppy,
Elena.
Let me see him.
Hi, baby.
Get him off the table.
Hey.
I hate that you had to get
Another dog with a tail.
I like dogs with tails.
They're weapons.
In the heart of kentucky,
One shiner's enjoying
Some family time
After a bitter breakup.
You like your puppy?
Yeah.
This season,
Chico teamed up with tyler
To produce a top-dollar
Honey-bourbon recipe...
Damn *bleep*
...But their partnership
Came crashing down
Before the two made
A single dime.
You know how *bleep*
Fed up I am?
I ain't got time for somebody
To be prodding at me every day.
I'm tired of it.
Y'all have a good day.
I wasn't prepared to financially
Support us right now.
I've got no help.
It's not a good situation
To be in.
Me and tyler
Had a falling out.
Remember
I dropped his still?
Yeah.
He thinks
I done it on purpose.
Why would he think you
Dropped his still on purpose?
I don't know.
If he don't trust me
No more than that,
Then I don't need to be
In that situation.
Chico and tyler are not gonna be
Making liquor together.
They have been doing this for
Two years, and it's been awful.
It's done, it's over.
Last year, this year.
You'd better start
Making some liquor then.
A friend of mine,
He started a business.
He builds stills.
And he's like, "Hey, man,
You want to buy one?"
You know, I'm like,
"Yeah, why not?"
How big is it?
60 gallons.
It's not nothing outrageous.
We can get by with it.
I mean, that's a 60-gallon
Still, that's, you know --
You're gonna need somebody
To help you.
Is that a...?
Are you volunteering?
I'm here.
The kids are at school
All day long.
You want to make liquor?
Yeah. I want to help.
I've never
Made a run of liquor myself,
But, you know, we're from
Down here originally,
Our family's from down here.
We need this, we need moonshine.
For us, it's a source of income.
It's our livelihood.
You know, this is
How we make a living,
And I think I should help him.
I --
I can help you.
I can do this.
-you sure?
-yeah.
I don't think
Including my family in this
Is a good idea, you know?
I mean, if I go down,
It's one thing,
If she goes down, my kids are
Without a mom, without a dad.
They're gonna get put in
The service of the state.
It's just, it's not
A good situation to be in.
But right now, it's like
I don't have a choice.
I got to have somebody
Right now.
You have no clue --
'cause I have to do
Exactly what you say?
You have to do
Exactly what I say.
All right.
For the first time
In our relationship,
You have to listen
To everything I say.
Oh, you're so full of it.
♪♪
Oh, it's gonna be fun.
Yeah.
You just got to do
What you got to do.
South carolina shiner josh
Is back at his camouflage bunker
To run a 20-plus gallon batch,
But after his falling out
With bill,
He's forced to go it alone.
This the first time
I been down here
Since me and bill got into it.
Trying not to stir it up
Too much,
'cause I don't want to suck in
A bunch of solids.
I don't know what's happened
Between our friendship.
I don't want to see things
Go separate ways,
And I've done everything I know
How to do to get ahold of him,
And it just don't seem right to
Be making moonshine without him,
But I've exhausted all my means,
And can't pay none of my bills,
And I got to make some money.
And the only way
I can do it right now
Is make some more moonshine.
That's about all we gonna get
Out of her.
♪♪
Nothing to do now but wait.
The sight of cobwebs
In our still site,
That means
We're doing something wrong.
And I wish bill was here
To help me.
I made a mistake by letting
My temper get ahold of me.
Bill's my best friend.
He's the man I can call
No matter what's going on.
And I, well,
By acting like a fool,
I've jeopardized our friendship,
And now I'm down here
Making moonshine by myself.
Tell you the truth,
It's not quite as much fun
Without my buddy.
I'm kind of missing him
Going on with me.
Hell, I messed things up.
Coming up, alarm bells
Go off in louisiana...
I'll meet you around.
...And two shiners' plans
Vanish into thin air.
It's taking forever.
You ready to go home, too,
Ain't you, cutie pie?
In south carolina,
One shiner's down on his luck
And flying solo.
Without bill here,
It's awful quiet.
I miss my buddy.
You know, people think
Making liquor's easy,
And it's good money,
But you're working your ass off
For it.
It takes a lot to get there,
I'll tell you that.
You just don't
Jump right into it.
This thing should be running
Any time.
Oh, yeah.
♪♪
There it is.
That's how you want it to run,
No more than
About a matchstick.
The slower you run her,
The better she is.
That's about all the head
Right there.
She's good and clear.
She's high, too.
Damn, that's hot.
I believe that's probably
Gonna be the last jar.
She's starting to cloud up
A little bit.
Damn, I can't believe
We got that much off of it.
Josh's single run
Should yield over 2 grand worth
Of corn whiskey,
Enough for him to fill
A 20-gallon order
And make some fast cash.
Son of a bitch.
Yeah, I kind of need bill
For this.
Unbelievable.
I can't win for losing.
I'll be taking them out of here
In a 5-gallon bucket next time,
That's for dang sure.
Stupid *bleep*
If I could,
I'd kick my own damn ass.
♪♪
Back in north carolina,
Jeff and mark are eager
To load in their supplies
And get the liquor flowing.
All right.
If you ain't even got nothing
In your hands.
♪♪
Yep.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Got 'em?
Here it comes.
Yeah.
Uh-oh.
♪♪
Jeff and mark have
Wandered into a fouled air cave,
Which is a cavern where high
Concentrations of carbon dioxide
Collect
In the cavern's deepest regions.
It occurs in caves with minimal
Or no air movement.
Carbon dioxide,
Which enters through groundwater
And animal respiration
Pools in the cave's
Lowest regions,
Displacing any lighter oxygen
And nitrogen atoms.
With no circulation
To disperse it,
The co2 will remain there
Indefinitely.
Someone descending into
The oxygen-depleted cave
Carrying a lantern will see
The flame steadily die down
And extinguish.
Fouled air caves can be lethal
To anyone entering,
As carbon dioxide levels
As low as 10%
Will cause unconsciousness,
Suffocation, and eventual death.
It tastes good.
It's a concern
That if somebody walks up
And looks off in the cave,
Right there we are.
But you know, we've got a lot of
Time and money invested in this,
And we're gonna push forward
With it
And try to get us a run off
Down here.
♪♪
Well, you ready
To get this going?
Yeah, I think it's gonna
Turn out pretty good.
Be something new anyway.
Back in red river parish,
Patti and david
Are anxious to put flame to pot
On their first run
Of spicy shine.
We're real excited.
We got to be cautious.
You want to just go on
Around the perimeter?
But after
A number of close calls
At their springwater site...
We've got a neighbor over here,
He likes to snoop around
A little bit.
...Father and daughter
Aren't taking any chances.
We're going to do a night
Run, so we came a little early.
The first thing we're gonna do
Is check our
Motion-detecting alarms.
We got a few of them all the way
Around our perimeter,
So I kind of feel safe
About that.
Let it get some gas built up.
Patti and david's pepper mash
Has been fermenting
For nearly a week.
If the cool springwaters
Have kept the yeast temperature
Stable,
The run should produce
High-proof liquor.
Smelling really good.
It's ready to run.
I've never heard of anybody
Making jalapeño moonshine,
So I think that's gonna
Make our mark in this parish.
Them peppers are strong,
Ain't they?
Mm-hmm.
All right, we ready
To light the fire then.
Mm-hmm.
♪♪
All right, we're ready
To oatmeal it up.
Ready to go.
Come on, mash.
We've had a couple bad runs,
But we're gonna try this
Jalapeño shine.
Hopefully, it'll get us
Back on our feet.
I'll be getting home
Late tonight,
So I'll be a little tired
In the morning
When I get the kids up
For school.
But I'll be fine.
It's not my first rodeo.
It's peaceful, ain't it?
Tyler wanted tacos,
So I cooked tacos.
Caitlin wanted refried beans,
So cooked that.
Ain't nothing wrong with that.
Well, I was glad
Of an easy supper,
'cause I knew I had to come --
Uh-oh.
I'll meet you around.
Coming up,
Too much junk in the trunk.
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
Just rest your elbow
On the pillow.
And one shiner's still broken up
Over a best friend.
All right,
Take a big, deep breath.
It's peaceful, ain't it?
Tyler wanted tacos,
So I cooked tacos.
Caitlin wanted refried beans,
So cooked that.
Back in cajun country,
Patti and david are on the verge
Of sampling their first sip of
Jalapeño shine.
I was glad
Of an easy supper,
'cause I knew I had to come --
Uh-oh.
I'll meet you around.
♪♪
That's him.
I didn't see anybody.
-huh?
-I didn't see nobody.
Yeah.
It was a false alarm.
Yep. He just set it off.
Luckily,
We didn't see anybody.
We both split and come around
And met each other,
So if it was somebody,
One of us would've seen them.
Shouldn't be
Much longer.
I'll check the heat
On the pipe.
Ooh.
Sure is.
-any time.
This pipe here's gonna always
Get hot first, then comes down,
And once it fills this
And gets to steaming,
It's really running it twice
For you through a thumper.
And yeah, it's hot,
So it'll be coming out.
Uh-oh.
There it is.
This is what blinds people,
Kills people.
I'm kind of nervous.
We've only made
A few gallons here lately,
And it's been low-proof
On account of the yeast problem
That we had.
I'm fixing
To check the proof.
For their
Jalapeño shine to be profitable,
The first quart from the still
Needs to be 140 proof or higher.
140.
That's what
I'm talking about.
High five.
Any moonshiner wants
A high proof,
So we was satisfied with that.
Now if it tastes pretty good,
I think we're gonna start
Making money.
Let me taste it.
Pretty good.
It's not like something's
Burning your mouth,
Just from
The pepper itself.
It's got
The jalapeño hotness,
And it dissipates
As it goes down.
I like it.
But I'm gonna
Put a jalapeño in these,
Just to spice it up.
This right here is gonna be
A new hit.
Put it in there.
I'm hoping to get
Several gallons out of it.
Patti and david's
New spicy shine
Should fetch $150 per gallon,
A 50% mark-up compared to
Traditional corn whiskey.
I'm believing this here's
Gonna be the winner this year.
♪♪
You've got to be casual,
You've got to be cool.
You don't get in no rush,
You don't get in no hurry.
It's just like right now.
I am doing 53-mile an hour
In a 55 zone,
Because I don't want
No attention on me.
No, you're running 45.
Back in the bluegrass state,
Chico and his protégé are
Looking to make a little green.
Are you sure
They're gonna be there?
Oh, he'll be there.
They're eager to
Pick up their new still
And put their first run
On the board.
And I'm excited, too, 'cause
This is a new setup for me,
And this is
An industrial-grade pot.
You know, the tradition
Of moonshine goes back forever.
It's fun to really get
Your hands in the tradition
And the culture of something
That is so special to that area
And has been around forever.
Makes you proud
Of what you're doing.
I want to know why you have to
Do something a certain way,
And why it has to be
"X" degrees.
I'll teach you everything
You need to know.
It's a lot more to it
Than I really realized,
Because I've never really had to
Sit down and explain it.
Yeah, and we have a lot more to
Lose this time if we do mess up.
No kidding.
You sure
You want to do this?
Yeah.
I mean, no one's gonna
Have your back like I will.
Ready?
I'm ready.
♪♪
Right.
What's going on, man?
Yeah. We've been here
For a little while.
Whoa.
That's it.
Ain't nothing else.
It's all contained
In one unit.
Chico's
Stout 60-gallon copper still
Combines the pot, thump keg,
And condenser into one unit...
Bubba, thank you.
...Cutting production time
In half.
But the bigger
The piece of hardware,
The tougher the haul.
You got this side?
All right.
I'm gonna rock it my way.
-I got it.
-okay.
Oh *bleep*
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
*bleep*
Coming up, josh, bill,
And the point of no return.
Josh rung my bell pretty good,
And once you ring a bell,
You can't unring it.
I want to go down there.
By god, look at that.
Oh, yeah, they're moving.
-look right here.
-oh, right here.
I know.
You think I can catch one?
Dang.
That's what I'm trying.
They slick as a baby's ass,
Ain't they?
Ooh *bleep*
Ooh, there you go.
-whoa.
-you lucky dog.
You outdone me today.
Ahh.
Got him.
I wasn't leaving here
Until I got one.
Daddy done caught one.
Unh-unh.
He ain't gonna outdo me.
Whoo-hoo. Got supper.
I hope
That fits in the trunk.
Chico
And his new partner in crime
Were poised for a mid-season
Surge with their new still...
Oh *bleep*
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
...But bad planning already
Has the bluegrass shiners
On the brink of disaster.
It's not gonna go.
We got to go.
-we can't just ride --
-we have to go.
Okay.
Car. Let's go.
God, that's obvious.
Whew.
Let's go.
Well, we've got to
Take this thing
And stash it somewhere
First.
All right.
Just relax.
It's okay.
Just act cool.
You see, this is one of them
Spots I was telling you about.
You do favors with liquor,
And people will do favors
For you.
As far as the law's concerned,
If they do come in on us,
She's in trouble.
-all right.
-got it?
Yeah, you got it.
All right, where --
Set it over here.
Oh, god. Yeah.
You okay?
You want to cover it
With anything?
Honey,
This door's gonna lock.
You got --
You got the top?
We'll get it
Here in a second.
I'm not trying to rush you,
But I kind of want to hurry up.
All right. Yeah.
-all right.
-we're good. Cool.
Everything about this
Is dangerous.
This is not just
He might go to jail,
This is me and him
Might go to jail.
Got it all done.
All right, let's go.
We're partners
In everything we do.
We're partners
Raising our children,
And we're gonna be
Partners in this.
♪♪
Just rest your elbow
On the pillow.
Ow.
It's been a week since two
Carolina shiners came to blows,
But little has healed.
Y'all believe this crap?
You did it.
God.
I was stupid to.
After trying to work through
The pain,
Josh has finally agreed
To follow doctor's orders.
Ultimately, it's gonna be
About four to six weeks
Before I can use my hand again
Without this cast.
The way me and bill
Make moonshine,
It's about more work
Than two people can do.
Prop it up
On your elbow again.
I have a hard time
Following directions. I'm sorry.
That might not be
Your only problem.
Bill's my brother,
And I love him,
And the last thing I want to do
Is lose my partner.
♪♪
I try not to dwell on the past.
What's done is done,
And I got to move forward.
Before me and josh had ever
Started working together,
I had a little pressure cooker
And a little 5-gallon bucket
For a worm,
And I was running down liquor
A few quarts at a time.
I mean,
And I was happy doing that.
Let's go solder this puppy up.
I think she's ready to go.
All right,
Take a big, deep breath.
Breathe
Through your nose.
I'm good, I'm good.
I feel like if bill
Was here right now today...
...He'd tell me he loved me,
And he's still here for me.
Tomorrow, we're going to work
Together.
For some reason,
I just don't feel like
This is the end
For me and bill.
Josh rung my bell
Pretty good, you know,
And once you ring a bell,
You can't unring it.
We've been putting up with
Each other for a long time,
But looks like
That part of my life's over.
And I don't see myself
Really ever trying to
Make liquor with josh again.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Holy crap.
Go ahead, pick it up.
Josh gets his hand caught
In the honey pot...
*bleep*
Damn, he tore my ass up,
Right on the forehead.
Oh, hell, digger.
...Mark and digger
See fire and rain...
Oh, damn.
I ain't seen it do this
In a long, long time.
...And judgement day
In virginia.
The sentencing range
On a class 4 felony
Is from 2 years to 10 years
In the penitentiary.
That's a long time.
This world so fast,
Uproar of just day-to-day life,
You know, run here, do this.
Moonshining for me,
I get to go back in the woods.
I get time to myself.
It's therapeutic.
After I get back so far
Off a road,
I forget that
Anything even exists.
Sitting there listening to
That still run,
It's no more peace
That you'll find on this earth.
It's the last scorching weeks of
Summer in shine country
As bands of outlaws
Race to meet demand,
Battling both exhaustion...
Ahh!...And one another.
In north carolina,
A shine site millions of years
In the making...
Listen.
You hear that?
...Swamp shine
Gets smoking-hot.
Let see if we can see somebody.
Put that light down.
The metacarpal,
That's broken.
...And in south carolina,
A partnership is shattered.
What I'm worried about
Is what's gonna happen
Between me and bill,
'cause that's my best friend.
♪ no one can hold me down ♪
♪ or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so don't waste your breath
Saying ♪
♪ crime never pays ♪
♪ we're going for a ride ♪
♪ running to survive ♪
♪ and living outside the law ♪
♪ we're living
Outside the law ♪
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
This ain't the first time
You x-rayed this hand,
I don't think, is it?
-I can't remember.
-I don't think it is.
In south carolina,
One shiner's in a world of hurt.
The measure of a man
Is how he controls his self,
And yesterday, I lost my temper.
I feel like such an ass.
Been awhile.
I hope it's a long while
After this one.
About how much do you weigh,
If you want to say?
-189.
-about how tall?
6'2" and some change.
Okay.
And how did you
Injure your hand?
Uh...
You want to *bleep*
Duke it out?
I'm sick of hearing you
Run your *bleep*
Aah!
*bleep*
What's wrong
With you, man?
*bleep*
Damn it, man!
Keep running your
*bleep*
It's a classic boxer.
Okay.
I guess you could say we
Had something of a falling out.
That's kind of
An understatement.
Me and josh been mad
At each other before,
But it's never
Come to fisticuffs.
All righty.
I got a couple bumps and bruises
This morning,
But I've took a whole lot worse
Ass-kicking than that.
I can't dwell on the past.
Just move forward
Is all I can do.
The fourth hand bone here,
The metacarpal, that's broken.
What does fixing it mean?
Fixing it means surgery.
There's a couple options.
One, you can pin it together,
The other is to
Make a small incision
And put plates
And screws in it.
What's the healing time?
It takes six weeks or so
For the bones to heal together.
Otherwise we've got to
Splint you and cast you.
Do that for about
Three or four weeks
And then
We start the exercises.
That's not good.
Mike, that's really bad.
Yeah.
I climb trees
And I work on motors,
And I need my hand now.
Mike, I can't wait
Till next week.
Like, I need it now.
-well, here's the thing.
I mean,
I'm gonna be honest with you,
If you can't do the recovery,
It's not worth
Doing the surgery.
Can't have surgery.
It's just not an option.
I've got a lot going on
And I don't really have the time
For this.
Okay.
I'll get some of them 2x4s
To put on here,
And I'll be ready
To rock and roll.
Way we left things yesterday,
I told him I was gonna have to
Sleep on it.
That I'd do some soul searching
And figure out if, you know,
If we were going to ever be able
To move forward again.
Was it worth it?
I'm man enough to admit
That I was wrong in what I did.
This broken hand's not gonna
Stop me from moonshining.
What I'm worried about is like,
You know,
What's gonna happen
Between me and bill,
'cause that's my best friend.
The last thing I want to do is
Mess my friendship up with bill.
That means everything
In the world to me.
That means more than
Any liquor still
Or, you know, any broken bone.
This time,
I kind of crossed a line.
I should've never done
What I did,
And, you know, but I did it.
♪♪
-we gonna break a sweat.
-big time.
Been over 100 degrees
Just about the whole month.
In the searing heat
Of the louisiana swamps,
Two shiners are trying to
Keep their cool.
It ain't like
Up in the mountains,
You just got perfect weather
For it, you know?
After two low-proof runs...
130.
That ain't worth a crap.
...Patti and david
Are desperate to fix their mash
And make up for lost time.
Here in louisiana,
It gets extremely hot,
And that's been
Killing our yeast.
It's been 105, 110 degrees
Here lately,
And that yeast has to be
In the '70s to be able to work.
The yeast has got to be able to
Break the sugar down
And let it ferment.
That's where the alcohol
Comes from.
If that yeast is not working,
It's not gonna produce any
High-proof alcohol at all.
Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.
God, that hurt.
Huh?
That *bleep* hurt.
Having a hell of a time.
Jerked my butt down
The dang hill, that rope.
Daddy's down there
Laughing at me.
I thought it was kind of funny.
Yeah,
'cause that water's cool.
Yeah,
I think that'll work.
I believe I'm doing more work
Than you.
Daddy always lets me do all the
Digging and all the hard work.
Have to keep an eye on daddy,
'cause he'll just walk off
From you.
Perfect.
Move your hand.
No, it don't.
I think it's good.
Even with
Their temperature corrected,
The two shiners
Are still weeks behind,
So for their new batch,
They're cooking up a high-dollar
Recipe with some heat.
Oh, yeah.
I'm throwing everything
In there, even the top part.
This mash here
Is gonna be called cajun shine.
Gonna have jalapeños in it.
We normally stick with
Just corn, but we're behind.
We need to make some money.
I've never done
The jalapeño moonshine.
But cajuns,
We like everything hot,
So adding some jalapeño shine
To the market,
I think is gonna be pretty good
For us.
The hot oils that give
Jalapeños their fiery kick
Will be released
During fermentation,
Then slowly absorbed
By the alcohol mash
And burned off
During distillation,
Yielding both a smooth and spicy
Premium liquor
With a price point 50% higher
Than typical shine.
Whew.
Yeast, I'll pour it on here
And it'll break things down
And start fermenting
My ingredients in here,
And we'll see how these work.
I'm not really sure
How they're going to do.
We're kind of far behind.
Those two runs put us in a bind.
But with us doing this barrel
In the water,
I think it's gonna get us
Back on track.
Hopefully in a few days,
We'll be running some moonshine.
♪♪
Pretty country, ain't it?
Yeah.
High up in the smoky mountains,
Two carolina shiners
Are on the hunt for a new home.
After stockpiling 180 gallons of
Their family-recipe scotch...
...Jeff, mark, and lance
Abandoned their creek-side camp
When they discovered intruders
May have been there
The night before.
Well, let's go see
If we can find this thing.
Time is running out,
And we're gonna have to
Get to running
If we're gonna make any money
This year.
Yeah.
Yeah, this is a different world
Down in here. You can feel it.
You start seeing all this stuff.
It's got a little creepy feeling
To it.
Got him.
But it's about the coolest place
I ever seen to run liquor.
Yep.
I just wonder
How old this cave is.
I don't know.
Ain't no telling.
Spooky-looking place,
Isn't it?
♪♪
Hey, jeff?
Coming up, bonnie and clyde
In the kentucky backwoods.
I'll teach you everything
You need to know.
And for a carolina shiner,
One is the loneliest number.
Son of a bitch.
I kind of need bill for this.
Deep in the carolina backwoods,
Jeff and mark are scoping out
A subterranean shine site.
Hey, jeff?
♪♪
We searched all over the cave,
And we finally found water.
The spring-fed caverns dotting
The appalachian countryside
Have long served shiners.
During prohibition,
Outlaws rigged up
Their subterranean lairs
With all the creature comforts
Of home,
Including sleeping quarters,
Picnic tables to entertain,
And for the hungry shiner,
Succulent hogs
For the slaughter.
But not all underground liquor
Dens were kept under wraps.
The infamous bangor cave
Near birmingham, alabama,
Was outfitted with a bandstand,
Dance floor,
And a bar
Carved from the cave's own rock.
The popular cavern club
Proved to be a public nuisance
For local authorities,
Who repeatedly raided the site
Until a fire finally
Shut it down in 1939.
We've got a lot of stuff
To get in here.
It's gonna be a lot of trips
Up and down that
If we don't rig up something,
Ain't it?
We'll get it figured out.
♪♪
Hey, gucci, come here.
Let me see your puppy,
Elena.
Let me see him.
Hi, baby.
Get him off the table.
Hey.
I hate that you had to get
Another dog with a tail.
I like dogs with tails.
They're weapons.
In the heart of kentucky,
One shiner's enjoying
Some family time
After a bitter breakup.
You like your puppy?
Yeah.
This season,
Chico teamed up with tyler
To produce a top-dollar
Honey-bourbon recipe...
Damn *bleep*
...But their partnership
Came crashing down
Before the two made
A single dime.
You know how *bleep*
Fed up I am?
I ain't got time for somebody
To be prodding at me every day.
I'm tired of it.
Y'all have a good day.
I wasn't prepared to financially
Support us right now.
I've got no help.
It's not a good situation
To be in.
Me and tyler
Had a falling out.
Remember
I dropped his still?
Yeah.
He thinks
I done it on purpose.
Why would he think you
Dropped his still on purpose?
I don't know.
If he don't trust me
No more than that,
Then I don't need to be
In that situation.
Chico and tyler are not gonna be
Making liquor together.
They have been doing this for
Two years, and it's been awful.
It's done, it's over.
Last year, this year.
You'd better start
Making some liquor then.
A friend of mine,
He started a business.
He builds stills.
And he's like, "Hey, man,
You want to buy one?"
You know, I'm like,
"Yeah, why not?"
How big is it?
60 gallons.
It's not nothing outrageous.
We can get by with it.
I mean, that's a 60-gallon
Still, that's, you know --
You're gonna need somebody
To help you.
Is that a...?
Are you volunteering?
I'm here.
The kids are at school
All day long.
You want to make liquor?
Yeah. I want to help.
I've never
Made a run of liquor myself,
But, you know, we're from
Down here originally,
Our family's from down here.
We need this, we need moonshine.
For us, it's a source of income.
It's our livelihood.
You know, this is
How we make a living,
And I think I should help him.
I --
I can help you.
I can do this.
-you sure?
-yeah.
I don't think
Including my family in this
Is a good idea, you know?
I mean, if I go down,
It's one thing,
If she goes down, my kids are
Without a mom, without a dad.
They're gonna get put in
The service of the state.
It's just, it's not
A good situation to be in.
But right now, it's like
I don't have a choice.
I got to have somebody
Right now.
You have no clue --
'cause I have to do
Exactly what you say?
You have to do
Exactly what I say.
All right.
For the first time
In our relationship,
You have to listen
To everything I say.
Oh, you're so full of it.
♪♪
Oh, it's gonna be fun.
Yeah.
You just got to do
What you got to do.
South carolina shiner josh
Is back at his camouflage bunker
To run a 20-plus gallon batch,
But after his falling out
With bill,
He's forced to go it alone.
This the first time
I been down here
Since me and bill got into it.
Trying not to stir it up
Too much,
'cause I don't want to suck in
A bunch of solids.
I don't know what's happened
Between our friendship.
I don't want to see things
Go separate ways,
And I've done everything I know
How to do to get ahold of him,
And it just don't seem right to
Be making moonshine without him,
But I've exhausted all my means,
And can't pay none of my bills,
And I got to make some money.
And the only way
I can do it right now
Is make some more moonshine.
That's about all we gonna get
Out of her.
♪♪
Nothing to do now but wait.
The sight of cobwebs
In our still site,
That means
We're doing something wrong.
And I wish bill was here
To help me.
I made a mistake by letting
My temper get ahold of me.
Bill's my best friend.
He's the man I can call
No matter what's going on.
And I, well,
By acting like a fool,
I've jeopardized our friendship,
And now I'm down here
Making moonshine by myself.
Tell you the truth,
It's not quite as much fun
Without my buddy.
I'm kind of missing him
Going on with me.
Hell, I messed things up.
Coming up, alarm bells
Go off in louisiana...
I'll meet you around.
...And two shiners' plans
Vanish into thin air.
It's taking forever.
You ready to go home, too,
Ain't you, cutie pie?
In south carolina,
One shiner's down on his luck
And flying solo.
Without bill here,
It's awful quiet.
I miss my buddy.
You know, people think
Making liquor's easy,
And it's good money,
But you're working your ass off
For it.
It takes a lot to get there,
I'll tell you that.
You just don't
Jump right into it.
This thing should be running
Any time.
Oh, yeah.
♪♪
There it is.
That's how you want it to run,
No more than
About a matchstick.
The slower you run her,
The better she is.
That's about all the head
Right there.
She's good and clear.
She's high, too.
Damn, that's hot.
I believe that's probably
Gonna be the last jar.
She's starting to cloud up
A little bit.
Damn, I can't believe
We got that much off of it.
Josh's single run
Should yield over 2 grand worth
Of corn whiskey,
Enough for him to fill
A 20-gallon order
And make some fast cash.
Son of a bitch.
Yeah, I kind of need bill
For this.
Unbelievable.
I can't win for losing.
I'll be taking them out of here
In a 5-gallon bucket next time,
That's for dang sure.
Stupid *bleep*
If I could,
I'd kick my own damn ass.
♪♪
Back in north carolina,
Jeff and mark are eager
To load in their supplies
And get the liquor flowing.
All right.
If you ain't even got nothing
In your hands.
♪♪
Yep.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Got 'em?
Here it comes.
Yeah.
Uh-oh.
♪♪
Jeff and mark have
Wandered into a fouled air cave,
Which is a cavern where high
Concentrations of carbon dioxide
Collect
In the cavern's deepest regions.
It occurs in caves with minimal
Or no air movement.
Carbon dioxide,
Which enters through groundwater
And animal respiration
Pools in the cave's
Lowest regions,
Displacing any lighter oxygen
And nitrogen atoms.
With no circulation
To disperse it,
The co2 will remain there
Indefinitely.
Someone descending into
The oxygen-depleted cave
Carrying a lantern will see
The flame steadily die down
And extinguish.
Fouled air caves can be lethal
To anyone entering,
As carbon dioxide levels
As low as 10%
Will cause unconsciousness,
Suffocation, and eventual death.
It tastes good.
It's a concern
That if somebody walks up
And looks off in the cave,
Right there we are.
But you know, we've got a lot of
Time and money invested in this,
And we're gonna push forward
With it
And try to get us a run off
Down here.
♪♪
Well, you ready
To get this going?
Yeah, I think it's gonna
Turn out pretty good.
Be something new anyway.
Back in red river parish,
Patti and david
Are anxious to put flame to pot
On their first run
Of spicy shine.
We're real excited.
We got to be cautious.
You want to just go on
Around the perimeter?
But after
A number of close calls
At their springwater site...
We've got a neighbor over here,
He likes to snoop around
A little bit.
...Father and daughter
Aren't taking any chances.
We're going to do a night
Run, so we came a little early.
The first thing we're gonna do
Is check our
Motion-detecting alarms.
We got a few of them all the way
Around our perimeter,
So I kind of feel safe
About that.
Let it get some gas built up.
Patti and david's pepper mash
Has been fermenting
For nearly a week.
If the cool springwaters
Have kept the yeast temperature
Stable,
The run should produce
High-proof liquor.
Smelling really good.
It's ready to run.
I've never heard of anybody
Making jalapeño moonshine,
So I think that's gonna
Make our mark in this parish.
Them peppers are strong,
Ain't they?
Mm-hmm.
All right, we ready
To light the fire then.
Mm-hmm.
♪♪
All right, we're ready
To oatmeal it up.
Ready to go.
Come on, mash.
We've had a couple bad runs,
But we're gonna try this
Jalapeño shine.
Hopefully, it'll get us
Back on our feet.
I'll be getting home
Late tonight,
So I'll be a little tired
In the morning
When I get the kids up
For school.
But I'll be fine.
It's not my first rodeo.
It's peaceful, ain't it?
Tyler wanted tacos,
So I cooked tacos.
Caitlin wanted refried beans,
So cooked that.
Ain't nothing wrong with that.
Well, I was glad
Of an easy supper,
'cause I knew I had to come --
Uh-oh.
I'll meet you around.
Coming up,
Too much junk in the trunk.
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
Just rest your elbow
On the pillow.
And one shiner's still broken up
Over a best friend.
All right,
Take a big, deep breath.
It's peaceful, ain't it?
Tyler wanted tacos,
So I cooked tacos.
Caitlin wanted refried beans,
So cooked that.
Back in cajun country,
Patti and david are on the verge
Of sampling their first sip of
Jalapeño shine.
I was glad
Of an easy supper,
'cause I knew I had to come --
Uh-oh.
I'll meet you around.
♪♪
That's him.
I didn't see anybody.
-huh?
-I didn't see nobody.
Yeah.
It was a false alarm.
Yep. He just set it off.
Luckily,
We didn't see anybody.
We both split and come around
And met each other,
So if it was somebody,
One of us would've seen them.
Shouldn't be
Much longer.
I'll check the heat
On the pipe.
Ooh.
Sure is.
-any time.
This pipe here's gonna always
Get hot first, then comes down,
And once it fills this
And gets to steaming,
It's really running it twice
For you through a thumper.
And yeah, it's hot,
So it'll be coming out.
Uh-oh.
There it is.
This is what blinds people,
Kills people.
I'm kind of nervous.
We've only made
A few gallons here lately,
And it's been low-proof
On account of the yeast problem
That we had.
I'm fixing
To check the proof.
For their
Jalapeño shine to be profitable,
The first quart from the still
Needs to be 140 proof or higher.
140.
That's what
I'm talking about.
High five.
Any moonshiner wants
A high proof,
So we was satisfied with that.
Now if it tastes pretty good,
I think we're gonna start
Making money.
Let me taste it.
Pretty good.
It's not like something's
Burning your mouth,
Just from
The pepper itself.
It's got
The jalapeño hotness,
And it dissipates
As it goes down.
I like it.
But I'm gonna
Put a jalapeño in these,
Just to spice it up.
This right here is gonna be
A new hit.
Put it in there.
I'm hoping to get
Several gallons out of it.
Patti and david's
New spicy shine
Should fetch $150 per gallon,
A 50% mark-up compared to
Traditional corn whiskey.
I'm believing this here's
Gonna be the winner this year.
♪♪
You've got to be casual,
You've got to be cool.
You don't get in no rush,
You don't get in no hurry.
It's just like right now.
I am doing 53-mile an hour
In a 55 zone,
Because I don't want
No attention on me.
No, you're running 45.
Back in the bluegrass state,
Chico and his protégé are
Looking to make a little green.
Are you sure
They're gonna be there?
Oh, he'll be there.
They're eager to
Pick up their new still
And put their first run
On the board.
And I'm excited, too, 'cause
This is a new setup for me,
And this is
An industrial-grade pot.
You know, the tradition
Of moonshine goes back forever.
It's fun to really get
Your hands in the tradition
And the culture of something
That is so special to that area
And has been around forever.
Makes you proud
Of what you're doing.
I want to know why you have to
Do something a certain way,
And why it has to be
"X" degrees.
I'll teach you everything
You need to know.
It's a lot more to it
Than I really realized,
Because I've never really had to
Sit down and explain it.
Yeah, and we have a lot more to
Lose this time if we do mess up.
No kidding.
You sure
You want to do this?
Yeah.
I mean, no one's gonna
Have your back like I will.
Ready?
I'm ready.
♪♪
Right.
What's going on, man?
Yeah. We've been here
For a little while.
Whoa.
That's it.
Ain't nothing else.
It's all contained
In one unit.
Chico's
Stout 60-gallon copper still
Combines the pot, thump keg,
And condenser into one unit...
Bubba, thank you.
...Cutting production time
In half.
But the bigger
The piece of hardware,
The tougher the haul.
You got this side?
All right.
I'm gonna rock it my way.
-I got it.
-okay.
Oh *bleep*
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
*bleep*
Coming up, josh, bill,
And the point of no return.
Josh rung my bell pretty good,
And once you ring a bell,
You can't unring it.
I want to go down there.
By god, look at that.
Oh, yeah, they're moving.
-look right here.
-oh, right here.
I know.
You think I can catch one?
Dang.
That's what I'm trying.
They slick as a baby's ass,
Ain't they?
Ooh *bleep*
Ooh, there you go.
-whoa.
-you lucky dog.
You outdone me today.
Ahh.
Got him.
I wasn't leaving here
Until I got one.
Daddy done caught one.
Unh-unh.
He ain't gonna outdo me.
Whoo-hoo. Got supper.
I hope
That fits in the trunk.
Chico
And his new partner in crime
Were poised for a mid-season
Surge with their new still...
Oh *bleep*
Oh, my god,
It's not gonna fit.
...But bad planning already
Has the bluegrass shiners
On the brink of disaster.
It's not gonna go.
We got to go.
-we can't just ride --
-we have to go.
Okay.
Car. Let's go.
God, that's obvious.
Whew.
Let's go.
Well, we've got to
Take this thing
And stash it somewhere
First.
All right.
Just relax.
It's okay.
Just act cool.
You see, this is one of them
Spots I was telling you about.
You do favors with liquor,
And people will do favors
For you.
As far as the law's concerned,
If they do come in on us,
She's in trouble.
-all right.
-got it?
Yeah, you got it.
All right, where --
Set it over here.
Oh, god. Yeah.
You okay?
You want to cover it
With anything?
Honey,
This door's gonna lock.
You got --
You got the top?
We'll get it
Here in a second.
I'm not trying to rush you,
But I kind of want to hurry up.
All right. Yeah.
-all right.
-we're good. Cool.
Everything about this
Is dangerous.
This is not just
He might go to jail,
This is me and him
Might go to jail.
Got it all done.
All right, let's go.
We're partners
In everything we do.
We're partners
Raising our children,
And we're gonna be
Partners in this.
♪♪
Just rest your elbow
On the pillow.
Ow.
It's been a week since two
Carolina shiners came to blows,
But little has healed.
Y'all believe this crap?
You did it.
God.
I was stupid to.
After trying to work through
The pain,
Josh has finally agreed
To follow doctor's orders.
Ultimately, it's gonna be
About four to six weeks
Before I can use my hand again
Without this cast.
The way me and bill
Make moonshine,
It's about more work
Than two people can do.
Prop it up
On your elbow again.
I have a hard time
Following directions. I'm sorry.
That might not be
Your only problem.
Bill's my brother,
And I love him,
And the last thing I want to do
Is lose my partner.
♪♪
I try not to dwell on the past.
What's done is done,
And I got to move forward.
Before me and josh had ever
Started working together,
I had a little pressure cooker
And a little 5-gallon bucket
For a worm,
And I was running down liquor
A few quarts at a time.
I mean,
And I was happy doing that.
Let's go solder this puppy up.
I think she's ready to go.
All right,
Take a big, deep breath.
Breathe
Through your nose.
I'm good, I'm good.
I feel like if bill
Was here right now today...
...He'd tell me he loved me,
And he's still here for me.
Tomorrow, we're going to work
Together.
For some reason,
I just don't feel like
This is the end
For me and bill.
Josh rung my bell
Pretty good, you know,
And once you ring a bell,
You can't unring it.
We've been putting up with
Each other for a long time,
But looks like
That part of my life's over.
And I don't see myself
Really ever trying to
Make liquor with josh again.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Holy crap.
Go ahead, pick it up.
Josh gets his hand caught
In the honey pot...
*bleep*
Damn, he tore my ass up,
Right on the forehead.
Oh, hell, digger.
...Mark and digger
See fire and rain...
Oh, damn.
I ain't seen it do this
In a long, long time.
...And judgement day
In virginia.
The sentencing range
On a class 4 felony
Is from 2 years to 10 years
In the penitentiary.
That's a long time.