Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 5, Episode 11 - Cherry Bounce - full transcript

Tickle:
Moonshiners --

We're not all outlaws.

We're not all bandits.

You know, we're a family,
And family sticks together.

If I keep messing up,
It'll make

The whole moonshine
Community look bad,

And I don't want to do that.

For me and for my daughter,

I'm gonna step it up
And I'm gonna do better.

Narrator:
As the warm summer breeze

Becomes the cold autumn wind...



Time is running out
On moonshine season.

In virginia, a former outlaw
Has bet the farm.

We got to come up
With 10,000 cases.

-ohh.
-end of october.

Have you looked
At a calendar lately?

Narrator: in south carolina,
There's a thin line

Between the sweet smell
Of success...

And the painful
Sting of failure.

Man: *bleep*

Oh *bleep*

My god,
This ain't good.

Narrator:
Two veteran shiners battle
The elements in tennessee.

This is crazy.

And one shiner's freedom
Hangs in the balance.



It's a class 4 felony
That carries 2 to 10 years.

♪ 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 ♪

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

Man: this is how
We make the moonshine!

Hey, chuck.

What's going on, man?
What's with the scarf, huh?

What is going on?
Good to see you,

But, I mean,
Are you all right?

I mean [laughs]

Narrator:
In virginia, moonshine's
Prodigal son, tim smith,

Has returned from europe
Bearing huge news.

I bought you a scarf.

That don't say
"Made in the usa."

It's got that poland.

Chuck's gonna
Really have a heart attack

When I break the news to him

About this big order
From poland.

Can you believe
I'm in poland?

Narrator: tim rolled the dice
And took climax international.

-good.
-good?

While his moonshine
Was a hit...

Maybe 10,000 boxes.

[ coughs ]

...He may have bit off
More than he could chew.

What did they think
Of climax?

I carried
A few bottles with me.

-yeah?
-guess what?

They said
This is the best "Bimber,"

Meaning moonshine,
That they ever tasted.

-really?
-every one of them said it.

It was [speaks indistinctly]

They said it was
Very good, the best.

Did you sell any?

Well,
I made some contacts.

Oh.

And you're not
Gonna believe it.

I ran into this guy
Who's a distributor.

And he wants to buy some.

We got to come up
With 10,000 cases.

-ohh, tim.
-soon as possible.

-soon as possible?
-the end of october.

Have you looked
At a calendar lately?

I said, "No way we're gonna
Get 10,000 cases done --

Just ain't gonna happen."

He's losing it.
-I got a plan.

I got a plan.
-all right.

What's your plan?

We're doing that building
Back there to expand,

To put the other still
In there.

Don't worry
About building the building.

Just get a still
And put it --

Just shove it in the corner
And start pumping, huh?

Put it in the corner
And get it going,

And then we can build
A building later.

Narrator: to fill
The massive 10,000-case order

By october,

Tim will have to
Temporarily abandon

The construction of his dream
Distillery.

His new plan is to acquire
A 4,000-gallon still pot

And connect it
To his retrofitted mash tank.

The setup will allow tim
To run shine

In the unfinished distillery,

While simultaneously running

On chuck's belmont farm
Operation.

This stopgap increase
In production

Will double his output
And enable tim to bottle

The 2,000 cases per week
He needs

To make the poland order
By october.

I can't even imagine
That much whiskey,

Much less make it.

Tim, we got to start
Working overtime.

I called some help.

Does he know
How to build a still?

Can he help us?

Yeah, he knows
How to build a still.

He can help.

He's as big as --
I don't know what --

Big as a house.

Josh: cutie pie's
Looking for deer.

Narrator: in south carolina,
Precious weeks are passing by,

And still no word from bill.

Now josh is desperate to cash in
And salvage his season.

Josh: me and bill
Didn't see eye to eye.

We had a little falling-out.

We haven't really
Exactly resolved it.

Narrator:
This season, josh and bill

Hoped to reach
A moonshine milestone --

1,000 gallons.

However,
That dream quickly unraveled.

Man: *bleep*

Bill: josh rung my bell
Pretty good,

And once you ring a bell,
You can't unring it.

And I don't see myself
Really ever trying to

Make liquor with josh again.

Narrator: until their
Differences are resolved,

Josh is only selling the shine
He runs on his own.

Josh: well,
I need to make some money.

And I got bills to pay.
I got a family to feed.

So...I guess I'm
Gonna do some bootlegging.

Right now, I got it set up
To sell 4-

Or 5-gallon buckets
At $500 a bucket.

I should be getting
About $2,000 for it.

It's just good,
Straight corn whiskey.

I try to only sell
To people I know,

But you never know
Who you're gonna run into.

They may shoot you, cut you.

You got to pretty much be
On your game in every way.

There he is.

What's going on?

Yeah, but, I mean,
I kind of got

An exact dollar amount
That I need.

You know, I'm expecting
$2,000, you know?

Well, then, why did you meet me
Without asking me first?

You're killing me.

You already knew exactly
How much you was gonna give me.

Narrator:
Instead of $2,000,

Josh sold his 20 gallons
Of shine for $1,600,

A 20% decrease
In price per gallon.

I got all the doggone luck.

I was expecting $2,000,

But if he's having trouble,

That means that there's
A lot of moonshine out there

And that I better up my game.

-heya, pop.
-come on.

We're gonna be late.
-I'm almost ready.

Narrator: in pittsylvania
County, virginia,

It's judgment day
For tickle.

Tickle: getting up.
Got to go to court this morning.

It's not a great day.

I got caught
With a sawed-off shotgun.

Trying to make myself
A little presentable for this --

For the judge.

He might like me
A little better.

I doubt it.

Every moonshiner
In the world --

This is what they fear --

Being in court, being caught,
Being in front of the judge,

Having law around.

This is a moonshiner's
Worst nightmare.

This is a felony charge.

I can face
Five years in prison.

I'm trying to put
On a brave face for my family.

I'm a single dad.
I have a daughter.

I get this much of the closet.
She gets that much.

I want to go
In this courtroom,

And I want to kind
Of look presentable

To let the judge know
That I am taking seriously

What's going on.

I'm gonna dress up a little bit,
And I have two options.

I have black pants
And black pants.

So...I think I'm gonna
Go with the black pants.

It's possible
I could walk out of there

And not be able
To give my daughter a hug

For the next five years
Of my life.

And that right there is
Something...That I don't want

Because, you know,
I'm a single dad.

My daughter's what I got.

What do you think, pop?
I look all right?

You ready to go, pop?

All right, then.

Yeah.

Narrator: coming up...

Holy crap.

...A bee's honey
Doesn't sweeten its sting.

*bleep*

Appalachia with a touch
Of the caribbean.

It's a cross between
Hazelnut coffee and cornbread.

And the people versus tickle.

The sentencing range
On a class 4 felony

Is from 2 years
To 10 years in the penitentiary.

That's a long time.

How come you just come up with
That stuff at the last minute,

Make this little old run?

Well, I run out
Of hazelnut liquor.

Narrator: in tennessee,

Mark and digger
Are back in the woods.

After they taught jim tom
How to make rum...

...A few more successful runs

Produced an additional
150 gallons of the hooch.

Now they're using the rest
Of their molasses

To close in on
Their 600-gallon season goal.

Mark:
Everybody makes corn whiskey.

Our niche is stepping
Outside of the box

To try to stay one step ahead
Of our competition.

Well, I like making rum,
And I like hazelnuts.

But I haven't tried making rum
That was infused with hazelnut.

A lot of times,

When you make hazelnut,
The corn flavor

Will carry over too heavy,

And it kind of pushes
The hazelnut flavor out.

So, we got to talking.

And seeing how we came up
With this double-still outfit,

Why don't we run rum in one side

And hazelnut in the other
And see if

We can't pull
A little more flavor

Out of the hazelnut.

When these old hazelnuts
Start smoking a little bit,

That's when they're starting
To cook up and caramelize.

And the reason to roast --
It releases some of the flavors

And oils that are in these nuts.

Well, there's not
Many people get it.

Me and mark usually just

Give people a drink
Of it when we're --

We drink it
On special occasions.

You know.
Getting up, going to bed,

Weekdays, weekends.

When I drop it in this mash,
It'll cool off a couple

Of thousand degrees.

Digger: I got to thinking,
The toasty flavors

Of the hazelnut

Would carry over good
With that sweet rum.

Yeah, boy.

Old popcorn would be impressed
With our hazelnut liquor.

You know, he
Liked experimenting, too.

[ laughs ]

Digger: he mainly concentrated
On fruits

Because they were
More readily available

And not as hard to contend with.

He wasn't gonna take that step.
That's too slow.

We're willing to take
That extra step

And bust a few nuts
To get what we need.

I can say it...

It's a cross
Between hazelnut coffee

And cornbread.

Tim: I got this 10,000-case
Order going to poland,

So we got to find a tank

That we can convert
Into a moonshine still.

Narrator:
In virginia, the clock

Is ticking loudly
In tim's ear.

Chuck was too busy
With the still.

Narrator: so he's calling
In the kentucky cavalry.

Tim: so, a good friend
Of mine from kentucky

Volunteered his time to come out
To help me a little bit --

Give his two cents
In what we can do.

I got a phone call
From tim smith.

He's saying he needs
Some help or something.

You know,
He's helped me before.

So, I'd kind of like to see
The legal side of things,

Anyway.

I'm learning from tim smith --
You know,

It don't get
Much better than that.

I'm at a good spot.
You know, I'm done with chico.

Me and him went
Our separate ways,

And I ain't got
No dealings with him.

I've got all this bourbon
In the barrels now.

It's aging, so, you know,
I'm sitting pretty good.

Tyler.

This right here is the place,
Ain't it?

I think so.
He got tanks.

Lookit --
He got tanks everywhere, tyler.

Look at that tank.
Look how big that tank is.

There are some money-making
Machines out here.

What's going on, guys?

Tim: hey.
How you doing?

The sun
Is bright out here.

It is, especially
With all the stainless.

Yeah, I know.
I see that.

You got a whole lot
Of stuff here.

Narrator: while copper
Is the metal of choice

For distillation,
Tim will need to opt

For a larger stainless-steel pot
In order to

Fill the impending order
From poland.

It's very hard
To find copper tanks.

Copper tanks probably went out
50 years ago.

Narrator:
In lieu of solid copper,

Many commercial distilleries

Use stainless-steel pots
Fitted with copper interiors.

Wonder if I could cut
A hole in it.

There's not copper in the tank,
So that kind of is an issue.

So what we're gonna
Have to do is fabricate the rest

Of the still to be all copper.

We can run a copper coil

Down inside the tank,
The stainless tank,

And use that
To run the steam

Through to make
The still run.

And it's also, you know, taking
The sulfates out of the pot.

And then the rest
Of the still -- the cap,

The doubler, and the worm --
Is all gonna be copper.

So that's how we eliminate
That problem.

Let's see
What the drain looks like --

How we're gonna get it out.
Oh, they ain't got no drain.

They got to have a drain.

I'm looking at
All of these tanks,

And, you know,
When you got to do

A whole lot of work to it,
Then I'm still paying for it

In the long run --
Time is money.

I mean, look at that.

Tim: it's very important
That I get the stills

As soon as possible,

Because I got this 10,000-case
Order going to poland,

And I need it like yesterday.

It's getting harder
To sell clear shine.

Everybody
Wants something special.

Narrator:
Back in south carolina,

One outlaw is getting frustrated

With this season's
Disappointing sales.

Josh: it's a damn good thing
That I got something

Up my sleeve already.

Well, I got this ancestor
Named amos owens,

And he's the most
Famous outlaw moonshiner

In north carolina history.

Narrator:
Josh is a direct descendant

Of one of the most
Successful moonshiners

In the history
Of the appalachian south,

Amos owens.

In 1843, owens acquired land
In rutherford county,

North carolina,
That he dubbed

"Cherry mountain," due to
The wild cherries that grew

And still grow
On its gentle slopes.

After the cherry harvest
Each june, amos owens

Would concoct the spirit
That made him a legend,

Cherry bounce.

A blend of corn, wild cherries,
And fresh sourwood honey,

Cherry bounce swept south
Through appalachia

And even made it to points west
Of the mississippi river.

This unique cherry-honey
Moonshine

Not only filled
Amos owens' pockets --

It made him the original
Famous amos.

On the heels
Of the carolina harvest,

Cherries are in large supply,

But procuring
Unprocessed local honey

Is a different matter
Altogether.

I'm a direct descendant
Of this guy.

Hell, I'm carrying
On a family tradition,

And I'm wanting to dang

Re-create
This honey-cherry moonshine

More now than ever.

Bill doesn't really want
To make flavored shine.

Now I don't have to listen
To anymore negative nancy

*bleep*

We're on our way
Right now over to my buddy.

He's got a bunch
Of honeybee hives.

Narrator: due to worldwide
Bee colony collapse,

Honey is in short supply,

So josh is using a buddy

To get him straight
To the source.

-what's going on?
-well, not much.

I need to get that honey
We talked about.

Well, I'll have
To get some stuff ready,

And we'll get it
Off the honeybees.

All right.

Do I need to take my boots off
To put that on?

What do you mean?

What do you mean
What do I mean?

Do I need
To take my boots off?

Is it just a coat?
-I only have one suit.

I don't need but one.

But grab that box.

Why are you wearing
A suit, then?

'cause I don't want
To get stung.

Pull these frames out.

Just put
The little knife in here.

Pry it up.

I don't know
If I want honey this bad.

Go ahead.
Pick it up.

All right. Now set it up
On the end like that.

And take this brush

And just sweep
Those bees in there.

Oh, god!

That's hard
Not to freak out.

And hold the corner.

Oh, god.

Just lay it in there?
Like that?

Yep.

All right.

We got 17 more to go.

*bleep*

Narrator: coming up...

A day of reckoning in virginia.

Tickle: gonna go up here
In the court.

If I don't act
Like a timid little deer,

The judge
Won't treat me like one.

I think the judge
May respect that.

Narrator: and an explosive
Situation in tennessee.

Oh, hell, digger.
*bleep*

Take this brush and just sweep
Those bees in there.

Narrator: in spartanburg,
South carolina...

Oh, god!

...For josh, a successful run
Of cherry bounce

Will take the sting
Out of his split with bill.

That's hard
Not to freak out.

Hold the corner.

But the bees
Have different plans.

Oh, god.

*bleep*

Every time I ass up --
Right on the forehead!

*bleep*

Heck, yeah.

I must have did something
They didn't like,

'cause one of them stung me
Right on the fricking top

Of the eyelid right there.

But, you know,
It's just a beesting.

I didn't think
It was gonna be so bad,

But that baby has swolled up.

But I'm ready to make
This cherry bounce,

And I wasn't gonna let them bees

Stop me from carrying
On a family tradition.

Wow. Look at that.

That's awesome.

All my life, I've had
A fascination for moonshine.

Once you get moonshine
On your boots,

You won't never get it off.

I come from
A long line of moonshiners.

Amos owens was the most
Notorious,

Most famous moonshiner
In north carolina history.

Too many of those old-timers

Went to the grave
With all their secrets.

And, you know, now I've got
This cherry bounce recipe.

I don't even know
To really put it into words,

To tell you the truth.
It just --

Just feels right.

That's some of the best honey
I've ever tasted.

-it's very good.
-it is.

It's so sweet.

Commercially,
They have to process honey,

And they heat it,

And that takes a lot
Of the good taste out of it.

That is incredible.

Been a lot of work,
But I'm glad we're done.

I'm gonna say it --
My liquor's better

Than most people's
Liquor around.

I can't believe you
Ain't offering to help

Me carry none of these.

You're younger
Than I am.

I'm not saying
That I'm the very best,

But I am one of the best

Because I make sure
I got the best ingredients.

See you, man.

My plan now is go make
As much mash as I can.

I am gonna
Take it to another level,

And I'm gonna make
A lot of money doing it.

Tim: let's see
What the drain looks like --

How we're gonna get it out.
Oh, they ain't got no drain.

They got to have a drain.

Narrator:
Back home in virginia,

Tim is desperate
To find the still

Which will make completion of
The order from poland a reality.

Tim: let's see what else
You've got here.

Back in the woods, I knew
How to negotiate a little bit,

So I had to work it.

Uh-oh.

-oh, yeah.
-that's not good.

We didn't really want to seem
Too excited to this guy.

He's gonna think
We really like this stuff

And want to jack the price up.

What's going on
With that?

Just old.

You know, just kind of keep cool
And, you know,

Play it smooth and see
What we can get this stuff for.

Whoa.
What was in this tank?

These came out of
A yogurt plant.

Yogurt?

That's a whole lot
Of yogurt, isn't it?

-there's a whole bunch of it.
-yogurt. Okay.

What size is this tank?

They're actually
Fermentation tanks.

Fermentation tanks --
How about that?

Well, I'm in
The fermenting business.

That's kind of like
What I'm looking for.

And it was actually
A fermenting tank.

I guess you got
A price sheet or something.

Can you give me some numbers?
-absolutely.

We actually got to do
Some work on this tank,

And, you know, that's costly.

What you got?
You got some numbers, huh?

-yep.
-okay.

Don't get shocked.

We're gonna have
To negotiate here

Or something, you know?

Can you do any better
On that price there?

I'm thinking about $5,000 less
Than what you just showed me.

The price was $13,000.
I offered him $8,000.

I mean,
You just think about it now --

If you sell me that tank, I'm
Gonna make some more money,

Which means I'm gonna have to
Add more tanks.

That's what's
Gonna happen, you see?

You don't think
You can do that much?

You'll be making money left
And right.

Okay.

So, let us get
Out of your way.

We will be in touch.

I made a deal,

And I think I came home
With a good still.

-time for a drink, isn't it?
-yeah.

I got this 10,000-case order
Going to poland.

Now I got to get back
To the farm

And get my ingredients together
And get everything rolling.

Today's the day, digger.

Yep.

Hopefully,
By midnight,

We'll have
A big sled-bed load of liquor.

Narrator:
In the volunteer state,

Tennessee shiners mark
And digger are closing in

On their 600-gallon
Season goal with

Their first-ever run
Of hazelnut rum.

It'll be way
Under after dark

Before we're ready
To run, I'm afraid.

Well, let's get the mash
In the pots.

That's the rum mash.

Smells delicious.

Digger: everybody's used
To corn liquor

Or rye liquor,
But I like to experiment --

I guess you'd call it
"Color all over the page."

-you ready for it?
-yeah, boy.

Lay it to it.

We like the idea
Of having some flavors,

But it's not gonna be
Like baskin-robbins

And have 32 flavors.

We like to limit it
To three or four

That are outstanding
Than have 15 that are mediocre.

Narrator:
The duo's ingenious double-pot
Still design allows

For two separate mashes
To be run in tandem,

With the vapors feeding
Into the same doubler.

In this case,
Hazelnut and molasses mash

Will be distilled simultaneously
To produce hazelnut rum.

And we got our hazelnut.

Well, that's some
Fine-looking mash.

I been called
An expert on moonshining.

I learned from the masters

That perfected it way
Before I have.

-ready?
-ready. Lay it to it.

Mark: we don't feel
That any distillery

Can match the quality
Of our moonshine

'cause all our products
Are locally grown.

We know where our corn
Comes from.

That's fine mash,
Ain't it?

Well, but, as I hate
To admit it, it's my turn.

There we go.
Just throw that back in there.

Well, I still
Got all my eyebrows.

It'll get hotter than hell

Right there in
Just a little bit.

I'm pretty excited about
This run, digger.

Yeah, I am, too.
I like to run at night.

I like the solitude of it.

The only thing
I don't like is having

To be extra cautious,
'cause we'll have a leak

And we not know it
In this dark.

Mark, we ought to have liquor
Coming out by now.

Are we losing
Steam somewhere?

We're bound to be.

Narrator: pasting the joints
On a still

Prevents alcohol vapor leaks,

Which can be both costly
And dangerous.

I don't see a thing,
And I've looked all around.

Oh, hell, digger.
*bleep*

Bring us something
Quick, quick.

We've got a bad leak.

Narrator: coming up...

A crisis
Of conscience in virginia.

My daughter
Hugged me and gave me a kiss

This morning, said,
"Bye, daddy, I love you.

Will I see you
When I get home?"

I said,
"I don't know, baby.

I don't know when the next time
You'll see daddy is."

And washed out in tennessee.

Oh, damn.

I ain't seen it do this
In a long, long time.

Mark: are we losing
Steam somewhere?

Digger:
We're bound to be.

I can smell it.

Narrator:
Back in tennessee,

Two veteran shiners
Have made a rookie mistake.

I don't see a thing,
And I've looked all around.

Oh, hell, digger.
*bleep*

Bring us something
Quick, quick.

We've got a bad leak.

I don't have anything.

We're losing liquor bad.

Right there --
Right there's our damn problem.

There's an inch gap
Right there in that paste.

That's the problem
With working at night --

You miss a gap
And don't even know it.

Mark: it was a-leaking
That steam out,

And that alcohol run
Right down through here,

Run right
In that burner core.

Digger: as my old granny
Used to say,

That scared the piss out of me.

That's hot.

We're gonna see some liquor
Before long, baby man.

Oh. We got liquor.

Yeah, boy.

That's coming up there
Pretty good now.

Oh, yeah.
See if it's got any horsepower.

Smell that.

Yeah, boy,
That's stout, ain't it?

Well, burn the whole
Still site down.

We need to taste this.

All right.

It's pretty, ain't it?

Do you want the first little...
-no, go ahead.

It's your mash.

That's right nice.

Digger: you can actually
Hold this liquor

In your mouth for a while.

The sweet nature
Of that rum --

It's very palatable, you know,

And then it leaves
A great aftertaste

With that hazelnut in there.

What do you think
About that?

Pretty damn tasty.

Boy, I'm telling you --
It's hazelnutty, ain't it?

Uh-huh.
A little molasses.

Yeah.

Narrator: this run yielded mark
And digger 50 gallons

Of premium hazelnut rum,

Which brings them
Within 100 gallons

Of their season goal.

I'll tell you what,
Digger --

You've knocked that
Out of the park.

Thank you.

I believe we've done
All right on this one.

[ thunder crashes ]

It's raining.
Oh *bleep*

Joe: it's a normal reaction
To be scared.

Anybody
Who has good sense

Should be scared
When they enter a courthouse.

Yeah.

It's only a fool
Who's not scared

When they enter
A courthouse.

In pittsylvania county,
Virginia,

Tickle's attorney
Is preparing his client

To face the judge.

-so, take it seriously.
-oh, I definitely am.

And to be honest,
My daughter hugged me

And gave me a kiss this morning,
Said, "Bye, daddy, I love you.

Will I see you
When I get home?"

I said,
"I don't know, baby.

I don't know when the next time
You'll see daddy is."

My lawyer --
He knows what's going on,

And he's very up
On his charges,

You know, and his laws.

You also have some miscellaneous
Traffic infractions,

Which are driving
Infractions --

They're pretty minor,
And I think

We will be able
To deal with those.

But we need to concentrate
On the class 4 felony,

And that's the one
I'm most concerned about.

We need to take this seriously,
And you need to remain serious.

Mm-hmm.

Steve, you've got
To remember today

That your appearance makes
A great deal of difference.

You look sharp.

That's the way
I want you to look for court.

You need to be polite.

You need to present very, very
Responsible and respectable.

Have any questions?

Well, I mean,
Joe, you know,

Say they do find me guilty
Of all of this,

You know, and what --

What kind of sentence
Could I expect?

What am I looking at?

Well, we're facing
A very, very serious charge.

The sentencing range
On a class 4 felony

Is from 2 years
To 10 years in the penitentiary.

-that's a long time.
-that's a long time.

And, remember,
It's a serious charge,

So, cannot afford
For you to get in any trouble.

Understood?
-okay.

None.

Just keep my butt
Out of trouble.

All right.

-stay out of trouble.
-I'll do that.

Keep your nose clean, okay?
-I can do that.

All right.
Let's go to court.

All right.
Let's do it.

The head prosecutor here
Is prosecuting this.

He didn't send nobody else,
So I'm playing with fire.

So, best thing
I can do is keep my ass

Out of trouble.

Having fun yet?

We have to bring her up
A little higher.

All right.

-you good to go?
-yeah, man.

Narrator: in the smoky mountains
Of tennessee,

Mark and digger
Are on the home stretch,

And they're gearing up
For a second run

Of hazelnut rum.

If somebody ever comes up
With water that weighs less,

I'm all about
Getting some.

But mother nature could throw
A wrench in the works.

Is this storm gonna
Go around us?

I hope so.

Getting struck by lightning
Wasn't on my agenda today.

Mark: we've had a lot of rain.
We've got to really try

To get this run under way
Because,

Once it's hot, you're developing
Steam in your still,

The cold rain --
It condenses the steam

Back into a liquid,

And it simply falls back down
Into your still pot.

Whew. Damn.

Up here a while ago,
I didn't ask you --

You went around through yonder
And looked, checked.

Did you see any sign
Of anybody?

No.
I walked all the way

To the edge of the woods
And on up to that ridge.

I didn't see a thing.
-all right.

Oh, hell.
-oh, damn.

Creek's getting bigger.

-let's set it here.
-yeah.

I believe
This will be good.

Damn.

I ain't seen it do this
In a long, long time -- so fast.

Digger: I've never --
I've seen it come up big,

But I ain't never seen
It come up and stay this long.

Listen to them rocks
Out there, beating.

Digger:
Yeah. Oh, damn.

Them are some big
Damn rocks a-movin'.

Mark: this creek can be
A deadly force to deal with,

You know it's raining.

You know you're getting
A lot of rain.

But you have no idea
What's coming towards you

From upstream.

This is the same creek
As our mash barrels are on.

Yep.

I hope it ain't
Washed them away.

Narrator: with the finish line
So close,

Losing the 150 gallons of mash

Would be a heartbreaking twist
Of fate.

This is crazy.

Oh *bleep*

My god,
This ain't good.

Are you *bleep* me,
Digger?

Damn.

This is crazy.

Mark: smoky mountains
Is like a rainforest.

It rains here when
It doesn't rain anywhere else.

All we can do is dump the mash
Out and save our barrels.

Just part of it,
Ain't it?

-yeah.
-damn it.

This creek came up
About 3 or 4 vertical feet

In just a matter of seconds.

And that put us a-scramblin'.

We got no choice.
We got to pack it up.

We lost our mash.
We lost our still site.

It's about ankle-deep
In mud right now.

You can't make
This *bleep* up.

Our pump's buried in mud

Out where the water's still
Up -- we can't get it out.

To be honest, I don't have
To be hit by no iron gate

But once to know
I'm not welcome.

We just decided
We need to move out.

Ah, hell.

Narrator: coming up...

Consequences in virginia.

Tickle: I kind of was hoping
Everybody would forget about it

And it could slip under the rug,
But...Not this time.

-do you see that?
-yeah.

This is
What we call a woolly worm.

See?

You see the color,
And you see how black

He is right here and got
A little black on the end.

That's how you tell how bad
The winter's gonna be.

Now, see,
If he was all black,

The winter will start and go
All the way through.

There'd be no warm weather.

But there right there is showing
Me -- like, december --

We're gonna have a whole lot
Of warm weather in december.

So, right after christmas
Is gonna be cold.

Through december,
You're probably gonna be okay,

But you're gonna
Have wintertime in february.

Well, if you go in there

And give him some climax,
He might change colors --

It might change things up
A little bit.

-I don't know about that.
-suppose he turns pink.

Then what happens?
-then he'd be dead, probably.

[ laughter ]

-having fun yet?
-well...You know.

Narrator: in virginia,
One outlaw is facing the music.

Tickle: gonna go up here
In the court.

If I don't act
Like a timid little deer,

The judge
Won't treat me like one.

I should go up in there
And stand up there

And act like a man -- the judge
Will treat me like a man.

I think the judge
May respect that.

Narrator: and for tickle...

His life as an outlaw...

His career as a shiner...

Boy, it does smell strong.

...And his freedom...

Tickle: if you really
Love your country,

You're gonna have
To love moonshine.

Narrator: ...Could all land
In a cold prison cell.

Joe:
The felony was certified,

Which means that
It will go upstairs

In circuit court
For trial.

We will set the trial date,
And then we'll come back

And try the case.

It doesn't feel good.
I mean,

You know, they definitely didn't
Forget about what happened --

And, you know, how I kind of was

Hoping everybody
Would forget about it,

But not this time.

We'll have to decide
Whether we want a judge

Or a jury,
And then we'll try the case.

I feel comfortable
With where we are.

The police officers
That were there --

They came
Into the courtroom, too.

They brought
The sawed-off shotgun in.

They pretty much told
What happened that night,

And I stayed silent
By direction of my lawyer.

And please
Take this seriously,

Because it is
Serious business.

It's a class 4 felony
That carries 2 to 10 years.

It's going to trial later,
And I'm glad of that.

And I know, when I get home,

My daughter
Will be glad to see me.

Come on.

You just got to do
What you got to do.

Well, right now, we're making
Some honey cherry bounce.

I ain't ever made it before,
But I'm looking forward

To it 'cause
It's a family tradition.

Narrator: on the piedmont
Plateau of south carolina,

Facing the possibility
Of becoming solo acts,

Josh and bill
Are adjusting their plans

For the season.

Bill: I'm so far
Behind this year, you know,

For what I projected
Of how much liquor

And how much money
I was gonna make.

I mean,
I've definitely had to downsize,

But I'm just trying
To make up for lost time,

Trying to make up
For lost revenue.

Right now,
We're just steeping our grains.

I cook my corn
For about 35 to 40 minutes

In order to get
Those starches broke down.

I have my barley in there.

That's where our flavor's at,
Right there.

Since it's malted,

It already started to sprout
Just a little bit,

And that adds some more enzymes
In there that kind of

Act like the yeast --
It helps the process

Of breaking the rest
Of the starches

And the sugars down.

Last step of my cook --

I'm gonna go ahead
And add some sugar.

Too much sugar in your mash
Gonna make the whiskey

A little sharper,
A little meaner.

I got just enough in there
To increase my alcohol content,

But not enough
Where it's gonna ruin my batch.

We're just doing a little bit --

Just enough
To put in that still.

First time
We've ever tried it.

I want to get my process down

Before I make a whole bunch
Of it at one time.

That gets expensive.

Narrator:
Josh's cherry bounce liquor

Will be a secret blend
Of local mountain cherries,

Sweet cut corn,
And fresh sourwood honey.

Bill:
I've been kind of standing firm
On just quality ingredients --

Sticking with your process
Is making a quality product.

Josh: this is the honey
We got from over we put.

Bill:
And a lot of people --

Them throwing a bunch
Of flavorings on it --

You know, putting fruit on it,
Putting hot peppers on it.

Do you believe I got
All this honey

Without wearing a bee suit?

Bill's all
About just corn whiskey,

But these are modern times, so,

Hell, yes, I'm making
Different flavors.

We'll go ahead and mash
These doggone cherries up.

Looks like everything's probably
Back down to temperature,

So I'm gonna go ahead
And add my yeast to it.

Josh wanted to make more money,
You know, by cutting

In half of fruit juice
And making it more palatable,

Where the ladies can
Enjoy it a little bit more.

Enzymes in the malted
Barley here.

That's gonna help
Speed my yeast up.

But I'm gonna try to stay strong
On my principles,

And I'll just keep
On making the best clear-corn

And barley product
I possibly can.

We're gonna let
This steep in there with it.

Mmm, mmm.
That smells good.

[ breathes deeply ]
Whew.

That's pretty much it
Of my mashing-in process.

Josh: it's awful quiet
Down here without bill.

[ yawns ]

I get to keep all the money
If he ain't here,

But, hell,

That -- I'd rather
Have my partner here.

I really wished I could go back
To that day and take it back.

And sometimes things happen,

And you find yourself
Looking back at it.

You know, that's the last place
You want to be.

[ sighs ]

Come on, cutie pie.

Narrator: next time
On "Moonshiners"...

Woman:
Somebody's flying up here.

Narrator: ...The law
Descends on the bayou.

It's what it looks like.[ siren wails ]

God dang it.

If we can't run,
Then let's get out of here.

Narrator: jeff and mark
Are running on empty.

Jeff: well, we're out.
Mark. Mark!

Narrator: and...

I've called him
And begged for forgiveness.

I've done everything
But come down here.

...A shiner's remorse
In south carolina.

I apologize from
The bottom of my heart, man.

I still want
To be friends,

And I really wish
You'd come back to work.