Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 5, Episode 2 - Whiskey Burn - full transcript
It's the first weeks of shine season and outlaws are eager to turn a profit before the cops close in. Josh & Bill's first run leaves a bitter taste. Jeff, Mark, & Lance scope out the competition as Mark & Digger come up with a revolutionary still design.
[ birds chirping ]
A sensible person
Might have a hard time
Understanding why we keep going.
You know, we're facing getting
Locked up by what we're doing.
But once you start making
Liquor, it's hard to stop.
Because it's not just
Making a couple dollars,
But it's carrying on tradition.
And it's not something
You can go buy off the shelf.
It's hard to explain.
I know there's a lot
Greater risks to this hobby
Than there are others,
But [sighs] I just can't stop.
Narrator: it's early spring.
The stakes are high
And competition is fierce
In shine country.
Here you go.
It's not like that,
Buddy.
In tennessee,
Two legendary artisans are back
In the saddle...
One of the biggest reason
Our product is leaps and bounds
Over anything is
We do take that pride in it.
Ramsey: watch
Your eyebrows, digger.
Digger: no *bleep*
...And a first batch
Leaves a bitter taste.
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
♪♪
♪ no one can hold me down
Or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so, don't waste your breath
Saying crime never pays ♪
♪ 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!
Bill: I believe
We about got everything.
Narrator: it's the first
Few weeks of moonshine season.
Temperatures are rising fast,
And across america, so is demand
For the centuries-old spirit.
We've made so many mistakes
Through the years.
We about
Got that down pat.
It's so much easier
Not to make mistakes now.
Deep in the woods
Of south carolina,
Two shiners
Are starting on hallowed ground.
Josh:
We're going over here to one of
Barney's old field sites.
It's never
Been busted before.
We made a lot
Of good liquor here.
It's got good water.
Josh and bill
Have set up shop
At the former still site
Of their mentor,
Moonshiner barney barnwell.
Come on, cutie pie.
Good girl.
Josh:
Barney was a master moonshiner,
And I was lucky enough to be
His right-hand man,
His best friend.
He taught me a lot
About making moonshine.
And being down here
In these woods where barney
And his great-grandparents
Made liquor for years --
To me, this is sort of
A historical spot,
You know what I mean?
Narrator: while shiners
Like to avoid used sites,
Barney's old still site has been
Abandoned for five years,
Long enough
For his two former students
To risk using it
For their first run this year.
What's our mash doing?
About ready, ain't she?
There's a surefire way
To know when mash,
The fermented mix of corn,
Water, sugar, and yeast,
Is ready to distill.
In the old days,
Old-timers
Would stick their hand in it
And let it dry.
And if the sugar's
All worked off,
That means it's done.
It ain't sticky.
Yeah, your hand won't be sticky.
Oh no, she's ready.
She's ready.
Hell, let's bump her.
All right.
We're good to go.
Bill: there's really no way
You can duplicate
Small-batch corn
Cooked in the woods.
That's about all of her,
Brother.
And that's what our customers
Have come to expect from us.
They expect that we're going
To be using
Good ingredients, good water,
And it's not something
You can go buy off the shelf.
We're ready to cook.
Light her up.
Bill:
Good. Looking good.
Narrator:
Once the copper pot heats up,
The alcohol vapor
Will rise from the mash
And run through the still
To the condenser.
This I'm wanting
To see, here.
To cool that vapor back
Into liquid alcohol, shiners
Need a constant supply of water
Flowing to their condenser.
This is where
It gets perfect
Because we have a natural flow
Right into the worm barrel.
It's coming through.
Yeah.
That easy.
Oh, yeah.
Just gonna squeeze in.
There we go.
Bang, bang.
We'll let her heat up
Just a little bit more.
I just kick back
While this thing's heating up.
We need something
To sit on down here.
We got a extra bucket.
I tell you what
I'm regretting right now --
We ain't got
Any instruments down here.
Traditionally,
Origins of bluegrass music.
Ain't nothing else to do
While the mash is working
Except sit around
And pick a little bit.
The only problem with picking
At the damn still site --
Might as well be over hollering,
"I'm over here!"
That's a good point.
I'll shut up. [ laughs ]
I'm worried about
The damn law
After they damn told me
Last season
That they damn on us.
Dude, they's waiting.
That's what happened
Last year.
Narrator: every spring,
Thousands of shiners
Like josh and bill are flouting
Increasingly tough policing
To carry on the tradition.
In just the last five years,
Illegal still busts
Have shot up 600%.
And getting pinched can mean
Crippling fines,
Heavy tax penalties,
And years in prison.
But the tide's finally starting
To turn as public opinion
Is beginning to swing back
Toward the side of the shiners.
Woman #1: agents said they
Seized 65 gallons of moonshine.
And some scottsville residents
Said they had a hard time
Understanding why it's a crime.
You know, like my grand-daddy
Who was a shine runner
And maker.
You know, he did it to put
His meat on his table and all.
Woman #2: in this day and age
When alcohol is legal,
It's not as big a deal
As it was.
Ramsey:
The good book says the good lord
Turned the water into wine,
And I don't think
That he frowns on me
For turning it into liquor.
We don't feel like that
We should be made criminals,
Simply because
We're making our own way.
That don't change the fact
In the government's eyes
That we are.
What do you think,
Digger?
Digger: I think
You're doing a beautiful job.
Oh, he's a picasso.
Narrator: in the foothills
Of the great smoky mountains,
Two masters of the craft
Are continuing their crusade
To keep traditional
Tennessee moonshine alive.
I'm going to take and call
That quits, digger-man.
I'm proud for you.
Making moonshine
Out in the woods, it's a rush.
It's kind of, like, I guess,
Maybe having sex in public,
You know?
Part of the thrill is
You might get caught.
The cap is made,
But got to put a brace
Just for stability and strength.
Course, it takes it right smart
To heat that up.
Yeah.
Digger: you know,
I never really considered
Making liquor work
Because I enjoyed it.
It was me reliving part
Of our history.
And, you know,
One of the biggest reasons,
I guess,
That maybe our product is
Leaps and bounds over anything
Anybody could produce
In a distillery
Is we do take that pride in it.
What about that?
Yeah.
Good still.
It ain't going nowhere.Good to go, digger-man.
Narrator:
Nearly a generation ago,
Mark and digger learned the art
Of shining from one of
The greatest moonshiners who
Ever lived -- popcorn sutton.
[ coughing ]
*bleep*
Narrator: now, they're taking
That knowledge a step further.
It's loud. Whoo.
They're going to brew
Apple rye brandy
With a revolutionary
New still design.
Help me here.
See if I'm thinking right,
Or you can input this.
We're gonna
Try a whole different process
Than I've ever seen done.
And we run this thing
In tandem,
We ought to make
50 gallons of liquor.
I don't know
That it's been done before.
We're going to work
On a new design this year.
We fermented our rye and
Our apples together last year.
So, we're gonna run
Two different pots in tandem.
So we feel like it's gonna
Benefit us volume-wise,
And flavor-wise.
Basically, we're
Doubling up right there.
Narrator:
When making a blended spirit,
Most moonshiners distill
Each type of mash separately.
Once distilled,
The two alcohols are blended
To the desired flavor profile.
But mark and digger
Are introducing a game-changer.
They'll run
Two different mashes, one rye
And one apple brandy,
Simultaneously,
In two separate pots
That will feed into the same
Doubler and condenser,
Yielding a blended apple-rye
Brandy straight from the still.
The process makes
For a smoother liquor
And cuts production time
In half.
The finished product
Will sell for $150 per gallon,
A 50% mark-up
From regular moonshine.
We'll just have to make a burner
For each pot.
The only thing
That concerns me with this --
We need to get them started
About the same time
'cause we won't know if one of
Them dies before the other.
This is the first time
That we built one of these
From scratch,
And it may not
Be worth a damn.
If everybody stuck to the same
Tried and true way
All the time,
Nothing would ever improve.
This is
Virgin territory for us.
Oh, yeah.
♪♪
Still look like it did
When we left, don't it?
Just as bad.
Look at this thing
And see what all we got to fix.
Across the state line,
In graham county,
North carolina,
Another group of veteran shiners
Is starting their season
A day late and a dollar short.
The 750-gallon pot jeff and mark
Built last year
Promised to be this season's
$100,000 cash cow.
But on their first run,
The giant still toppled.
[ clattering ]
Run!
Get out of there!
They watched as 12 grand
In profit went up in smoke.
Mark, how we
Gonna stand this thing up?
It's half full of mash.
Man, I can't even
Shake it
To try to rock it
Back and forth.
I can't even shake it.
Let's see if we can pick it up
A little bit on this end.
I know. [ straining ]
I doubt we can.
No.
We'll have to bring a tractor
Or something
Just to stand it up
With, anyway.
It's gonna take us weeks
To fix this.
And this was gonna be our
First run for operating money.
With their still out of
Commission and demand surging,
It won't be long
Before the competition
Leaves them in the dust.
I'm gonna send lance out and let
Him do a little research.
Well, what
Are we gonna do?
We need to be running
Right now.
I know it.
Narrator: coming up,
The hills have eyes...
The neighbors probably just
Been watching me
Coming in and out
Of the property.
There's somebody's footprint
Right there.
Narrator: ...Josh and bill roll
The dice on their first run...
It is very bitter-like.
Bill: something
Ain't right, brother.
...And two legends
Light it up.
Digger: no *bleep*.
That thing's hot, hot, hot.
♪♪
We've already had a huge mess-up
With the still falling over.
We're gonna
Have to do a complete rethink,
Otherwise it's gonna really
Hurt us and keep us
From having a good season.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Lance is trying to get a taste
Of what the competition
Has been up to.
It's nerve-wracking going up
To these people
That knows
That I'm a moonshiner.
And all of a sudden I'm gonna
Be asking if they'll sell to me.
I'm going to meet a guy here.,
And he's a person that
I've never really dealt with.
He's just somebody
That I got a name from.
When you have to sit and wait,
Everything in the world
Goes through your head.
Kind of wonder if the person
That you're here to meet
Is gonna be the sheriff.
Narrator: selling to
New customers is always risky,
So shiners
Like to choose meeting places
With multiple exit points.
Lance: each one of these
I go to could be a trap,
And once you're in it, it may be
Too late to get out of it.
How are you?
Yeah, I am.
Yeah, we make.
It ain't nothing like that.
You know how it is.
We're just a little behind
Right now,
And I have
A little get-together.
Here you go.
I appreciate it.
He just kind of
Got weirded out with me
'cause he recognized me,
And that's why I don't like
Doing those kind of things.
Anything could have happened
Right there.
Narrator: rivalries between
Shiners can quickly turn deadly.
One of the worst was in 1884
When the two most powerful
Liquor clans
In rowan county, kentucky,
The martins
And the tollivers, locked horns
In a struggle for control
Of the local shine trade.
Violence erupted
When john martin
Confronted local politician
Floyd tolliver
In a morehead, kentucky,
Hotel saloon.
With his pistol
Hidden in his coat pocket,
Martin fired first,
Cutting down his rival within
Clear view of the clientele.
The barside killing
Sparked a three-year feud
That ultimately had 90%
Of the men in the county
Choosing sides
And joining the battle.
On three separate occasions
During the feud,
Gunfights and rioting
Became so bad
That the governor had to call
In the state militia.
By 1887, scores were injured
And 38 men had died.
Hope I got the right spot.
Gonna pull up here.
He's supposed to be
Already back here.
Howdy.
Okay.
I'll take them both.
Yeah.
All right.
Some good-smelling moonshine
And peach.
He didn't recognize me,
Or if he did recognize me,
He didn't say anything about it.
He had very good product
For a very reasonable price.
That market, now,
They don't know what's coming.
They're not gonna be happy.
They's so many people blood
In the market.
It's a lot of bad news
For our season right now.
♪♪
Narrator: 700 miles to the west,
In louisiana,
It's 100 degrees fahrenheit
And rising fast.
David: it's fixing
To get hot down here, now.
Patti:
I'm burning up right now.
Undaunted by the heat,
Patti and her father, david,
Gear up for their first $300 run
Of the season.
Patti: my grandfather
And my great-grandfather,
He did shine
And my daddy kind of took to it,
And then I've taken
To it as well.
We're just like this.
You can't hardly separate us.
We're bringing 15 gallons
Of mash down the hill now
With our zip line.
Narrator:
This season, the father-daughter
Team have locked down
One of the only cool-water
Springs in the swamp,
And are pushing
To expand their sales
Across northern louisiana.
I been running a small still.
It's a 15-gallon still.
So, my goal this year is
I'm gonna make as much moonshine
As I can
To be able to make a bigger
Still, gain more customers,
And make a lot more money.
Narrator: but their new site
Comes with risks.
We need to kind of get this run
Going as soon as we can.
This morning I received a text
From the neighbor.
Evidently,
I believe he's butted,
His land's butted up
To this land that we found.
Yeah, it is.
And the neighbor that butts up
To the property here,
I'm assuming he's probably just
Been watching me coming
In and out of the property.
He was asking a lot
Of questions --
What the heck I was
Coming down in here for.
And I just kind of
Threw him off,
And I told him it wasn't
None of his business
What I was doing.
It's not his land, so I don't
Have to tell him what I'm doing.
Even though there's risk,
I have to stay where I'm at,
Because we were lucky enough
To find a natural spring.
It's definitely hard
To find the clean water here.
It's not like everybody else.
It's hard here in louisiana
To make moonshine.
I know. I'm not gonna
Just jump up and leave.
I was thinking, it's better
To be safe than sorry.
All right.
That'd be fine with me.
I mean, the last thing I want to
Do is get caught, go to jail.
You think you're isolated
But you're never too isolated
For somebody to walk up on you.
So, we're gonna set
Trail cameras up, quick.
I'm looking for the best tree
That I want to put
This camera on.
A trail camera,
You set it up at your site.
It's motion-detected, so
If somebody comes through here,
It's gonna take its picture.
Our place
Is not all that isolated,
So putting this up
Will give us a sense of security
Of having another eye
Out when we're not here.
Can you get it set up?Yeah.
There's somebody's footprint
Right there.
This is the reason why
We're putting them cameras up.
Still a little ways
From the site.
♪♪
Bill: yeah, we're done
Except for letting the liquor
Come off the worm.
Well, we got
A great setup.
I love it, man.
Narrator: in south carolina,
At a still site once used by
Moonshine great barney barnwell,
Josh and bill are kicking off
Their season with a small run
That will net them $400.
Well I'll tell you what,
I'll sit over here,
And I'll put me a hammock
In the trees.
How you gonna build
Your hammock, first?
I'll build me a hammock,
And I'll sit back
And have a drink
And watch the shine make.
I'll make the --
Oh *bleep*
We're running.
It's running.We got liquor coming out.
That's still the top end.
The first few ounces
To come from the still
Contain toxic methanol,
And are thrown out.
You see
How clear it is?
Where that little jar?
Let me get set up.
Look at that -- clear.
Oh, yeah, got strong, too.
Smell that.
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
It is very bitter-like.
It's running perfect.
We got this thing down.
It's clear as a bell.
Something ain't right,
Brother.
Coming up, high alert
In the louisiana lowland...
Patti: we think the neighbor's
Been snooping around.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We got a visitor.
...And mark and digger
Feel the burn.
Lay it to it.
[ bleep ]
That thing's hot.
♪♪
Where that little jar?
Let me get sip of it.
Look at that -- clear.
Oh, yeah, got strong, too.
Smell that.
Probably hotter than I need to
Be to sample and all.
Narrator:
At the still site of their
Mentor barney barnwell...
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
...Josh and bill thought they
Would be tasting sweet success.
It's got something between
A bitter and a sour
That I ain't never tasted.
It is very bitter-like.
There's no way at all
I'm going to even try
To sell that to anybody.
We screwed up.
I agree with you,
But wheredid we wrong in this?
I mean,
Let's figure it out.
Our mash was perfect,
Our heat's perfect.
You think we got ahold a
Bad batch of corn, or something?
I don't know.Did we miss a step?
The only thing that's changed is
We've changed locations.
But barney made moonshine
Down here,
And the liquor was fine,
So I don't have no idea
What it could be.
Bill:
This spot was good enough
For somebody else to make liquor
For to begin with.
I don't understand it.
Something just ain't right,
Brother.
I don't know what it is.
Check this out.
Right here where
It's pulling up,
Right upstream from us?
That's a chemical.
Some type of oil --
Petroleum-based stuff for sure.
I don't know
If it's gas or kerosene or --
It's ruined the whole batch
Of our liquor.
The same stream water
Used to cool the condenser
Was used
To make their mash.
This thing is
Totally polluted.
There's some more.
If we don't have good water,
This is starting in our mash.
Proof's gonna be in the pudding.
Liquor's gonna be bad.
I mean,
It's totally contaminated.
We just got to pick up
And get out of there.
Narrator:
Losing their first batch
Pales in comparison
To the desecration
Of one of their mentor's
Favorite sites.
Bill: I mean,
This was barney's old site.
He and his daddy run liquor
At this place.
We were really hoping
To carry on his legacy
In one of his spots
That he used to use,
But the site's just no good
To anybody any more.
Just seeing this creek polluted
Just breaks my damn heart.
It's kind of sad, ain't it?
The woods just ain't
What they used to be.
♪♪
This is the first time
That we built one of these
From scratch, digger.
Sure as hell,
There can't be much to it.
Boy, them gnats is terrible,
Ain't they?
Narrator:
Back in eastern tennessee,
Mark and digger
Are on to the next step
For their two-pot still...
It's gonna be tricky.
...Building
The perfect burner.
This, we're kind of learning
As we go, I guess.
We're not hitting each other
In the nuts
With the pipe wrench.
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
Wait a minute.
What part of that
"Wait a minute" there didn't --
Well, I couldn't hear you
Over my bones a-cracking.
[ chuckles ]
That needs backed off
Just a little anyway,
See you had to --
Yeah.
Let's run this thing up here
To the garage
And see
If it's gonna fit.
Ramsey: our double pots,
They have to heat evenly.
If they do not heat
At the same time,
You don't get equal blends of
Alcohol vapors in the thump keg,
And it will have a big impact
On the taste of your product.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, we're fine, digger.
Digger:
The core that mark's sticking
That burner in right now,
That gets the burner up
Out of the sediment.
If you heated that thing up
From the bottom,
Any solid that's been left
In there, all that's gonna do
Is scorch on the bottom.
And it's gonna give you liquor
A bad flavor.
Oh, scorched liquor --
You just as well
To drink gasoline.
Narrator:
When distilling moonshine,
Shiners place the pot
On top of the burner
And heat it until the alcohol
And the mash begins to vaporize.
But the process
Can easily scorch any sediment
That settled to the bottom,
Resulting in burnt
And bitter-tasting shine.
To remedy this,
Mark and digger have come up
With an ingenious design.
They've installed
A copper chamber
That runs horizontally
Through the middle of each pot,
Where they
Will place the burner.
The pot will now be heated
From the center out,
Resulting in scorch-free,
Clean-tasting liquor.
We're gonna cut slots
About halfway through this pipe
With this sawzall.
That's where our flame
Will exit from.
♪♪
[ both laugh ]
Let me get us a torch,
A gas tank.
Ramsey: this is the first one
We built from scratch,
So we're gonna try to make sure
That it's functioning properly.
This gas comes out
Lickety-split,
So watch
Your eyebrows, digger.
Gas is coming out of this tank
Without a regulator on it.
It's coming out full blast.
If the wand simply
Blows out of the hole,
Then you've got
A flamethrower whipping around.
It's very, very dangerous.
Lay it to it.
I'm gonna get it here
Where I can run.
Oh, *bleep*.
Narrator: coming up, the
Carolina boys go for broke...
...And big trouble
Lurks in louisiana.
[ engine revving ]what was that?
♪♪
Narrator: in the foothills
Of the blue ridge mountains...
Watch your eyebrows,
Digger.
...Mark and digger
Are bringing the heat
Testing out a new hand-built
Burner for their two-pot still.
Lay it to it.
I'm gonna get it here
Where I can run.
Now if we can just
Get that toned down.
I'm creating more air
Into the burner,
Trying to get
The proper mixture.
The optimal
2-inch high blue flame
Provides high, even heat
With low fuel consumption.
But getting it right
Requires a finicky mix
Of oxygen and propane.
We may be in too deep.
That thing's
Hot, hot, hot.
Yeah, well,
I can't stand that long.
May have went
Too far with that.
I tell you --
It had a little yellow flame,
But it was, I mean, that --
It was smoking hot.
Me and digger today, we
Think we got a lot of work done.
But we do have a little bit
To learn as far
As tweaking the oxygen supply.
Damn, that thing's hot.
Look at that poor tree.
Digger:
Oh, he didn't last long, did he?
Digger: it's gonna take a lot
Of work on our part.
But if we're successful
With this,
This may be the next big thing
For the moonshining industry.
I think that we're
In the ballpark, digger.
Yep, I believe
We're good to go.
♪♪
Putting this up
Will give us a sense of security
About having another eye
Out when we're not here.
Narrator: after a scare
From their nosy neighbor,
Louisiana shiners
Patti and david
Are taking extra measures
To protect their site.
We need to get this run going
Soon as we can.
Oh?
David learned the art
Of distilling during his youth
In the mountains
Of north carolina.
But there's a key difference
Between the high-country shine
Of the mountains and the
Low-country shine of louisiana.
Louisiana water's got
More minerals in it
Than appalachian water does.
We got good flow here.
I don't know why,
But it makes good shine.
You know, it's good and smooth.
Patti: this here's oatmeal,
This is what I seal it with,
And I just add water.
Right now I'm just pasting
It up.
And if you don't close off
Any of the cracks and stuff,
It starts steaming out,
And when it's steaming out,
That's your liquor coming out.
This is the last bit of pasting.
You already got
A lid on?
Mm-hmm. I work fast.
All right,
Let's light her up.
Excited, I've been
Waiting a while for it.
David: about right.
Voilà.
Going on up now.
[ engine revving ]
What was that?
Patti: we're hearing all kind of
Noises today, ain't we?
Definitely something.Maybe a helicopter.
Motorcycle?
Yeah.
We're not too far
From the highway.
You can hear cars
Come by every once in while.
This is not the most
Secure place.
But we got
A great water source here,
So we gonna stay here
As long as we can.
What do you think of guessing
Gonna be on this proof?
148.
145.
Huh?
[ laughs ]
All right.
That pipe there's
Getting hot.
Here it comes.
All right, doing what
It's supposed to be doing.
Full head of them?
Yeah.
145.
Yeah?
145.
We gonna see.
He guesses
How much the proof is.
If he guesses right,
Then I have to clean the still.
If I guess right,
Then he cleans the still.
But we gonna see
What the proof is now.
Narrator: because the strength
Of the alcohol
Coming from the still drops
Throughout distillation,
Shiners continually measure
Its proof with a hydrometer.
So who's cleaning up today --
Me or daddy?
Shiners want the first liquor
To come from the still
To be about 140 proof.
The higher
The initial proof...
Boom!
...The more liquor
They'll have to sell.
148 on the button.
[ laughs ]
Dang, I got to clean
The stupid thing.
Let's taste it.
Hoo!
[ coughs ]
It's a little hot.
Patti:
This was a good start,
But I just want to
Make a bigger still.
I want to start making
A lot more moonshine.
It's a lot of risk
I'm taking, doing this.
So, by the time I proof it,
I should get 3 gallons.
$300 for a little bit of time --
Not bad.
♪♪
Lance:
I been rounding some stuff up.
Dad and mark,
They really need to see this.
Narrator: in graham county,
North carolina, lance
Has spent the morning scoping
Out the local competition.
It's good product.
It's cheap product.
You know, I don't know
If we can compete
With everybody that's out there.
Narrator:
Over the past decade,
Jeff, mark, and lance have built
A reputation as the best,
But lower-priced competitors
Have always been
Nipping at their heels.
I could probably fix this one,
But I can't fix that one.
What you got?
Bring me that table
Over here.
I got something
To show you yinz.
Keep the worm in it,
Though.
I already cleaned that.
I went to town this morning
To pick up some stuff.
This is what I found.
Everybody and their brother's
Making it.
That's apple.
This is blackberry, peach,
And then
That's just corn.
It's not
Cheap-made liquor,
But it's a lot cheaper
Than what we can sell it for.
Mmm. Pretty good liquor,
Right there.
Dang.
Narrator: a veteran moonshiner
Can test potency
With a simple shake
Of the jar.
Large bubbles
That quickly dissipate
Mean high-proof liquor.
$25 a gallon.
$25 a gallon?
You can't make no money
On $25 a gallon.
I don't care
What anybody says.
It's a tough situation.
In the past, mark and jeff
Could count
On earning $100 per gallon,
But with cheaper liquor
Flooding the area,
Those prices will plummet.
We'll have to
Do something.
They just trying
To cut everybody's throats,
What they're doing.
And they can do it
With that.
Narrator: coming up, caught
On camera in cajun country.
Patti: we think the neighbor's
Been snooping around.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We've got a visitor.
♪♪
Tim: I mean, look at this.
See that right there?
That's the moonshine,
Right there.
Oh, look at that.
That pretty? Huh?
You know, back
Before prohibition, before 1920,
Stills was like part
Of the farm,
So like a horse,
And a tractor and a barn.
And well today,
If you take that still,
And take your corn
And make it into alcohol,
They'll arrest you and put
You in prison without a permit.
If you just gonna make it,
Produce it,
You're breaking the law.
Bam.
That is so crazy, you know?
All the way
Back from george washington,
Most famous moonshiner
We ever had in the state
Of virginia, the president,
First commander-in-chief
Of the united states,
Was the most famous
Moonshiner we had,
And he did the same thing.
And that's against the law.
About the craziest thing
I ever heard of.
♪♪
$25 a gallon?
You can't make no money
At $25 a gallon.
Narrator: in north carolina,
It's up or out
For jeff, mark, and lance.
We'll have to
Do something.
By the time they repair
The still, new competitors
Will have elbowed their way
Into the marketplace.
Only chance we got.
Narrator: producing a premium
Scotch is still a major gamble,
But a long bet
Is jeff's only option.
Use a little
Different ingredients
In scotch than you do
In regular moonshine.
♪♪
Me, too.
Narrator:
Despite security tensions,
Patti and david are eager
To start their second run.
I think before we start
Hauling all this down,
Let's go check all the cameras
That we put out.
All right.
Patti: we got orders to fill,
And we got money to make,
So we're gonna do a run.
We think the neighbor's
Been snooping around,
So we've set several cameras
Up around our perimeters.
David: we've got
Multiple cameras around.
If anything comes through here,
From a bird to a good breeze,
We gonna know it.
Take your card out,
Put it in this machine,
And you can view
What's in there.
Holy crap.
That was a deer.
Daddy and me split up.
So he's checking his camera
That he put up,
And I'm checking mine,
To see if we see anything on it.
It might not be a smart choice
That I'm taking on this as far
As staying down here running,
But bottom line -- times is
Tough and I need the money.
Want to see what's on it.
See the least little bit
Of anything that's in it
Could cause it to --
That's me.
Nothing there.
A bird could even fly through
And make it go off.
Just a bunch of wind blowing.
Nothings on here but me
When I put the camera up,
So that's a good thing.
David: we're gonna go over here
And check these other ones.
There's a deer.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We've got a visitor.
And that ain't the neighbor.
I don't like that.
I don't know who that is.
Man!
Narrator:
Next time, on "Moonshiners"...
I hear a plane.
...Danger from above...
Josh:
I'm almost sure that's the law.
Y'all come with me.
...Two shiners
Roll snake eyes...
This is a brand-new
Product for us.
Digger: here, we got a little
Bit of dribble coming out.
I don't know
What the hell's wrong with it.
Dump that *bleep* out.
Narrator: ...And reckoning time
In north carolina.
A sensible person
Might have a hard time
Understanding why we keep going.
You know, we're facing getting
Locked up by what we're doing.
But once you start making
Liquor, it's hard to stop.
Because it's not just
Making a couple dollars,
But it's carrying on tradition.
And it's not something
You can go buy off the shelf.
It's hard to explain.
I know there's a lot
Greater risks to this hobby
Than there are others,
But [sighs] I just can't stop.
Narrator: it's early spring.
The stakes are high
And competition is fierce
In shine country.
Here you go.
It's not like that,
Buddy.
In tennessee,
Two legendary artisans are back
In the saddle...
One of the biggest reason
Our product is leaps and bounds
Over anything is
We do take that pride in it.
Ramsey: watch
Your eyebrows, digger.
Digger: no *bleep*
...And a first batch
Leaves a bitter taste.
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
♪♪
♪ no one can hold me down
Or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so, don't waste your breath
Saying crime never pays ♪
♪ 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!
Bill: I believe
We about got everything.
Narrator: it's the first
Few weeks of moonshine season.
Temperatures are rising fast,
And across america, so is demand
For the centuries-old spirit.
We've made so many mistakes
Through the years.
We about
Got that down pat.
It's so much easier
Not to make mistakes now.
Deep in the woods
Of south carolina,
Two shiners
Are starting on hallowed ground.
Josh:
We're going over here to one of
Barney's old field sites.
It's never
Been busted before.
We made a lot
Of good liquor here.
It's got good water.
Josh and bill
Have set up shop
At the former still site
Of their mentor,
Moonshiner barney barnwell.
Come on, cutie pie.
Good girl.
Josh:
Barney was a master moonshiner,
And I was lucky enough to be
His right-hand man,
His best friend.
He taught me a lot
About making moonshine.
And being down here
In these woods where barney
And his great-grandparents
Made liquor for years --
To me, this is sort of
A historical spot,
You know what I mean?
Narrator: while shiners
Like to avoid used sites,
Barney's old still site has been
Abandoned for five years,
Long enough
For his two former students
To risk using it
For their first run this year.
What's our mash doing?
About ready, ain't she?
There's a surefire way
To know when mash,
The fermented mix of corn,
Water, sugar, and yeast,
Is ready to distill.
In the old days,
Old-timers
Would stick their hand in it
And let it dry.
And if the sugar's
All worked off,
That means it's done.
It ain't sticky.
Yeah, your hand won't be sticky.
Oh no, she's ready.
She's ready.
Hell, let's bump her.
All right.
We're good to go.
Bill: there's really no way
You can duplicate
Small-batch corn
Cooked in the woods.
That's about all of her,
Brother.
And that's what our customers
Have come to expect from us.
They expect that we're going
To be using
Good ingredients, good water,
And it's not something
You can go buy off the shelf.
We're ready to cook.
Light her up.
Bill:
Good. Looking good.
Narrator:
Once the copper pot heats up,
The alcohol vapor
Will rise from the mash
And run through the still
To the condenser.
This I'm wanting
To see, here.
To cool that vapor back
Into liquid alcohol, shiners
Need a constant supply of water
Flowing to their condenser.
This is where
It gets perfect
Because we have a natural flow
Right into the worm barrel.
It's coming through.
Yeah.
That easy.
Oh, yeah.
Just gonna squeeze in.
There we go.
Bang, bang.
We'll let her heat up
Just a little bit more.
I just kick back
While this thing's heating up.
We need something
To sit on down here.
We got a extra bucket.
I tell you what
I'm regretting right now --
We ain't got
Any instruments down here.
Traditionally,
Origins of bluegrass music.
Ain't nothing else to do
While the mash is working
Except sit around
And pick a little bit.
The only problem with picking
At the damn still site --
Might as well be over hollering,
"I'm over here!"
That's a good point.
I'll shut up. [ laughs ]
I'm worried about
The damn law
After they damn told me
Last season
That they damn on us.
Dude, they's waiting.
That's what happened
Last year.
Narrator: every spring,
Thousands of shiners
Like josh and bill are flouting
Increasingly tough policing
To carry on the tradition.
In just the last five years,
Illegal still busts
Have shot up 600%.
And getting pinched can mean
Crippling fines,
Heavy tax penalties,
And years in prison.
But the tide's finally starting
To turn as public opinion
Is beginning to swing back
Toward the side of the shiners.
Woman #1: agents said they
Seized 65 gallons of moonshine.
And some scottsville residents
Said they had a hard time
Understanding why it's a crime.
You know, like my grand-daddy
Who was a shine runner
And maker.
You know, he did it to put
His meat on his table and all.
Woman #2: in this day and age
When alcohol is legal,
It's not as big a deal
As it was.
Ramsey:
The good book says the good lord
Turned the water into wine,
And I don't think
That he frowns on me
For turning it into liquor.
We don't feel like that
We should be made criminals,
Simply because
We're making our own way.
That don't change the fact
In the government's eyes
That we are.
What do you think,
Digger?
Digger: I think
You're doing a beautiful job.
Oh, he's a picasso.
Narrator: in the foothills
Of the great smoky mountains,
Two masters of the craft
Are continuing their crusade
To keep traditional
Tennessee moonshine alive.
I'm going to take and call
That quits, digger-man.
I'm proud for you.
Making moonshine
Out in the woods, it's a rush.
It's kind of, like, I guess,
Maybe having sex in public,
You know?
Part of the thrill is
You might get caught.
The cap is made,
But got to put a brace
Just for stability and strength.
Course, it takes it right smart
To heat that up.
Yeah.
Digger: you know,
I never really considered
Making liquor work
Because I enjoyed it.
It was me reliving part
Of our history.
And, you know,
One of the biggest reasons,
I guess,
That maybe our product is
Leaps and bounds over anything
Anybody could produce
In a distillery
Is we do take that pride in it.
What about that?
Yeah.
Good still.
It ain't going nowhere.Good to go, digger-man.
Narrator:
Nearly a generation ago,
Mark and digger learned the art
Of shining from one of
The greatest moonshiners who
Ever lived -- popcorn sutton.
[ coughing ]
*bleep*
Narrator: now, they're taking
That knowledge a step further.
It's loud. Whoo.
They're going to brew
Apple rye brandy
With a revolutionary
New still design.
Help me here.
See if I'm thinking right,
Or you can input this.
We're gonna
Try a whole different process
Than I've ever seen done.
And we run this thing
In tandem,
We ought to make
50 gallons of liquor.
I don't know
That it's been done before.
We're going to work
On a new design this year.
We fermented our rye and
Our apples together last year.
So, we're gonna run
Two different pots in tandem.
So we feel like it's gonna
Benefit us volume-wise,
And flavor-wise.
Basically, we're
Doubling up right there.
Narrator:
When making a blended spirit,
Most moonshiners distill
Each type of mash separately.
Once distilled,
The two alcohols are blended
To the desired flavor profile.
But mark and digger
Are introducing a game-changer.
They'll run
Two different mashes, one rye
And one apple brandy,
Simultaneously,
In two separate pots
That will feed into the same
Doubler and condenser,
Yielding a blended apple-rye
Brandy straight from the still.
The process makes
For a smoother liquor
And cuts production time
In half.
The finished product
Will sell for $150 per gallon,
A 50% mark-up
From regular moonshine.
We'll just have to make a burner
For each pot.
The only thing
That concerns me with this --
We need to get them started
About the same time
'cause we won't know if one of
Them dies before the other.
This is the first time
That we built one of these
From scratch,
And it may not
Be worth a damn.
If everybody stuck to the same
Tried and true way
All the time,
Nothing would ever improve.
This is
Virgin territory for us.
Oh, yeah.
♪♪
Still look like it did
When we left, don't it?
Just as bad.
Look at this thing
And see what all we got to fix.
Across the state line,
In graham county,
North carolina,
Another group of veteran shiners
Is starting their season
A day late and a dollar short.
The 750-gallon pot jeff and mark
Built last year
Promised to be this season's
$100,000 cash cow.
But on their first run,
The giant still toppled.
[ clattering ]
Run!
Get out of there!
They watched as 12 grand
In profit went up in smoke.
Mark, how we
Gonna stand this thing up?
It's half full of mash.
Man, I can't even
Shake it
To try to rock it
Back and forth.
I can't even shake it.
Let's see if we can pick it up
A little bit on this end.
I know. [ straining ]
I doubt we can.
No.
We'll have to bring a tractor
Or something
Just to stand it up
With, anyway.
It's gonna take us weeks
To fix this.
And this was gonna be our
First run for operating money.
With their still out of
Commission and demand surging,
It won't be long
Before the competition
Leaves them in the dust.
I'm gonna send lance out and let
Him do a little research.
Well, what
Are we gonna do?
We need to be running
Right now.
I know it.
Narrator: coming up,
The hills have eyes...
The neighbors probably just
Been watching me
Coming in and out
Of the property.
There's somebody's footprint
Right there.
Narrator: ...Josh and bill roll
The dice on their first run...
It is very bitter-like.
Bill: something
Ain't right, brother.
...And two legends
Light it up.
Digger: no *bleep*.
That thing's hot, hot, hot.
♪♪
We've already had a huge mess-up
With the still falling over.
We're gonna
Have to do a complete rethink,
Otherwise it's gonna really
Hurt us and keep us
From having a good season.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Lance is trying to get a taste
Of what the competition
Has been up to.
It's nerve-wracking going up
To these people
That knows
That I'm a moonshiner.
And all of a sudden I'm gonna
Be asking if they'll sell to me.
I'm going to meet a guy here.,
And he's a person that
I've never really dealt with.
He's just somebody
That I got a name from.
When you have to sit and wait,
Everything in the world
Goes through your head.
Kind of wonder if the person
That you're here to meet
Is gonna be the sheriff.
Narrator: selling to
New customers is always risky,
So shiners
Like to choose meeting places
With multiple exit points.
Lance: each one of these
I go to could be a trap,
And once you're in it, it may be
Too late to get out of it.
How are you?
Yeah, I am.
Yeah, we make.
It ain't nothing like that.
You know how it is.
We're just a little behind
Right now,
And I have
A little get-together.
Here you go.
I appreciate it.
He just kind of
Got weirded out with me
'cause he recognized me,
And that's why I don't like
Doing those kind of things.
Anything could have happened
Right there.
Narrator: rivalries between
Shiners can quickly turn deadly.
One of the worst was in 1884
When the two most powerful
Liquor clans
In rowan county, kentucky,
The martins
And the tollivers, locked horns
In a struggle for control
Of the local shine trade.
Violence erupted
When john martin
Confronted local politician
Floyd tolliver
In a morehead, kentucky,
Hotel saloon.
With his pistol
Hidden in his coat pocket,
Martin fired first,
Cutting down his rival within
Clear view of the clientele.
The barside killing
Sparked a three-year feud
That ultimately had 90%
Of the men in the county
Choosing sides
And joining the battle.
On three separate occasions
During the feud,
Gunfights and rioting
Became so bad
That the governor had to call
In the state militia.
By 1887, scores were injured
And 38 men had died.
Hope I got the right spot.
Gonna pull up here.
He's supposed to be
Already back here.
Howdy.
Okay.
I'll take them both.
Yeah.
All right.
Some good-smelling moonshine
And peach.
He didn't recognize me,
Or if he did recognize me,
He didn't say anything about it.
He had very good product
For a very reasonable price.
That market, now,
They don't know what's coming.
They're not gonna be happy.
They's so many people blood
In the market.
It's a lot of bad news
For our season right now.
♪♪
Narrator: 700 miles to the west,
In louisiana,
It's 100 degrees fahrenheit
And rising fast.
David: it's fixing
To get hot down here, now.
Patti:
I'm burning up right now.
Undaunted by the heat,
Patti and her father, david,
Gear up for their first $300 run
Of the season.
Patti: my grandfather
And my great-grandfather,
He did shine
And my daddy kind of took to it,
And then I've taken
To it as well.
We're just like this.
You can't hardly separate us.
We're bringing 15 gallons
Of mash down the hill now
With our zip line.
Narrator:
This season, the father-daughter
Team have locked down
One of the only cool-water
Springs in the swamp,
And are pushing
To expand their sales
Across northern louisiana.
I been running a small still.
It's a 15-gallon still.
So, my goal this year is
I'm gonna make as much moonshine
As I can
To be able to make a bigger
Still, gain more customers,
And make a lot more money.
Narrator: but their new site
Comes with risks.
We need to kind of get this run
Going as soon as we can.
This morning I received a text
From the neighbor.
Evidently,
I believe he's butted,
His land's butted up
To this land that we found.
Yeah, it is.
And the neighbor that butts up
To the property here,
I'm assuming he's probably just
Been watching me coming
In and out of the property.
He was asking a lot
Of questions --
What the heck I was
Coming down in here for.
And I just kind of
Threw him off,
And I told him it wasn't
None of his business
What I was doing.
It's not his land, so I don't
Have to tell him what I'm doing.
Even though there's risk,
I have to stay where I'm at,
Because we were lucky enough
To find a natural spring.
It's definitely hard
To find the clean water here.
It's not like everybody else.
It's hard here in louisiana
To make moonshine.
I know. I'm not gonna
Just jump up and leave.
I was thinking, it's better
To be safe than sorry.
All right.
That'd be fine with me.
I mean, the last thing I want to
Do is get caught, go to jail.
You think you're isolated
But you're never too isolated
For somebody to walk up on you.
So, we're gonna set
Trail cameras up, quick.
I'm looking for the best tree
That I want to put
This camera on.
A trail camera,
You set it up at your site.
It's motion-detected, so
If somebody comes through here,
It's gonna take its picture.
Our place
Is not all that isolated,
So putting this up
Will give us a sense of security
Of having another eye
Out when we're not here.
Can you get it set up?Yeah.
There's somebody's footprint
Right there.
This is the reason why
We're putting them cameras up.
Still a little ways
From the site.
♪♪
Bill: yeah, we're done
Except for letting the liquor
Come off the worm.
Well, we got
A great setup.
I love it, man.
Narrator: in south carolina,
At a still site once used by
Moonshine great barney barnwell,
Josh and bill are kicking off
Their season with a small run
That will net them $400.
Well I'll tell you what,
I'll sit over here,
And I'll put me a hammock
In the trees.
How you gonna build
Your hammock, first?
I'll build me a hammock,
And I'll sit back
And have a drink
And watch the shine make.
I'll make the --
Oh *bleep*
We're running.
It's running.We got liquor coming out.
That's still the top end.
The first few ounces
To come from the still
Contain toxic methanol,
And are thrown out.
You see
How clear it is?
Where that little jar?
Let me get set up.
Look at that -- clear.
Oh, yeah, got strong, too.
Smell that.
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
It is very bitter-like.
It's running perfect.
We got this thing down.
It's clear as a bell.
Something ain't right,
Brother.
Coming up, high alert
In the louisiana lowland...
Patti: we think the neighbor's
Been snooping around.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We got a visitor.
...And mark and digger
Feel the burn.
Lay it to it.
[ bleep ]
That thing's hot.
♪♪
Where that little jar?
Let me get sip of it.
Look at that -- clear.
Oh, yeah, got strong, too.
Smell that.
Probably hotter than I need to
Be to sample and all.
Narrator:
At the still site of their
Mentor barney barnwell...
The look on your face
Right now.
I feel like I ate a cactus
Or something.
...Josh and bill thought they
Would be tasting sweet success.
It's got something between
A bitter and a sour
That I ain't never tasted.
It is very bitter-like.
There's no way at all
I'm going to even try
To sell that to anybody.
We screwed up.
I agree with you,
But wheredid we wrong in this?
I mean,
Let's figure it out.
Our mash was perfect,
Our heat's perfect.
You think we got ahold a
Bad batch of corn, or something?
I don't know.Did we miss a step?
The only thing that's changed is
We've changed locations.
But barney made moonshine
Down here,
And the liquor was fine,
So I don't have no idea
What it could be.
Bill:
This spot was good enough
For somebody else to make liquor
For to begin with.
I don't understand it.
Something just ain't right,
Brother.
I don't know what it is.
Check this out.
Right here where
It's pulling up,
Right upstream from us?
That's a chemical.
Some type of oil --
Petroleum-based stuff for sure.
I don't know
If it's gas or kerosene or --
It's ruined the whole batch
Of our liquor.
The same stream water
Used to cool the condenser
Was used
To make their mash.
This thing is
Totally polluted.
There's some more.
If we don't have good water,
This is starting in our mash.
Proof's gonna be in the pudding.
Liquor's gonna be bad.
I mean,
It's totally contaminated.
We just got to pick up
And get out of there.
Narrator:
Losing their first batch
Pales in comparison
To the desecration
Of one of their mentor's
Favorite sites.
Bill: I mean,
This was barney's old site.
He and his daddy run liquor
At this place.
We were really hoping
To carry on his legacy
In one of his spots
That he used to use,
But the site's just no good
To anybody any more.
Just seeing this creek polluted
Just breaks my damn heart.
It's kind of sad, ain't it?
The woods just ain't
What they used to be.
♪♪
This is the first time
That we built one of these
From scratch, digger.
Sure as hell,
There can't be much to it.
Boy, them gnats is terrible,
Ain't they?
Narrator:
Back in eastern tennessee,
Mark and digger
Are on to the next step
For their two-pot still...
It's gonna be tricky.
...Building
The perfect burner.
This, we're kind of learning
As we go, I guess.
We're not hitting each other
In the nuts
With the pipe wrench.
Wait a minute, wait a minute,
Wait a minute.
What part of that
"Wait a minute" there didn't --
Well, I couldn't hear you
Over my bones a-cracking.
[ chuckles ]
That needs backed off
Just a little anyway,
See you had to --
Yeah.
Let's run this thing up here
To the garage
And see
If it's gonna fit.
Ramsey: our double pots,
They have to heat evenly.
If they do not heat
At the same time,
You don't get equal blends of
Alcohol vapors in the thump keg,
And it will have a big impact
On the taste of your product.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, we're fine, digger.
Digger:
The core that mark's sticking
That burner in right now,
That gets the burner up
Out of the sediment.
If you heated that thing up
From the bottom,
Any solid that's been left
In there, all that's gonna do
Is scorch on the bottom.
And it's gonna give you liquor
A bad flavor.
Oh, scorched liquor --
You just as well
To drink gasoline.
Narrator:
When distilling moonshine,
Shiners place the pot
On top of the burner
And heat it until the alcohol
And the mash begins to vaporize.
But the process
Can easily scorch any sediment
That settled to the bottom,
Resulting in burnt
And bitter-tasting shine.
To remedy this,
Mark and digger have come up
With an ingenious design.
They've installed
A copper chamber
That runs horizontally
Through the middle of each pot,
Where they
Will place the burner.
The pot will now be heated
From the center out,
Resulting in scorch-free,
Clean-tasting liquor.
We're gonna cut slots
About halfway through this pipe
With this sawzall.
That's where our flame
Will exit from.
♪♪
[ both laugh ]
Let me get us a torch,
A gas tank.
Ramsey: this is the first one
We built from scratch,
So we're gonna try to make sure
That it's functioning properly.
This gas comes out
Lickety-split,
So watch
Your eyebrows, digger.
Gas is coming out of this tank
Without a regulator on it.
It's coming out full blast.
If the wand simply
Blows out of the hole,
Then you've got
A flamethrower whipping around.
It's very, very dangerous.
Lay it to it.
I'm gonna get it here
Where I can run.
Oh, *bleep*.
Narrator: coming up, the
Carolina boys go for broke...
...And big trouble
Lurks in louisiana.
[ engine revving ]what was that?
♪♪
Narrator: in the foothills
Of the blue ridge mountains...
Watch your eyebrows,
Digger.
...Mark and digger
Are bringing the heat
Testing out a new hand-built
Burner for their two-pot still.
Lay it to it.
I'm gonna get it here
Where I can run.
Now if we can just
Get that toned down.
I'm creating more air
Into the burner,
Trying to get
The proper mixture.
The optimal
2-inch high blue flame
Provides high, even heat
With low fuel consumption.
But getting it right
Requires a finicky mix
Of oxygen and propane.
We may be in too deep.
That thing's
Hot, hot, hot.
Yeah, well,
I can't stand that long.
May have went
Too far with that.
I tell you --
It had a little yellow flame,
But it was, I mean, that --
It was smoking hot.
Me and digger today, we
Think we got a lot of work done.
But we do have a little bit
To learn as far
As tweaking the oxygen supply.
Damn, that thing's hot.
Look at that poor tree.
Digger:
Oh, he didn't last long, did he?
Digger: it's gonna take a lot
Of work on our part.
But if we're successful
With this,
This may be the next big thing
For the moonshining industry.
I think that we're
In the ballpark, digger.
Yep, I believe
We're good to go.
♪♪
Putting this up
Will give us a sense of security
About having another eye
Out when we're not here.
Narrator: after a scare
From their nosy neighbor,
Louisiana shiners
Patti and david
Are taking extra measures
To protect their site.
We need to get this run going
Soon as we can.
Oh?
David learned the art
Of distilling during his youth
In the mountains
Of north carolina.
But there's a key difference
Between the high-country shine
Of the mountains and the
Low-country shine of louisiana.
Louisiana water's got
More minerals in it
Than appalachian water does.
We got good flow here.
I don't know why,
But it makes good shine.
You know, it's good and smooth.
Patti: this here's oatmeal,
This is what I seal it with,
And I just add water.
Right now I'm just pasting
It up.
And if you don't close off
Any of the cracks and stuff,
It starts steaming out,
And when it's steaming out,
That's your liquor coming out.
This is the last bit of pasting.
You already got
A lid on?
Mm-hmm. I work fast.
All right,
Let's light her up.
Excited, I've been
Waiting a while for it.
David: about right.
Voilà.
Going on up now.
[ engine revving ]
What was that?
Patti: we're hearing all kind of
Noises today, ain't we?
Definitely something.Maybe a helicopter.
Motorcycle?
Yeah.
We're not too far
From the highway.
You can hear cars
Come by every once in while.
This is not the most
Secure place.
But we got
A great water source here,
So we gonna stay here
As long as we can.
What do you think of guessing
Gonna be on this proof?
148.
145.
Huh?
[ laughs ]
All right.
That pipe there's
Getting hot.
Here it comes.
All right, doing what
It's supposed to be doing.
Full head of them?
Yeah.
145.
Yeah?
145.
We gonna see.
He guesses
How much the proof is.
If he guesses right,
Then I have to clean the still.
If I guess right,
Then he cleans the still.
But we gonna see
What the proof is now.
Narrator: because the strength
Of the alcohol
Coming from the still drops
Throughout distillation,
Shiners continually measure
Its proof with a hydrometer.
So who's cleaning up today --
Me or daddy?
Shiners want the first liquor
To come from the still
To be about 140 proof.
The higher
The initial proof...
Boom!
...The more liquor
They'll have to sell.
148 on the button.
[ laughs ]
Dang, I got to clean
The stupid thing.
Let's taste it.
Hoo!
[ coughs ]
It's a little hot.
Patti:
This was a good start,
But I just want to
Make a bigger still.
I want to start making
A lot more moonshine.
It's a lot of risk
I'm taking, doing this.
So, by the time I proof it,
I should get 3 gallons.
$300 for a little bit of time --
Not bad.
♪♪
Lance:
I been rounding some stuff up.
Dad and mark,
They really need to see this.
Narrator: in graham county,
North carolina, lance
Has spent the morning scoping
Out the local competition.
It's good product.
It's cheap product.
You know, I don't know
If we can compete
With everybody that's out there.
Narrator:
Over the past decade,
Jeff, mark, and lance have built
A reputation as the best,
But lower-priced competitors
Have always been
Nipping at their heels.
I could probably fix this one,
But I can't fix that one.
What you got?
Bring me that table
Over here.
I got something
To show you yinz.
Keep the worm in it,
Though.
I already cleaned that.
I went to town this morning
To pick up some stuff.
This is what I found.
Everybody and their brother's
Making it.
That's apple.
This is blackberry, peach,
And then
That's just corn.
It's not
Cheap-made liquor,
But it's a lot cheaper
Than what we can sell it for.
Mmm. Pretty good liquor,
Right there.
Dang.
Narrator: a veteran moonshiner
Can test potency
With a simple shake
Of the jar.
Large bubbles
That quickly dissipate
Mean high-proof liquor.
$25 a gallon.
$25 a gallon?
You can't make no money
On $25 a gallon.
I don't care
What anybody says.
It's a tough situation.
In the past, mark and jeff
Could count
On earning $100 per gallon,
But with cheaper liquor
Flooding the area,
Those prices will plummet.
We'll have to
Do something.
They just trying
To cut everybody's throats,
What they're doing.
And they can do it
With that.
Narrator: coming up, caught
On camera in cajun country.
Patti: we think the neighbor's
Been snooping around.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We've got a visitor.
♪♪
Tim: I mean, look at this.
See that right there?
That's the moonshine,
Right there.
Oh, look at that.
That pretty? Huh?
You know, back
Before prohibition, before 1920,
Stills was like part
Of the farm,
So like a horse,
And a tractor and a barn.
And well today,
If you take that still,
And take your corn
And make it into alcohol,
They'll arrest you and put
You in prison without a permit.
If you just gonna make it,
Produce it,
You're breaking the law.
Bam.
That is so crazy, you know?
All the way
Back from george washington,
Most famous moonshiner
We ever had in the state
Of virginia, the president,
First commander-in-chief
Of the united states,
Was the most famous
Moonshiner we had,
And he did the same thing.
And that's against the law.
About the craziest thing
I ever heard of.
♪♪
$25 a gallon?
You can't make no money
At $25 a gallon.
Narrator: in north carolina,
It's up or out
For jeff, mark, and lance.
We'll have to
Do something.
By the time they repair
The still, new competitors
Will have elbowed their way
Into the marketplace.
Only chance we got.
Narrator: producing a premium
Scotch is still a major gamble,
But a long bet
Is jeff's only option.
Use a little
Different ingredients
In scotch than you do
In regular moonshine.
♪♪
Me, too.
Narrator:
Despite security tensions,
Patti and david are eager
To start their second run.
I think before we start
Hauling all this down,
Let's go check all the cameras
That we put out.
All right.
Patti: we got orders to fill,
And we got money to make,
So we're gonna do a run.
We think the neighbor's
Been snooping around,
So we've set several cameras
Up around our perimeters.
David: we've got
Multiple cameras around.
If anything comes through here,
From a bird to a good breeze,
We gonna know it.
Take your card out,
Put it in this machine,
And you can view
What's in there.
Holy crap.
That was a deer.
Daddy and me split up.
So he's checking his camera
That he put up,
And I'm checking mine,
To see if we see anything on it.
It might not be a smart choice
That I'm taking on this as far
As staying down here running,
But bottom line -- times is
Tough and I need the money.
Want to see what's on it.
See the least little bit
Of anything that's in it
Could cause it to --
That's me.
Nothing there.
A bird could even fly through
And make it go off.
Just a bunch of wind blowing.
Nothings on here but me
When I put the camera up,
So that's a good thing.
David: we're gonna go over here
And check these other ones.
There's a deer.
Ooh, ooh, ooh.
We've got a visitor.
And that ain't the neighbor.
I don't like that.
I don't know who that is.
Man!
Narrator:
Next time, on "Moonshiners"...
I hear a plane.
...Danger from above...
Josh:
I'm almost sure that's the law.
Y'all come with me.
...Two shiners
Roll snake eyes...
This is a brand-new
Product for us.
Digger: here, we got a little
Bit of dribble coming out.
I don't know
What the hell's wrong with it.
Dump that *bleep* out.
Narrator: ...And reckoning time
In north carolina.