Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 5, Episode 7 - Six Feet Undercover - full transcript
With a revolutionary still pot design and the help of Jim Tom, Mark & Digger have crafted 150 gallons of brandy. Now the duo must get their shine into the hands of their waiting customers.
All right, got 'em.
Grandpa, bein' how old he was,
Was into moonshine pretty heavy.
One day the heat was on,
You know, as they say.
And they head up
Towards washington, d.C.,
And he's comin' over
14th street bridge.
They had a road block
Down there.
He just gunned it.
He went through the road block.
They shot out his back window.
He went on into d.C.,
Made his delivery,
And then came back to the farm,
And they never caught him.
He was quite a character.
It's high summer
In appalachia,
But seasoned shiners
Know this is the time
When potential fortunes
Can slip away.
Are you *bleep* me?
It has outlaws on edge
In tennessee...
*bleep*
...Two carolina shiners will
Have to prove their mettle...
This is like I was on my way
To six flags,
And I ended up
At damn santa's land.
...And in virginia,
A skeleton
From one shiner's closest.
What's up?
What are you doin' all the way
Up here, man?
♪♪
♪ no one can hold me down ♪
♪ or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so don't waste your breath
Saying ♪
♪ crime never pays ♪
♪ we're going for a ride ♪
♪ running to survive ♪
♪ and living outside the law ♪
♪ we're living
Outside the law ♪
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
We stash liquor
In more places than one.
We've been very fortunate
To have this old place here.
A friend of ours owns it.
In a hilltop barn in tennessee,
Mark is eager
To begin distribution.
We've got some sales
Lined up.
Should be a relatively
Straightforward thing --
Pick up the liquor,
Haul the liquor.
They've spent the first half
Of the season
Creating their apple-rye shine.
150 gallons, worth over $20,000,
Promises sweet victory,
But only if distribution
Goes off without a hitch.
To get a quote from jim tom that
It could be the best moonshine
He had ever tasted, you know,
That's kind of like winning
The academy award.
This heritage apple-rye
Whiskey could secure mine
And digger's legacy in
The annals of moonshine history.
Digger asked me
To meet him here today.
He ought to be a-comin'.
I don't know.
When it comes to haulin'
Large quantities of liquor,
Both of us been
A little cautious
About using our vehicles
On this.
So I've got us
A little decoy car, if you will.
I really can't wait
To see mark's face,
'cause he's really gonna
Be surprised at this one.
Ah, here comes somebody.
That has to be him.
Oh, hell no.
Are you *bleep* me?
Digger shows up to make
These deliveries in a hearse.
Hell, no.
I'm gonna ride
In one soon enough.
Really?
Damn.
I'm not against it.
I'm -- it...
Well, you want to fly
Under the radar?
Famous for
As many smuggling schemes
As backwood stills
In appalachia,
The mob staged entire funerals
Solely for the purpose
Of smuggling.
Called wet funerals,
These morbid,
But stealth processions,
Proceeded in long lines
Of automobiles
Stacked to the hilt with hooch.
One nebraska gang went as far
As burying liquor-filled caskets
As their own spin
On cold storage.
Initially successful,
The plan came to a dead stop
When revenuers observed a series
Of burial site visits,
After which mourners
Would stagger away
In unusually high spirits.
It's creepin' me out
A little bit.
There ain't nothin'
Creepy about a hearse.
It's just a cadillac.
Are you *bleep* me?
Ooh.
With plenty of cargo room.
Oh, no. Hell, no.
I don't even know why even
Entertainin' the conversation,
Because it's not gonna work.
Look at that.
That's almost
Like a razor blade.
Things are going from bad
To worse for josh and bill
In south carolina.
And their patience isn't
The only thing that's too thin.
It'll never have any integrity
If that's the bottom.
Josh and bill have yet
To produce a drop of liquor.
Their still
Is nowhere near finished.
Damn.
And the copper they're using
Is too thin to support
The 400-gallon pot
They want to build.
They sent us
The wrong stuff.
I'mma start buildin' a still
Out of that one then.
What are you gonna do
With this?
We're gonna let
It sit for that week
It's gonna take for us
To get our copper for the top.
But in the meantime, I'm gonna
Pop one together out of that.
Feels like -- let's just
Throw a still together
Out of what we got.
That seems like
A whole lot of work
Just to build
A temporary still.
But we are gonna make like
$2,500 off a run,
So hittin' the ground runnin'
Don't seem like such a bad idea.
I'm not gonna stand
Around pickin' my nose.
All right.
Okay. All right.
Let's do that then.
In a move
Their mentor, barney barnwell,
Would surely have approved of,
The terrible two
Decided to scale down
The size of their still
In order to safely use
The thinner-gauge copper.
Barney was
A master moonshiner,
And genius in my eyes.
Barney taught me
So many lessons,
I don't even know
Where to start.
He pretty much taught me
How everything worked,
And it wasn't before too long
After that,
He put my ass to work.
This is gonna be
A nightmare.
It ain't gonna be
Too bad.
Bull crap.
*bleep* just tore.
Well, good.
Mine did, too.
I don't feel so bad now.
This is like,
I was on my way to six flags,
And I ended up
At damn santa's land.
Makin' liquor ain't no joke.
But I think we've got
A lot more means nowadays
Than they did 100 years ago.
You goin'?
Oh, we're beautiful.
If you could find
Any of those stills,
At museums and stuff,
You'll notice that a lot of them
Are about 25 different pieces
Of copper.
They're not like 2 or 3 pieces
Of copper
Like we build 'em in today.
I think we ought to set her down
Here on the ground, if we can.
Maybe that's why a lot
Of moonshiners
Blew up back in the day, too.
That'll work. Ow!
Want to drink a beer?
Yeah.
Let's go drink a beer.
This was a wham, bam,
Thank you, ma'am,
Kind of operation right here.
We got down to business.
We just got to get
Our still built,
Get completely set up
And start makin' some shine.
Damn, that's good.
♪♪
I started climax moonshine
To carry my father's legacy,
And to take care of my family.
But, you know,
Comin' back to virginia
Is actually a good part to
Create jobs for the community.
All right, hamburgers
Out on the front porch!
Jeanette fixed hamburgers!
In culpeper, virginia,
Tim smith is busy buildin'
His moonshine empire
From the ground up.
That looks like a dead dog,
Don't he?
Tobey?
Yeah.
He died a couple years ago.Yeah.
Oh, look at him.
People here at belmont farms,
It's more like family now.
They're not employees.
And they really put their heart
Into it.
And this is what makes
The quality of climax moonshine.
It's american made
Right here in virginia.
You're home, son.
Yeah. It ain't gonna get
No better, is it?
This is it.
Well, when I was at --
Back in the woods,
It was just me and a few guys,
Maybe, just, you know,
Doin' our thing,
Makin' ends meet.
But now that since I'm
Legal
And got a lot of other families
Working for me,
It's a lot of responsibility.
Let's get back to work,
Huh?
All these big plans
Won't do anything
If we just sit here
And keep eatin', huh?
I know, but we go to go.
If this thing goes down,
Then all these people
Gonna lose their jobs.
So it's
A little bit more to it now
Than just me back in the woods.
♪♪
What's up?
Tickle, what're you doin'?
Nothin'. What are you doin'
All the way up here?
Huh?
What are you doin' all the way
Up here, man?
I'm makin' my moonshine,
You know?
What are you doin' up here
Is what I want to know.
I got my ass in a boatload
Of trouble.
Tim's the only person I know
Who can get me out of it.
Tim and tickle's history
Goes all the way back
To the woods.
If you really love
Your country...
Son of a bitch.
...You're gonna
Have to love moonshine.
Watch! Watch! Watch!
But as tickle lost
His way, tim had to let him go.
I'm thinkin' about
Gettin' somebody else to help.
You know what, I'm thinkin'
About gettin' somebody else
To help me do this, too.
And you're gonna get somebody
Else to help you get in jail.
I'm gonna flood my community
With liquor.
Oh, no.
I come up here to help you.
Oh, you come up here
To help me?
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Well, it's really nice
To see tickle,
Worried at what's going on
With him.
I haven't seen him
In a long time.
And, you know, I do miss him.
You know, back in the day
It was tim and tickle.
It was the team.
You need a job? You mean
You want to come work for me?
Yeah.
I been knowin' tickle
For a long time.
And we worked together
In the woods,
And did a lot of, you know,
Illegal things.
Let me show you where we
Been addin' on right here.
But now I'm goin' legal.
Uh, you know,
Tickle's gone on his way.
And I never known tickle
To be excited
About gettin' a legal job.
See? We done added all of this
Since the last time.
Yeah.
Look at that.
What a bag of sugar, huh?
Ain't no way we could have toted
That to the still.
That's more than you
Want to put in the truck.
So what's the deal on
You needin' a job?
Well, I'm not gonna
Lie to you.
I'm really in a lot
Of damn trouble, man.
They busted me and got me
On my sawed-off.
You got caught got caught
With your sawed-off shotgun?
Yeah.
Coming up,
In kentucky,
A nod to tradition
With a taste for change...
We take this honey moonshine
And put it in these
Bourbon barrels.
There ain't nothin' like this
On the store shelf.
...A veteran shiner
Is scared to death...
Are you *bleep* me?
Reckon you know this feller?
...And tickle
Is in hot water.
They catch me
With a sawed-off shotgun,
All of a sudden I got
Frickin' rabies.
♪♪
So what's the deal on
You needin' a job?
Well, I'm not gonna
Lie to you.
I'm really in a lot
Of damn trouble, man.
In culpeper, virginia,
A visit from a ghost
Of moonshine seasons past.
I know somethin's goin' on.
What's happenin'?
They busted me and got me
On my sawed-off.
You got caught with
Your sawed-off shotgun?
Yeah.
It sounds pretty serious,
You know?
Because tickle's, you know,
It's not his first time
Being in trouble.
So this is kind of addin'
To the list of things
That tickle's had.
You know, he's had lots
Of other issues
With run-ins with the law.
And it may be more to this story
Than I really know.
I rather just loan you
A little bit money
Than give you a job
And jeopardize my position here.
'cause we can't have nobody
With a felony workin' here.
Well, I ain't got one yet.
Yeah, but it sound like you
Gettin' ready to have one.
Well,
I ain't gonna lie to you.
I can't stick around
Too long.
Well, you see what
I'm talkin' about?
Tickle workin' here
At the distillery
Is not gonna work for us.
Okay.
All right.
All right, bud.
I do all I can to
Help tickle out.
You know, our friendship
Goes way back to the woods.
They catch me with
A sawed-off shotgun,
All of a sudden I got
Frickin' rabies.
That crazy.
♪♪
As one generation
Of moonshiners fades away,
Another rises up
To carry their ancestor's torch.
It takes a lot
To make a good moonshine.
I mean,
It's just like makin' food.
I try to stay local, you know?
We're out here in kentucky.
We got all our resources
Right here at our fingertips.
We got limestone water comin'
Right out of the ground.
If you don't use a good water
Source, it's not gonna be good.
That's gonna carry over into
The flavor of your moonshine.
Think I got it fixed.
Makin' moonshine ain't a crime.
It's a tradition.
It's been in my family
For over a hundred years,
And this tradition's not gonna
Live long
If these new generations comin'
Up don't keep carrying it on.
Whether you want to admit
It or not,
It's a part
Of our culture and history.
It's a part
Of american heritage.
The moonshine I make is better
Than anything at the store.
The distilleries ain't doin' it
The old way anymore.
And that's
What we're out here doin'.
We're bringin' people backwoods,
Outlaw, kentucky moonshine.
I make a different type
Of moonshine
Than just
Straight corn moonshine,
Because I really want to take it
To the next step
And make somethin' special.
Check on this mash here.
I got it started yesterday.
I make a blend of moonshine
With corn, rye, and honey.
And it is, stand alone,
The best out there.
It's hard to beat
The honey moonshine.
In the bluegrass state
Of kentucky,
Tyler is readying a batch
Of honey shine.
Somebody comin' up the driveway
Like a idiot.
What do you
Got goin' on here?
New-school
American muscle.
New-school
American somethin'.
Now this looks like
A old cop car.
It is a old cop car.
What are you tryin'
To piss 'em off?
When it comes
To makin' liquor,
You know, I can go to sleep
At night.
I'm doin' a public service.
Look here.
That's handmade, boy.
There ain't nothin' like that
In the country.
Everybody has hopes.
Everybody has dreams.
One of these days I hope to send
My kids to college.
It's what drives me
To make liquor.
Kentucky shiners chico
And tyler have never been
On easy street...
Just be easy on it.
Man, I folded my exhaust
Plumb up.
There went my window.
...But they mastered
A new honey shine recipe...
We're steppin' up to a clientele
That's on another level.
Suit-and-tie,
Titty-bar type?
Pretty much.
...Which soon had
The duo's liquor sales soaring.
The partners have already made
125 gallons of honey shine
This season...
Well, come here. I'll show you
Somethin' I'm workin' on here.
Hell, I'll do it.
...But tyler has an
Idea that could change the game.
Got a couple barrels
Goin' here,
'cause I want to just
Try somethin' out.
We're gonna put it
In barrels.
To do what?
We take this
Honey moonshine
And put it in
These bourbon barrels
And age it a little bit.
And it's not only
Gonna be a good product,
But it's gonna be one-off,
Homemade,
Backwoods, honey bourbon.
Now you talk about
Makin'...
Honey bourbon?
Honey bourbon.
We're in bourbon country.
We got the right seasons.
We got the right climate.
We've got
The limestone water.
We've got everything here
We need to make bourbon,
And it ain't gonna be somethin'
That everybody can go get.
There ain't nothin' like this
On the store shelf.
No one can be certain who first
Had the idea to age corn liquor
In charred oak barrels.
But many credit a baptist
Minister named elijah craig
As the father of bourbon.
The pastor opened a distillery
In bourbon county, kentucky,
In 1789.
And legend has it that a bonfire
Led to a serendipitous
Discovery.
While filling a large order,
Elijah ran out of barrels.
He completed it with the ones
That were scorched
In the bonfire
And shipped them to the client
In new orleans.
When the 9-month journey
Down the mississippi river
Was complete
And the charred barrels
Were uncorked,
The liquor's color had darkened,
Its palatability had increased,
And kentucky bourbon was born.
Well, what we talkin'?
I believe we can take this
And age it for at least a year.
A year?
I don't know.
You know, I love my heritage
As much as anybody.
I mean, we're in kentucky.
It's bourbon capital
Of the world.
But shine season,
For me, is money time.
We get to put that
In our pocket.
I live off that all winter.
I'm thinkin' about
Down the road.
I'm talkin' about
Retirement money.
I mean, we're gonna start
Out at $80 to $100 a jar.
I mean, he have the money
To wait on it
In these bourbon barrels,
But I don't.
Well, let's put the caps
On this.
We'll cross this road
When we get there.
The moonshine
That we puttin' in the barrel
Will take food
Out of my kids' mouths.
Really?
Damn.
In cocke county, tennessee,
Digger has a plan to keep
Distribution underground,
Six feet underground that is.
Ooh.
With plenty of cargo room.
Oh, hell no.
what?
Are you *bleep* me?
I wouldn't *bleep* you.
You're my favorite turd.
Oh, hell.
We just -- we gonna, I mean,
Put liquor inside of it?
Yeah, we'll rip
That interior out.
It's a little damp,
But that ain't no problem.
Never in my wildest
Imagination would I have thought
He'd have come drivin' up
In a hearse.
I'm a little bit
Creeped out about it,
But I think it's a great idea.
'cause you never see a hearse
Pulled over.
Well, you ready, mark?
All right.
You recognize this feller?
What the hell?
That's a mess.
God almighty.
You ain't found no spare parts
In there, have you?
I think he's probably
Got a good idea,
But I tell you,
It's kind of --
It's kind of creepin' me out
Just a little bit.
Phew.
Just be glad it ain't soaked up
With blood and stuff.
Me and digger,
We have a pretty good network
Of clients.
When we came out with
The new apple-rye recipe,
People are jabberin'
About it everywhere
That's had a taste of it.
I think this apple-rye
Is gonna do for us,
What corn whiskey did
For popcorn sutton.
You know what you don't ever
Want to hear
When you peck on one of them?
Somebody pecks back.
you ain't helpin'
This none for me.
I want you to stop it.
*bleep* hell.
Didn't mean to slobber
All over you.
Put the casket stop down there,
Undertaker.
Come up with
An excellent idea here.
We can't be ridin' around
In a damn hearse in overalls.
We'd stick out
Like a whore in church.
Well, funny you should
Bring that up.
I got you
A little surprise.
Bet you're really
Gonna love this.
I didn't know
What size you were.
You've outdone yourself,
Brother.
Well, all we got to do
Is wait on nightfall
And put on our good
Sunday-school clothes.
Now you didn't steal it,
Did you?
What's your definition
Of stealin'?
Coming up,
Things go bump in the night...
...And tyler chooses the road
Less traveled.
I don't have nobody
Watchin' my back.
It's a little bit
Of a sketchy situation.
♪♪
I'm goin' to get
These barrels today.
They're new, white oak,
Charred bourbon barrels.
That's what you've got
To have to make bourbon.
In central kentucky,
Tyler is searching for the piece
That will officially set his
Plan to make bourbon in motion.
There's a lot of stuff goin'
On in the moonshine industry,
But we're in bourbon country.
This is kentucky.
You know,
This is where bourbon was born.
This is where bourbon is made.
And we need to take advantage
Of that.
Born of traditional methods
And key ingredients found only
In the bluegrass state,
Bourbon must start with mash
Made only with
Kentucky limestone spring water
And a grain mix containing
At least 51% corn.
After fermenting
With three yeast strains
Used only by bourbon makers,
It must be distilled twice
At no higher
Than 80 percent alcohol.
Finally, bourbon must be aged
In charred,
American white oak barrels.
Chico and tyler plan
To make bourbon with
Their own signature twist --
By adding honey to the mash,
Then distilling and aging
In the traditional way.
I can't just go
Into the barrel factory
Like it's a grocery store
And say, "Hey, man, I need
To buy some of these barrels."
They just don't work that way.
You've got to have
A distilled-spirits permit.
I kind of got a backdoor
Connection in the industry.
I worked a deal where I can
Trade $300 worth of moonshine
For these barrels.
When you're tradin' moonshine
For somethin'
To do somethin' illegal with,
You always run a risk
Of somethin' going wrong.
Chico didn't show up today.
I don't know
Where the hell he's at.
I don't know if he's just hurt
About the fact
That I'm going forward and doing
This honey-bourbon thing.
If chico don't like
What I'm doin',
He might have to head on
Down the road.
Tyler approaches me and says
That he wants to make bourbon.
You know, it's not somethin'
I really want to do.
I need my money now.
He just keeps throwin' stuff
On me
Like I'm supposed
To just ride along with it,
Like it's 100% his decision
How we're gonna do it
And where we're gonna do it.
It's like I don't even
Have a choice in the matter.
It's like I can't even
Voice my opinion
Without gettin'
Completely shut down.
It's ridiculous.
What's goin' on?
Yeah. Yeah.
When you're doin'
Business like this.
It's a little bit
Of a sketchy situation,
Because you could have
Somebody try to rob you.
You could have
The police come up.
It could be a sting operation.
You know, a case of moonshine is
Enough to get you behind bars.
I don't have nobody
Watchin' my back,
So I really got
To be careful about this.
I guess I can get you
What you come for.
It's all 100 proof.
I appreciate it, man.
Let's take her
For a test drive.
This dunce hat
That we're buildin' here
Has been the most aggrivatin'
One we've built yet.
The most important thing
Right now
Is that we don't cut
The copper wrong.
Over in the hills
Of south carolina,
Josh and bill are tackling
The most difficult part
Of any still build.
Damn,
This is impossible.
When you're buildin' a still,
The hardest part, by far,
Is buildin' the cap.
There's no turnin' back now.
You need some go-go-gadget arms,
Because you need hands
In places where they won't go.
It's a very awkward piece
Of metal to deal with.
Let's go ahead and get
This thing bent and soldered.
But barney barnwell, hell,
He's the damn master.
He looks at it a few times.
He don't even, damn,
Use a tape measure.
I need some fire.
He goes to whittling on it.
And I'm like, "That's too big.
I don't know."
He's like, "Nope, it's perfect."
We put it right on there,
And she goes right on just like
You puttin' on a glove.
You're a good bit
Part cherokee, ain't ya?
Yeah.
You makin' damn indian
Silver jewelry over here?
Smart ass.
I don't care if it is crooked.
At this point,
I'll be satisfied just to get
This son of a bitch on there.
Right on.
It's gonna be the band
Around the top of our still pot.
Give it a little bit more of
A vertical surface
For our cap
To actually sit up against.
Well, like everything else
We do, it's a little lopsided.
We're gettin' rained on,
But we gonna get this thing
Done, though.
Everything we got's
Soakin' wet now.
So you want to just take this
In the buildin' and finish it?
Yeah.
The still's 200-gallon pot
Will give josh and bill
25 finished gallons per run.
Pot's done. Cap's done.
Thump keg's done.
Feelin' pretty good
About it.
Well, I guess it's becomin'
More apparent where my nickname,
Digger, came from.
A friend of ours dubbed
Me digger because my dad's
Been in the funeral business
All his life,
And I worked in the funeral
Business for several years.
In old rocky top, tennessee,
Digger's doing his best
To hide in plain sight.
I'm headed up here
To pick mark up.
We're dressed
For the part now.
We've got a few dead drops
To make -- no pun intended.
I just have to see
How mark feels about it.
Make sure
He's got his britches on,
Facin' the right direction.
Yeah, boy.
Look at him all dolled up.
He looks good enough
To take to chinatown,
Walk around at
The fireworks show.
You brought me
This funeral tie,
But I don't know how
To tie it.
You gonna have to
Put it on me.
Lay down on the hood.
that's the only way
You can put 'em on?
I can't tie 'em
If you're standin' up.
A lot of friggin' work
To try and peddle a jar
Of liquor around here.
Yeah, gonna give him a second
To get out, I guess.
All right.
Boy,
You look fine and dandy.
I'd dance with you
At the prom.
Let's go get 'er done.
Let's log some mileage
And make some money.
Damn, I sure do feel strange
Dressed up.
Yeah,
But you looks nice.
In the time-tested method
Called the dead drop,
A shiner drops off finished
Product at a location
Where a trusted middle man
Has told the bootlegger
To leave payment.
Because they're known
By alias only,
If one of the people involved
Is apprehended and interrogated,
He simply won't know enough to
Take the others down with him.
Got to watch out, there ain't
No tellin' this old driveway...
This first one right here.
It's right over here
In this tiki hut.
Right?
Yeah,
If you'll kind of...
Watch that bridge.
Yeah.
Let me look around first,
Just a little bit.
Coming up, brotherly love is
In the air in south carolina...
It's awesome
To have somebody
You can trust with every ounce
Of your life.
No very many people
That got friends like that.
...And tyler plays
Tough odds on a long game.
I don't see nobody out there,
But sooner I get a fire
Under this thing,
The better off I'll be.
♪♪
On this other side right here,
Digger, yeah.
And we're gonna put it here
In this tiki hut.
Tennessee shiners
Mark and digger
Are using a two-pronged approach
To safety
By bootlegging their apple-rye
At night and in disguise.
Let me look around first,
Just a little bit.
Damn moth flew out of there
And scared me to death.
I jumped like
A little girl.
We got pay dirt.
Back in the day, the
Runners that hauled the liquor,
All they simply had to do
Was outrun the car
That was chasin' 'em.
Now with law-enforcement
Technology, you can't do that.
But on the other hand,
Place a cop out there,
And he's got the damn moxie
To pull over a hearse
And look in the casket, then I
Guess we deserve to get caught.
And just go right on 'round
Through here.
I think that was really good,
Digger.
I'm liking more and more
Not dealin' with people.
Yeah.
I mean,
The money was there,
Everything was right where
It was supposed to be.
So you've told everybody
$150 a gallon on this, right?
All the ones that I was dealin'
With, that's what I told them.
Out clientele
For our liquor,
It's all across the social,
Economical spectrum.
You know, it's from the guy
That's --
That works hard everyday
On a construction job,
To a guy that's sittin'
Behind a desk all his life.
We've got 'em all covered.
When you've got good liquor,
They'll seek you out.
I think that was
A excellent transaction.
Yeah, that was ideal.
Three, six, nine gallon.
So that's $1,350.
Mark and digger intend
To sell 65 gallons of apple-rye.
If it goes according to plan,
This one night of work will
Net them $10,000 tax-free.
♪♪
Will you look
At this stuff?
I believe that's ready to run,
There.
In kentucky,
Tyler's honey-bourbon mash
Is fermented and ready to run.
This ain't exactly what
I want to be doin' right now,
But I ain't heard nothin' out
Of chico in two or three days.
I don't if he's dead or in jail
Or what's goin' on.
But I'm gonna get this stuff
Run off anyway.
Got over 100 gallon of mash
Here that's ready to run.
I don't have time
To pack all this mash back here
To the big still site
All by myself.
I'm just gonna
Set up this smaller still here.
I'ma run this mash off and get
It done before it sits here
And sours and goes bad.
I think I heard
A car out here.
If I'm makin' this stuff
Out in the woods,
I can take off runnin'.
But, you know, if they walk up
On me in a structure,
You know,
I'm stuck right there.
They gonna take the still.
They gonna take the buildin'.
They gonna be investigatin'
Everything else I own.
So, you know,
It's really a big risk
To be foolin' with
Makin' moonshine inside.
I don't see nobody out there,
But I tell you --
Sooner I can get a fire
Under this thing,
The better off I'll be.
Anytime you're runnin'
Inside of an enclosed area,
Make sure there's no leaks,
Because it's dangerous.
You know, you're playin'
With alcohol vapor.
When it starts to evaporate
And turn into a gas,
It's really flammable,
And it becomes unstable.
If it touches a flame,
It'll ignite like ether,
Just a boom.
It won't be like a slow burn.
It'll light up quicker than gas.
It's kind of like a dog
That got his tail caught
In the lawnmower,
It won't be long now.
There's a whole lot of people
Makin' moonshine.
But there ain't a whole lot
Of people makin' moonshine
Like this right here.
This is the old-fashioned way.
It's the right way.
There's no corners cut.
I mean, this is the real deal.
It's a true art form,
And it tastes good too.
It's almost fixin'
To come out there.
It's hot all the way
To the top of the worm barrel.
There we go.
Go ahead and swap that out.
The first shine
To run off is called the heads.
Because of it's high methanol
Content,
It's poisonous
And quickly thrown away.
Take a little bit
Of these heads,
If you want to know how hot they
Are and just pour a little bit
There on the floor,
'cause I'm just gonna
Throw that away anyhow.
And I can show you
How high a proof that liquor is.
Here's the first jar
Of the good stuff, right here.
Yeah, that's way on up there.
If you take too big of a swig,
It'll get on you too quick.
Mmm.
That right
There will get you in trouble.
Whoo!
That'll get you in trouble.
Like pourin' money
Out of a spout.
*bleep*
Hey, cut that off.
Come on in here.
What the hell
You doin'? Oh.
Lord have mercy.
Where you been at, man?
Mom in the hospital
And stuff.
Mama's in the hospital?
She had her knee replaced,
Been sick.
Your family comes first,
But I heard through
The grapevine
That he was out buyin'
A motorcycle.
And if that's the case,
Then, you know,
Me and him's gonna really
Have to re-evaluate things.
Why are you runnin'
In the garage?
Well, that mash was gonna
Bad just sittin' there.
And I didn't know
What else to do, man.
And I went and got
The barrels.
How far are we
In the hole already?
Well, I traded three gallons
Of liquor
For two brand-new
Bourbon barrels.
Oh, man.
That's 300 bucks.
Yep.
Now he's took
And traded liquor
For barrels, just for
The simple fact I wasn't there.
Startin' to sound like
Our partnership's goin' one way,
And my opinions
Don't even matter.
Coming up,
In the piedmont,
It's a long fall
From cloud nine.
If that thing breaks off,
It's comin' this way.
♪♪
Chuck is just, like,
Propped up against the thing
Lookin' for me like
He's waitin' for me.
Oh.
Oh, my gosh. It's tim!
Chuck.
All right, chuck.
Now, tim,
I got to tell you somethin'.
Ah, what happened?
The mail came in today.
You must have entered
A contest or somethin'.
I'm always entering
Contests.
Well, by god, come here,
Let me show you
What we got you here.
This just came in
The mail today.
International whiskey
Competition committee,
Proud to present belmont farm
Distillery an official award.
Best moonshine ever,
Third in the world
And best in moonshine.
There's one problem
About that certificate, tim.
Oh-oh, what's the problem?
It's gonna sell
More whiskey.
man.
You can do that, tim.
♪♪
Why are you runnin'
In the garage?
Well, that mash was gonna
Go bad just sittin' there.
And I didn't know
What else to do, man.
With chico awol,
Tyler faced the dismal prospect
Of risking his freedom
By running shine in his garage.
Yeah, I went
And got the barrels.
How far are we in the hole
Already?
Well, I traded three gallons
Of liquor
For two brand-new
Bourbon barrels.
Oh, man,
That's 300 bucks.
Yep.
You know what? I need money now.
And then he tells me
That he takes liquor
And trades it for
Bourbon barrels.
That's not puttin' any money
In my pocket.
I guess the bright side to
Makin' moonshine by yourself
Is you get to keep all the money
You make off of it.
You don't have
To split it with nobody.
There will probably
Be some sore pockets
After this little episode
Here.
Won't be mine, though.
Mnh.
You know, I mean,
It is what it is.
If he wants to cut me
Out of the percentage,
I don't know what will happen.
We'll see when it sells,
I guess.
I still get my money
Either way.
Well, we got to both
Be here and do the work.
♪♪
I'm good,
Just watch the worm.
Set that son of a bug down.
As the mercury climbs
In the hills of south carolina,
Josh and bill are gearing up
To run some shine.
We've got to hit the ground
Runnin' to make some shine.
The season's just passin' us by.
What is it about us
And shovels?
I don't know how many
Processes there are
In makin' a still site
That doesn't involve
A bunch of shovel work.
I think moonshinin'
Brought us closer together,
Because no matter
What this old world
Throws at us, my brother's
Always right there for me.
Looks good. Right on.
You want to throw the cap on?
We might have a knock down,
Drag-out,
But at the end of the day,
We're brothers no matter what.
It's awesome to have somebody
You can trust with your life,
Your money, your kids,
Every ounce of your life.
You know, not many people
That got friends
Like that and, uh...
You ready to make some mash?
Yeah. In these temperatures,
That mash is not gonna
Take long to roll over
Before it's ready to run.
Josh and bill use
A locally grown carolina
Piedmont sweetcorn.
Its high sugar content
Will boost the alcohol level
Of their mash.
Only dump about half of it.
When we started out,
We'd just take grains
And dump 'em in a bucket
And then throw some water
On 'em,
And eventually,
It would turn into mash.
We stepped that up
At some point.
Now we started puttin'
Boilin' water on the grains,
Helps break down the starches
And sugars faster,
And gives a really quick
Turnover on our mash.
All right.
Hell, we mashed in, man.
Hard part's done. We ain't got
Too much more to load in.
This year was intense.
Everything's gone wrong.
We got planes flyin' overheard.
We got intruders
Comin' into our campsite.
We get our bunker finished,
Then we go to build our still,
And they sent us
The wrong copper.
But I'm not gonna let
That stop me from makin' shine.
It's our heritage,
And I love the money.
Bill.Sí?
You see that tree
That's fell?
That right there
Is dangerous.
If that thing breaks off,
It's comin' this way.
One tree feel over,
And it's leaned on this tree
That we got
Right beside our site.
We hope that it's gonna fall
On the right side of that tree,
'cause if it falls
On the left side, I mean,
That's our site, that's
Our still. We're done for.
We need to get rid
Of that.
I just think it's flirtin'
With disaster to even touch it.
I don't know, man.
I ain't gonna let
A tree stop us.
♪♪
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Aw, yeah.
...Josh finds out that foliage
Can be quite a foe...
...All is not well
On the bayou...
What is that?
Just got a text.
My season's gonna be over with.
You know how awkward
Walkin' backwards is?
Damn.
...And chico
And tyler's partnership
Hangs in the balance...
The thing with the still,
I don't know what you did, man.
I don't know
What your intentions.
It was a *bleep* accident.
You know how *bleep*
Fed up I am!
I have been through
A lot of *bleep*!
I am done with it!!
Grandpa, bein' how old he was,
Was into moonshine pretty heavy.
One day the heat was on,
You know, as they say.
And they head up
Towards washington, d.C.,
And he's comin' over
14th street bridge.
They had a road block
Down there.
He just gunned it.
He went through the road block.
They shot out his back window.
He went on into d.C.,
Made his delivery,
And then came back to the farm,
And they never caught him.
He was quite a character.
It's high summer
In appalachia,
But seasoned shiners
Know this is the time
When potential fortunes
Can slip away.
Are you *bleep* me?
It has outlaws on edge
In tennessee...
*bleep*
...Two carolina shiners will
Have to prove their mettle...
This is like I was on my way
To six flags,
And I ended up
At damn santa's land.
...And in virginia,
A skeleton
From one shiner's closest.
What's up?
What are you doin' all the way
Up here, man?
♪♪
♪ no one can hold me down ♪
♪ or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so don't waste your breath
Saying ♪
♪ crime never pays ♪
♪ we're going for a ride ♪
♪ running to survive ♪
♪ and living outside the law ♪
♪ we're living
Outside the law ♪
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
We stash liquor
In more places than one.
We've been very fortunate
To have this old place here.
A friend of ours owns it.
In a hilltop barn in tennessee,
Mark is eager
To begin distribution.
We've got some sales
Lined up.
Should be a relatively
Straightforward thing --
Pick up the liquor,
Haul the liquor.
They've spent the first half
Of the season
Creating their apple-rye shine.
150 gallons, worth over $20,000,
Promises sweet victory,
But only if distribution
Goes off without a hitch.
To get a quote from jim tom that
It could be the best moonshine
He had ever tasted, you know,
That's kind of like winning
The academy award.
This heritage apple-rye
Whiskey could secure mine
And digger's legacy in
The annals of moonshine history.
Digger asked me
To meet him here today.
He ought to be a-comin'.
I don't know.
When it comes to haulin'
Large quantities of liquor,
Both of us been
A little cautious
About using our vehicles
On this.
So I've got us
A little decoy car, if you will.
I really can't wait
To see mark's face,
'cause he's really gonna
Be surprised at this one.
Ah, here comes somebody.
That has to be him.
Oh, hell no.
Are you *bleep* me?
Digger shows up to make
These deliveries in a hearse.
Hell, no.
I'm gonna ride
In one soon enough.
Really?
Damn.
I'm not against it.
I'm -- it...
Well, you want to fly
Under the radar?
Famous for
As many smuggling schemes
As backwood stills
In appalachia,
The mob staged entire funerals
Solely for the purpose
Of smuggling.
Called wet funerals,
These morbid,
But stealth processions,
Proceeded in long lines
Of automobiles
Stacked to the hilt with hooch.
One nebraska gang went as far
As burying liquor-filled caskets
As their own spin
On cold storage.
Initially successful,
The plan came to a dead stop
When revenuers observed a series
Of burial site visits,
After which mourners
Would stagger away
In unusually high spirits.
It's creepin' me out
A little bit.
There ain't nothin'
Creepy about a hearse.
It's just a cadillac.
Are you *bleep* me?
Ooh.
With plenty of cargo room.
Oh, no. Hell, no.
I don't even know why even
Entertainin' the conversation,
Because it's not gonna work.
Look at that.
That's almost
Like a razor blade.
Things are going from bad
To worse for josh and bill
In south carolina.
And their patience isn't
The only thing that's too thin.
It'll never have any integrity
If that's the bottom.
Josh and bill have yet
To produce a drop of liquor.
Their still
Is nowhere near finished.
Damn.
And the copper they're using
Is too thin to support
The 400-gallon pot
They want to build.
They sent us
The wrong stuff.
I'mma start buildin' a still
Out of that one then.
What are you gonna do
With this?
We're gonna let
It sit for that week
It's gonna take for us
To get our copper for the top.
But in the meantime, I'm gonna
Pop one together out of that.
Feels like -- let's just
Throw a still together
Out of what we got.
That seems like
A whole lot of work
Just to build
A temporary still.
But we are gonna make like
$2,500 off a run,
So hittin' the ground runnin'
Don't seem like such a bad idea.
I'm not gonna stand
Around pickin' my nose.
All right.
Okay. All right.
Let's do that then.
In a move
Their mentor, barney barnwell,
Would surely have approved of,
The terrible two
Decided to scale down
The size of their still
In order to safely use
The thinner-gauge copper.
Barney was
A master moonshiner,
And genius in my eyes.
Barney taught me
So many lessons,
I don't even know
Where to start.
He pretty much taught me
How everything worked,
And it wasn't before too long
After that,
He put my ass to work.
This is gonna be
A nightmare.
It ain't gonna be
Too bad.
Bull crap.
*bleep* just tore.
Well, good.
Mine did, too.
I don't feel so bad now.
This is like,
I was on my way to six flags,
And I ended up
At damn santa's land.
Makin' liquor ain't no joke.
But I think we've got
A lot more means nowadays
Than they did 100 years ago.
You goin'?
Oh, we're beautiful.
If you could find
Any of those stills,
At museums and stuff,
You'll notice that a lot of them
Are about 25 different pieces
Of copper.
They're not like 2 or 3 pieces
Of copper
Like we build 'em in today.
I think we ought to set her down
Here on the ground, if we can.
Maybe that's why a lot
Of moonshiners
Blew up back in the day, too.
That'll work. Ow!
Want to drink a beer?
Yeah.
Let's go drink a beer.
This was a wham, bam,
Thank you, ma'am,
Kind of operation right here.
We got down to business.
We just got to get
Our still built,
Get completely set up
And start makin' some shine.
Damn, that's good.
♪♪
I started climax moonshine
To carry my father's legacy,
And to take care of my family.
But, you know,
Comin' back to virginia
Is actually a good part to
Create jobs for the community.
All right, hamburgers
Out on the front porch!
Jeanette fixed hamburgers!
In culpeper, virginia,
Tim smith is busy buildin'
His moonshine empire
From the ground up.
That looks like a dead dog,
Don't he?
Tobey?
Yeah.
He died a couple years ago.Yeah.
Oh, look at him.
People here at belmont farms,
It's more like family now.
They're not employees.
And they really put their heart
Into it.
And this is what makes
The quality of climax moonshine.
It's american made
Right here in virginia.
You're home, son.
Yeah. It ain't gonna get
No better, is it?
This is it.
Well, when I was at --
Back in the woods,
It was just me and a few guys,
Maybe, just, you know,
Doin' our thing,
Makin' ends meet.
But now that since I'm
Legal
And got a lot of other families
Working for me,
It's a lot of responsibility.
Let's get back to work,
Huh?
All these big plans
Won't do anything
If we just sit here
And keep eatin', huh?
I know, but we go to go.
If this thing goes down,
Then all these people
Gonna lose their jobs.
So it's
A little bit more to it now
Than just me back in the woods.
♪♪
What's up?
Tickle, what're you doin'?
Nothin'. What are you doin'
All the way up here?
Huh?
What are you doin' all the way
Up here, man?
I'm makin' my moonshine,
You know?
What are you doin' up here
Is what I want to know.
I got my ass in a boatload
Of trouble.
Tim's the only person I know
Who can get me out of it.
Tim and tickle's history
Goes all the way back
To the woods.
If you really love
Your country...
Son of a bitch.
...You're gonna
Have to love moonshine.
Watch! Watch! Watch!
But as tickle lost
His way, tim had to let him go.
I'm thinkin' about
Gettin' somebody else to help.
You know what, I'm thinkin'
About gettin' somebody else
To help me do this, too.
And you're gonna get somebody
Else to help you get in jail.
I'm gonna flood my community
With liquor.
Oh, no.
I come up here to help you.
Oh, you come up here
To help me?
Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Well, it's really nice
To see tickle,
Worried at what's going on
With him.
I haven't seen him
In a long time.
And, you know, I do miss him.
You know, back in the day
It was tim and tickle.
It was the team.
You need a job? You mean
You want to come work for me?
Yeah.
I been knowin' tickle
For a long time.
And we worked together
In the woods,
And did a lot of, you know,
Illegal things.
Let me show you where we
Been addin' on right here.
But now I'm goin' legal.
Uh, you know,
Tickle's gone on his way.
And I never known tickle
To be excited
About gettin' a legal job.
See? We done added all of this
Since the last time.
Yeah.
Look at that.
What a bag of sugar, huh?
Ain't no way we could have toted
That to the still.
That's more than you
Want to put in the truck.
So what's the deal on
You needin' a job?
Well, I'm not gonna
Lie to you.
I'm really in a lot
Of damn trouble, man.
They busted me and got me
On my sawed-off.
You got caught got caught
With your sawed-off shotgun?
Yeah.
Coming up,
In kentucky,
A nod to tradition
With a taste for change...
We take this honey moonshine
And put it in these
Bourbon barrels.
There ain't nothin' like this
On the store shelf.
...A veteran shiner
Is scared to death...
Are you *bleep* me?
Reckon you know this feller?
...And tickle
Is in hot water.
They catch me
With a sawed-off shotgun,
All of a sudden I got
Frickin' rabies.
♪♪
So what's the deal on
You needin' a job?
Well, I'm not gonna
Lie to you.
I'm really in a lot
Of damn trouble, man.
In culpeper, virginia,
A visit from a ghost
Of moonshine seasons past.
I know somethin's goin' on.
What's happenin'?
They busted me and got me
On my sawed-off.
You got caught with
Your sawed-off shotgun?
Yeah.
It sounds pretty serious,
You know?
Because tickle's, you know,
It's not his first time
Being in trouble.
So this is kind of addin'
To the list of things
That tickle's had.
You know, he's had lots
Of other issues
With run-ins with the law.
And it may be more to this story
Than I really know.
I rather just loan you
A little bit money
Than give you a job
And jeopardize my position here.
'cause we can't have nobody
With a felony workin' here.
Well, I ain't got one yet.
Yeah, but it sound like you
Gettin' ready to have one.
Well,
I ain't gonna lie to you.
I can't stick around
Too long.
Well, you see what
I'm talkin' about?
Tickle workin' here
At the distillery
Is not gonna work for us.
Okay.
All right.
All right, bud.
I do all I can to
Help tickle out.
You know, our friendship
Goes way back to the woods.
They catch me with
A sawed-off shotgun,
All of a sudden I got
Frickin' rabies.
That crazy.
♪♪
As one generation
Of moonshiners fades away,
Another rises up
To carry their ancestor's torch.
It takes a lot
To make a good moonshine.
I mean,
It's just like makin' food.
I try to stay local, you know?
We're out here in kentucky.
We got all our resources
Right here at our fingertips.
We got limestone water comin'
Right out of the ground.
If you don't use a good water
Source, it's not gonna be good.
That's gonna carry over into
The flavor of your moonshine.
Think I got it fixed.
Makin' moonshine ain't a crime.
It's a tradition.
It's been in my family
For over a hundred years,
And this tradition's not gonna
Live long
If these new generations comin'
Up don't keep carrying it on.
Whether you want to admit
It or not,
It's a part
Of our culture and history.
It's a part
Of american heritage.
The moonshine I make is better
Than anything at the store.
The distilleries ain't doin' it
The old way anymore.
And that's
What we're out here doin'.
We're bringin' people backwoods,
Outlaw, kentucky moonshine.
I make a different type
Of moonshine
Than just
Straight corn moonshine,
Because I really want to take it
To the next step
And make somethin' special.
Check on this mash here.
I got it started yesterday.
I make a blend of moonshine
With corn, rye, and honey.
And it is, stand alone,
The best out there.
It's hard to beat
The honey moonshine.
In the bluegrass state
Of kentucky,
Tyler is readying a batch
Of honey shine.
Somebody comin' up the driveway
Like a idiot.
What do you
Got goin' on here?
New-school
American muscle.
New-school
American somethin'.
Now this looks like
A old cop car.
It is a old cop car.
What are you tryin'
To piss 'em off?
When it comes
To makin' liquor,
You know, I can go to sleep
At night.
I'm doin' a public service.
Look here.
That's handmade, boy.
There ain't nothin' like that
In the country.
Everybody has hopes.
Everybody has dreams.
One of these days I hope to send
My kids to college.
It's what drives me
To make liquor.
Kentucky shiners chico
And tyler have never been
On easy street...
Just be easy on it.
Man, I folded my exhaust
Plumb up.
There went my window.
...But they mastered
A new honey shine recipe...
We're steppin' up to a clientele
That's on another level.
Suit-and-tie,
Titty-bar type?
Pretty much.
...Which soon had
The duo's liquor sales soaring.
The partners have already made
125 gallons of honey shine
This season...
Well, come here. I'll show you
Somethin' I'm workin' on here.
Hell, I'll do it.
...But tyler has an
Idea that could change the game.
Got a couple barrels
Goin' here,
'cause I want to just
Try somethin' out.
We're gonna put it
In barrels.
To do what?
We take this
Honey moonshine
And put it in
These bourbon barrels
And age it a little bit.
And it's not only
Gonna be a good product,
But it's gonna be one-off,
Homemade,
Backwoods, honey bourbon.
Now you talk about
Makin'...
Honey bourbon?
Honey bourbon.
We're in bourbon country.
We got the right seasons.
We got the right climate.
We've got
The limestone water.
We've got everything here
We need to make bourbon,
And it ain't gonna be somethin'
That everybody can go get.
There ain't nothin' like this
On the store shelf.
No one can be certain who first
Had the idea to age corn liquor
In charred oak barrels.
But many credit a baptist
Minister named elijah craig
As the father of bourbon.
The pastor opened a distillery
In bourbon county, kentucky,
In 1789.
And legend has it that a bonfire
Led to a serendipitous
Discovery.
While filling a large order,
Elijah ran out of barrels.
He completed it with the ones
That were scorched
In the bonfire
And shipped them to the client
In new orleans.
When the 9-month journey
Down the mississippi river
Was complete
And the charred barrels
Were uncorked,
The liquor's color had darkened,
Its palatability had increased,
And kentucky bourbon was born.
Well, what we talkin'?
I believe we can take this
And age it for at least a year.
A year?
I don't know.
You know, I love my heritage
As much as anybody.
I mean, we're in kentucky.
It's bourbon capital
Of the world.
But shine season,
For me, is money time.
We get to put that
In our pocket.
I live off that all winter.
I'm thinkin' about
Down the road.
I'm talkin' about
Retirement money.
I mean, we're gonna start
Out at $80 to $100 a jar.
I mean, he have the money
To wait on it
In these bourbon barrels,
But I don't.
Well, let's put the caps
On this.
We'll cross this road
When we get there.
The moonshine
That we puttin' in the barrel
Will take food
Out of my kids' mouths.
Really?
Damn.
In cocke county, tennessee,
Digger has a plan to keep
Distribution underground,
Six feet underground that is.
Ooh.
With plenty of cargo room.
Oh, hell no.
what?
Are you *bleep* me?
I wouldn't *bleep* you.
You're my favorite turd.
Oh, hell.
We just -- we gonna, I mean,
Put liquor inside of it?
Yeah, we'll rip
That interior out.
It's a little damp,
But that ain't no problem.
Never in my wildest
Imagination would I have thought
He'd have come drivin' up
In a hearse.
I'm a little bit
Creeped out about it,
But I think it's a great idea.
'cause you never see a hearse
Pulled over.
Well, you ready, mark?
All right.
You recognize this feller?
What the hell?
That's a mess.
God almighty.
You ain't found no spare parts
In there, have you?
I think he's probably
Got a good idea,
But I tell you,
It's kind of --
It's kind of creepin' me out
Just a little bit.
Phew.
Just be glad it ain't soaked up
With blood and stuff.
Me and digger,
We have a pretty good network
Of clients.
When we came out with
The new apple-rye recipe,
People are jabberin'
About it everywhere
That's had a taste of it.
I think this apple-rye
Is gonna do for us,
What corn whiskey did
For popcorn sutton.
You know what you don't ever
Want to hear
When you peck on one of them?
Somebody pecks back.
you ain't helpin'
This none for me.
I want you to stop it.
*bleep* hell.
Didn't mean to slobber
All over you.
Put the casket stop down there,
Undertaker.
Come up with
An excellent idea here.
We can't be ridin' around
In a damn hearse in overalls.
We'd stick out
Like a whore in church.
Well, funny you should
Bring that up.
I got you
A little surprise.
Bet you're really
Gonna love this.
I didn't know
What size you were.
You've outdone yourself,
Brother.
Well, all we got to do
Is wait on nightfall
And put on our good
Sunday-school clothes.
Now you didn't steal it,
Did you?
What's your definition
Of stealin'?
Coming up,
Things go bump in the night...
...And tyler chooses the road
Less traveled.
I don't have nobody
Watchin' my back.
It's a little bit
Of a sketchy situation.
♪♪
I'm goin' to get
These barrels today.
They're new, white oak,
Charred bourbon barrels.
That's what you've got
To have to make bourbon.
In central kentucky,
Tyler is searching for the piece
That will officially set his
Plan to make bourbon in motion.
There's a lot of stuff goin'
On in the moonshine industry,
But we're in bourbon country.
This is kentucky.
You know,
This is where bourbon was born.
This is where bourbon is made.
And we need to take advantage
Of that.
Born of traditional methods
And key ingredients found only
In the bluegrass state,
Bourbon must start with mash
Made only with
Kentucky limestone spring water
And a grain mix containing
At least 51% corn.
After fermenting
With three yeast strains
Used only by bourbon makers,
It must be distilled twice
At no higher
Than 80 percent alcohol.
Finally, bourbon must be aged
In charred,
American white oak barrels.
Chico and tyler plan
To make bourbon with
Their own signature twist --
By adding honey to the mash,
Then distilling and aging
In the traditional way.
I can't just go
Into the barrel factory
Like it's a grocery store
And say, "Hey, man, I need
To buy some of these barrels."
They just don't work that way.
You've got to have
A distilled-spirits permit.
I kind of got a backdoor
Connection in the industry.
I worked a deal where I can
Trade $300 worth of moonshine
For these barrels.
When you're tradin' moonshine
For somethin'
To do somethin' illegal with,
You always run a risk
Of somethin' going wrong.
Chico didn't show up today.
I don't know
Where the hell he's at.
I don't know if he's just hurt
About the fact
That I'm going forward and doing
This honey-bourbon thing.
If chico don't like
What I'm doin',
He might have to head on
Down the road.
Tyler approaches me and says
That he wants to make bourbon.
You know, it's not somethin'
I really want to do.
I need my money now.
He just keeps throwin' stuff
On me
Like I'm supposed
To just ride along with it,
Like it's 100% his decision
How we're gonna do it
And where we're gonna do it.
It's like I don't even
Have a choice in the matter.
It's like I can't even
Voice my opinion
Without gettin'
Completely shut down.
It's ridiculous.
What's goin' on?
Yeah. Yeah.
When you're doin'
Business like this.
It's a little bit
Of a sketchy situation,
Because you could have
Somebody try to rob you.
You could have
The police come up.
It could be a sting operation.
You know, a case of moonshine is
Enough to get you behind bars.
I don't have nobody
Watchin' my back,
So I really got
To be careful about this.
I guess I can get you
What you come for.
It's all 100 proof.
I appreciate it, man.
Let's take her
For a test drive.
This dunce hat
That we're buildin' here
Has been the most aggrivatin'
One we've built yet.
The most important thing
Right now
Is that we don't cut
The copper wrong.
Over in the hills
Of south carolina,
Josh and bill are tackling
The most difficult part
Of any still build.
Damn,
This is impossible.
When you're buildin' a still,
The hardest part, by far,
Is buildin' the cap.
There's no turnin' back now.
You need some go-go-gadget arms,
Because you need hands
In places where they won't go.
It's a very awkward piece
Of metal to deal with.
Let's go ahead and get
This thing bent and soldered.
But barney barnwell, hell,
He's the damn master.
He looks at it a few times.
He don't even, damn,
Use a tape measure.
I need some fire.
He goes to whittling on it.
And I'm like, "That's too big.
I don't know."
He's like, "Nope, it's perfect."
We put it right on there,
And she goes right on just like
You puttin' on a glove.
You're a good bit
Part cherokee, ain't ya?
Yeah.
You makin' damn indian
Silver jewelry over here?
Smart ass.
I don't care if it is crooked.
At this point,
I'll be satisfied just to get
This son of a bitch on there.
Right on.
It's gonna be the band
Around the top of our still pot.
Give it a little bit more of
A vertical surface
For our cap
To actually sit up against.
Well, like everything else
We do, it's a little lopsided.
We're gettin' rained on,
But we gonna get this thing
Done, though.
Everything we got's
Soakin' wet now.
So you want to just take this
In the buildin' and finish it?
Yeah.
The still's 200-gallon pot
Will give josh and bill
25 finished gallons per run.
Pot's done. Cap's done.
Thump keg's done.
Feelin' pretty good
About it.
Well, I guess it's becomin'
More apparent where my nickname,
Digger, came from.
A friend of ours dubbed
Me digger because my dad's
Been in the funeral business
All his life,
And I worked in the funeral
Business for several years.
In old rocky top, tennessee,
Digger's doing his best
To hide in plain sight.
I'm headed up here
To pick mark up.
We're dressed
For the part now.
We've got a few dead drops
To make -- no pun intended.
I just have to see
How mark feels about it.
Make sure
He's got his britches on,
Facin' the right direction.
Yeah, boy.
Look at him all dolled up.
He looks good enough
To take to chinatown,
Walk around at
The fireworks show.
You brought me
This funeral tie,
But I don't know how
To tie it.
You gonna have to
Put it on me.
Lay down on the hood.
that's the only way
You can put 'em on?
I can't tie 'em
If you're standin' up.
A lot of friggin' work
To try and peddle a jar
Of liquor around here.
Yeah, gonna give him a second
To get out, I guess.
All right.
Boy,
You look fine and dandy.
I'd dance with you
At the prom.
Let's go get 'er done.
Let's log some mileage
And make some money.
Damn, I sure do feel strange
Dressed up.
Yeah,
But you looks nice.
In the time-tested method
Called the dead drop,
A shiner drops off finished
Product at a location
Where a trusted middle man
Has told the bootlegger
To leave payment.
Because they're known
By alias only,
If one of the people involved
Is apprehended and interrogated,
He simply won't know enough to
Take the others down with him.
Got to watch out, there ain't
No tellin' this old driveway...
This first one right here.
It's right over here
In this tiki hut.
Right?
Yeah,
If you'll kind of...
Watch that bridge.
Yeah.
Let me look around first,
Just a little bit.
Coming up, brotherly love is
In the air in south carolina...
It's awesome
To have somebody
You can trust with every ounce
Of your life.
No very many people
That got friends like that.
...And tyler plays
Tough odds on a long game.
I don't see nobody out there,
But sooner I get a fire
Under this thing,
The better off I'll be.
♪♪
On this other side right here,
Digger, yeah.
And we're gonna put it here
In this tiki hut.
Tennessee shiners
Mark and digger
Are using a two-pronged approach
To safety
By bootlegging their apple-rye
At night and in disguise.
Let me look around first,
Just a little bit.
Damn moth flew out of there
And scared me to death.
I jumped like
A little girl.
We got pay dirt.
Back in the day, the
Runners that hauled the liquor,
All they simply had to do
Was outrun the car
That was chasin' 'em.
Now with law-enforcement
Technology, you can't do that.
But on the other hand,
Place a cop out there,
And he's got the damn moxie
To pull over a hearse
And look in the casket, then I
Guess we deserve to get caught.
And just go right on 'round
Through here.
I think that was really good,
Digger.
I'm liking more and more
Not dealin' with people.
Yeah.
I mean,
The money was there,
Everything was right where
It was supposed to be.
So you've told everybody
$150 a gallon on this, right?
All the ones that I was dealin'
With, that's what I told them.
Out clientele
For our liquor,
It's all across the social,
Economical spectrum.
You know, it's from the guy
That's --
That works hard everyday
On a construction job,
To a guy that's sittin'
Behind a desk all his life.
We've got 'em all covered.
When you've got good liquor,
They'll seek you out.
I think that was
A excellent transaction.
Yeah, that was ideal.
Three, six, nine gallon.
So that's $1,350.
Mark and digger intend
To sell 65 gallons of apple-rye.
If it goes according to plan,
This one night of work will
Net them $10,000 tax-free.
♪♪
Will you look
At this stuff?
I believe that's ready to run,
There.
In kentucky,
Tyler's honey-bourbon mash
Is fermented and ready to run.
This ain't exactly what
I want to be doin' right now,
But I ain't heard nothin' out
Of chico in two or three days.
I don't if he's dead or in jail
Or what's goin' on.
But I'm gonna get this stuff
Run off anyway.
Got over 100 gallon of mash
Here that's ready to run.
I don't have time
To pack all this mash back here
To the big still site
All by myself.
I'm just gonna
Set up this smaller still here.
I'ma run this mash off and get
It done before it sits here
And sours and goes bad.
I think I heard
A car out here.
If I'm makin' this stuff
Out in the woods,
I can take off runnin'.
But, you know, if they walk up
On me in a structure,
You know,
I'm stuck right there.
They gonna take the still.
They gonna take the buildin'.
They gonna be investigatin'
Everything else I own.
So, you know,
It's really a big risk
To be foolin' with
Makin' moonshine inside.
I don't see nobody out there,
But I tell you --
Sooner I can get a fire
Under this thing,
The better off I'll be.
Anytime you're runnin'
Inside of an enclosed area,
Make sure there's no leaks,
Because it's dangerous.
You know, you're playin'
With alcohol vapor.
When it starts to evaporate
And turn into a gas,
It's really flammable,
And it becomes unstable.
If it touches a flame,
It'll ignite like ether,
Just a boom.
It won't be like a slow burn.
It'll light up quicker than gas.
It's kind of like a dog
That got his tail caught
In the lawnmower,
It won't be long now.
There's a whole lot of people
Makin' moonshine.
But there ain't a whole lot
Of people makin' moonshine
Like this right here.
This is the old-fashioned way.
It's the right way.
There's no corners cut.
I mean, this is the real deal.
It's a true art form,
And it tastes good too.
It's almost fixin'
To come out there.
It's hot all the way
To the top of the worm barrel.
There we go.
Go ahead and swap that out.
The first shine
To run off is called the heads.
Because of it's high methanol
Content,
It's poisonous
And quickly thrown away.
Take a little bit
Of these heads,
If you want to know how hot they
Are and just pour a little bit
There on the floor,
'cause I'm just gonna
Throw that away anyhow.
And I can show you
How high a proof that liquor is.
Here's the first jar
Of the good stuff, right here.
Yeah, that's way on up there.
If you take too big of a swig,
It'll get on you too quick.
Mmm.
That right
There will get you in trouble.
Whoo!
That'll get you in trouble.
Like pourin' money
Out of a spout.
*bleep*
Hey, cut that off.
Come on in here.
What the hell
You doin'? Oh.
Lord have mercy.
Where you been at, man?
Mom in the hospital
And stuff.
Mama's in the hospital?
She had her knee replaced,
Been sick.
Your family comes first,
But I heard through
The grapevine
That he was out buyin'
A motorcycle.
And if that's the case,
Then, you know,
Me and him's gonna really
Have to re-evaluate things.
Why are you runnin'
In the garage?
Well, that mash was gonna
Bad just sittin' there.
And I didn't know
What else to do, man.
And I went and got
The barrels.
How far are we
In the hole already?
Well, I traded three gallons
Of liquor
For two brand-new
Bourbon barrels.
Oh, man.
That's 300 bucks.
Yep.
Now he's took
And traded liquor
For barrels, just for
The simple fact I wasn't there.
Startin' to sound like
Our partnership's goin' one way,
And my opinions
Don't even matter.
Coming up,
In the piedmont,
It's a long fall
From cloud nine.
If that thing breaks off,
It's comin' this way.
♪♪
Chuck is just, like,
Propped up against the thing
Lookin' for me like
He's waitin' for me.
Oh.
Oh, my gosh. It's tim!
Chuck.
All right, chuck.
Now, tim,
I got to tell you somethin'.
Ah, what happened?
The mail came in today.
You must have entered
A contest or somethin'.
I'm always entering
Contests.
Well, by god, come here,
Let me show you
What we got you here.
This just came in
The mail today.
International whiskey
Competition committee,
Proud to present belmont farm
Distillery an official award.
Best moonshine ever,
Third in the world
And best in moonshine.
There's one problem
About that certificate, tim.
Oh-oh, what's the problem?
It's gonna sell
More whiskey.
man.
You can do that, tim.
♪♪
Why are you runnin'
In the garage?
Well, that mash was gonna
Go bad just sittin' there.
And I didn't know
What else to do, man.
With chico awol,
Tyler faced the dismal prospect
Of risking his freedom
By running shine in his garage.
Yeah, I went
And got the barrels.
How far are we in the hole
Already?
Well, I traded three gallons
Of liquor
For two brand-new
Bourbon barrels.
Oh, man,
That's 300 bucks.
Yep.
You know what? I need money now.
And then he tells me
That he takes liquor
And trades it for
Bourbon barrels.
That's not puttin' any money
In my pocket.
I guess the bright side to
Makin' moonshine by yourself
Is you get to keep all the money
You make off of it.
You don't have
To split it with nobody.
There will probably
Be some sore pockets
After this little episode
Here.
Won't be mine, though.
Mnh.
You know, I mean,
It is what it is.
If he wants to cut me
Out of the percentage,
I don't know what will happen.
We'll see when it sells,
I guess.
I still get my money
Either way.
Well, we got to both
Be here and do the work.
♪♪
I'm good,
Just watch the worm.
Set that son of a bug down.
As the mercury climbs
In the hills of south carolina,
Josh and bill are gearing up
To run some shine.
We've got to hit the ground
Runnin' to make some shine.
The season's just passin' us by.
What is it about us
And shovels?
I don't know how many
Processes there are
In makin' a still site
That doesn't involve
A bunch of shovel work.
I think moonshinin'
Brought us closer together,
Because no matter
What this old world
Throws at us, my brother's
Always right there for me.
Looks good. Right on.
You want to throw the cap on?
We might have a knock down,
Drag-out,
But at the end of the day,
We're brothers no matter what.
It's awesome to have somebody
You can trust with your life,
Your money, your kids,
Every ounce of your life.
You know, not many people
That got friends
Like that and, uh...
You ready to make some mash?
Yeah. In these temperatures,
That mash is not gonna
Take long to roll over
Before it's ready to run.
Josh and bill use
A locally grown carolina
Piedmont sweetcorn.
Its high sugar content
Will boost the alcohol level
Of their mash.
Only dump about half of it.
When we started out,
We'd just take grains
And dump 'em in a bucket
And then throw some water
On 'em,
And eventually,
It would turn into mash.
We stepped that up
At some point.
Now we started puttin'
Boilin' water on the grains,
Helps break down the starches
And sugars faster,
And gives a really quick
Turnover on our mash.
All right.
Hell, we mashed in, man.
Hard part's done. We ain't got
Too much more to load in.
This year was intense.
Everything's gone wrong.
We got planes flyin' overheard.
We got intruders
Comin' into our campsite.
We get our bunker finished,
Then we go to build our still,
And they sent us
The wrong copper.
But I'm not gonna let
That stop me from makin' shine.
It's our heritage,
And I love the money.
Bill.Sí?
You see that tree
That's fell?
That right there
Is dangerous.
If that thing breaks off,
It's comin' this way.
One tree feel over,
And it's leaned on this tree
That we got
Right beside our site.
We hope that it's gonna fall
On the right side of that tree,
'cause if it falls
On the left side, I mean,
That's our site, that's
Our still. We're done for.
We need to get rid
Of that.
I just think it's flirtin'
With disaster to even touch it.
I don't know, man.
I ain't gonna let
A tree stop us.
♪♪
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Aw, yeah.
...Josh finds out that foliage
Can be quite a foe...
...All is not well
On the bayou...
What is that?
Just got a text.
My season's gonna be over with.
You know how awkward
Walkin' backwards is?
Damn.
...And chico
And tyler's partnership
Hangs in the balance...
The thing with the still,
I don't know what you did, man.
I don't know
What your intentions.
It was a *bleep* accident.
You know how *bleep*
Fed up I am!
I have been through
A lot of *bleep*!
I am done with it!!