Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 7, Episode 13 - From the Flames - full transcript
Josh must make good with a biker gang after a trailer fire leaves them empty handed. Tickle's first run of legal rye whisky tempts him to return to the illegal side. In Louisiana, a sassafras shine experiment puts a massive waterb...
Josh: this biker distributor,
I don't know whether he's gonna
Crucify me or what.
Narrator: broken promises
In north carolina...
Digger: I think we ought
To make a true muscadine brandy.
Heck yeah.
Narrator:
...Beating the bushes
For a new premium liquor
In tennessee...
Digger:
Quit eatin' so damn many and
The tarp'll fill up quicker.
I'll have to pull over
Three or four times
To let you poop
Going down the road.
I been getting a whole lot
Of calls from people...
...And the backwoods beckon
In virginia.
...Wanting me to make 'em
Some moonshine.
Illegal moonshine.
♪♪
♪ goin' for a ride ♪
♪ runnin' to survive ♪
♪ when you're livin'
Outside the law ♪
♪♪
♪ we're livin'
Outside the law ♪
♪♪
Man: this is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
♪♪
Josh: so, we're back here
In north carolina.
Right now, I'm on my way to meet
This biker connection of mine.
Narrator: josh faces a moment
Of reckoning on the piedmont.
We had 150 gallons
Of cherry bounce in a trailer
On our way to a bike rally,
And I lost everything.
I was supposed to sell it.
Everything burnt to the ground
On the way out there.
All my stuff's burning!
Look!
♪♪
Damn trailer fire burned up
A ton of my racing stuff.
Everything went up in flames.
This biker distributor,
I don't know what he's thinking.
He hasn't let me know whether
He's gonna crucify me or what.
He hasn't told me how I can
Make it straight yet.
I don't got a line up on
Any more cherries right now.
It's not cherry season.
Hopefully, this dude
Won't have any problems
With me making plum brandy
Instead of cherry bounce.
So, I don't know exactly
What to expect.
He may be one pissed-off
Son of a gun.
Can't afford to lose this guy.
♪♪
There he is, right there.
He's already here.
[ keys rattle ]
♪♪
I had some bad luck, man.
I had a fire, and I lost
My trailer and everything in it.
It hurt my business, too.
You don't need to find
Nobody else.
I'll make the deal right.
And the only problem
We have
Is I don't have cherry bounce
Right now.
I'll make
Some plum brandy.
Yeah,
It'll be the same quality.
Now, listen -- listen.
You trusted me enough
To make a deal with me.
Then you should trust
It'll be the same quality,
And you just got to give me
The time to get it to you.
♪♪
Yeah, I can make more.
Thanks, man.
♪♪
Phew.
Well, I got it worked out
At 175 gallons of plum brandy.
Well, we better damn well
Not have no problems.
Narrator:
In order to fulfill
One of the most critical
Shine orders of his career,
Josh will need chuck's help
To set up and complete
Several back-to-back runs.
Josh: I'm gonna have
To get to work right away
Making my heated mash room.
It's getting cold at night,
There ain't gonna be no way
I'm gonna be able to make this
Liquor in this cold weather.
So, I got my work
Cut out for me.
♪♪
♪♪
Mark: look here at
The muscadine grapes.
They're ready to pick.
Digger: yeah,
They're hanging full.
We can't snip these off.
Narrator: in eastern tennessee,
Mark, digger, and j.B. Rader
Are at a local vineyard
Where the muscadine is sweet
And ready for picking.
What the heck
You got me out here fer?
I got a little idea.
-I thought you might have.
-I do.
I was studying about how good
That crop had turned out
With just that pumice --
That trash, our castoff.
We did this cropper run,
And our customers loved it,
And that was made
From scrap.
If that's trash, what can
We do with some real grapes?
These berries,
They're just full of juice.
I think we ought to make
A true muscadine brandy.
Heck yeah.
I just don't know
The exact ratio
Of wine to liquor
I'm gonna need
Quite like you do.
And that's why I was gonna
Pull you in here,
And let's kind of figure out
What we're gonna do.
Digger: we don't have j.B.
In here for his brawn.
We've got him in here for what
He can bring to the table
With what's up here.
This is gonna have to be
On you two,
'cause I don't know about
How to do that at all.
Well,
I'll do the stompin'.
You up to doin'
Any grape stompin'?
Hell yeah.
What my granny
Used to tell me --
We used to go pick these old
Muscadines out behind her house.
She said, "You eat them seeds
And grapes grow out your butt."
-yeah.
-I used to eat 'em and watch.
I'd go look in the mirror.
He's yours.
Digger:
These muscadines are indigenous
To our region, you know.
They're a local grape,
If you will.
That's just part
Of our heritage.
You know, mark and I both
Remember from our childhood,
Romping around these mountains,
You'd find a muscadine vine,
You'd pick it clean.
You know, they're delicious.
Narrator: in 1585,
When english settlers
Established a colony
On roanoke island,
They quickly determined
The indigenous muscadine grapes
Were ideal for making wine.
The roanoke colony
Disappeared without a trace
In one of the greatest mysteries
In american history,
Yet the hardy muscadine plants
They discovered
Are still
Being cultivated today.
Incredibly, the oldest
Muscadine vine on roanoke island
Is believed to be
Over 400 years old,
Dating back to the time
Of the lost colony.
Well, we can't do nothin'
Till we get to pickin'.
Looky right here.
Why can't we start right here?
I'm all for it.
The vintner that owns
The vineyards --
Very, very nice man.
He'll let us have access
To what we need.
Hold that in there, j.B.
Digger says that
He's someone we can trust.
♪♪
We're gonna pick about
Six barrels of these grapes.
Don't leave
No grape behind.
This right here,
Gathering these muscadine,
This is right in my wheelhouse.
I'm concentrating on what
The flavor's gonna be.
If it's a real sweet liquor,
We're gonna balance that
With just a little bit of rye.
Quit eatin' so damn many and
The tarp'll fill up quicker.
I'll have to pull over
Three or four times
To let you poop
Going down the road.
Mark: digger prides his self
On his mashes and recipes.
I don't know what's got a burr
Under his saddle for it,
But I'm good with doin' 'bout
Anything that he wants to do.
Well, I'm gonna go
Find us another bush.
The old-timers, they didn't
Sit on their laurels,
So digger constantly
Pushes the envelope.
Boy, this one's loaded,
Ain't it?
Kind of like milkin' a cow,
Ain't it?
Tiny bit.
There ain't been
One of these kick me yet.
I can kick you if it makes
You feel at home.
Digger: you know,
As far as our corn liquor,
We've outsourced it to kelly.
I'm gonna put about half of this
In this barrel.
Want me to stir?Then stir it up.
Looks good to me.
That'll work.
That loosens me up to
Go back to what I like to do,
And that's making
These extravagant recipes.
Oh, that'll be pretty
Right there.
This recipe that
We're gonna come up with,
We will consider it
One of our premium liquors.
And with that premium status
Comes a premium price.
Mark:
Nah, this ain't so bad.
They hit them vines
On the way down,
They just bounce around
Like ping-pong balls.
After we fill these barrels up,
We got to start
Making a little mash.
Adding this rye, it makes the
Process a little more complex.
We got two pots of muscadines
On one hand,
Then we got one pot of rye,
And hopefully,
It'll make good liquor.
About 37 more of them.
Kind of slow go,
Ain't it?
Yeah, ain't no
Fast man's game, is it?
♪♪
♪♪
Wonder what this stuff
Looks like today.
Narrator:
In culpeper, virginia, a recent
Cold snap across the region
Has delayed fermentation
Of tickle and j.T.'s
Single- and double-rye mashes.
Oh, yeah.
She's still got
A little ways to work.
We'll get more alcohol
Out of her.
Give it
A couple more days.
-yeah.
-hmm.
That looks like
It's about ready.
[ smacks lips ]
It's definitely ready.
Man, that's too much rye
In that thing.
Well, I mean, it's gonna
Make some damn alcohol.
Tickle: we got this double-rye,
I guess you'd call it,
And we messed it up.
There's way too much rye in it.
I don't know what it's gonna
Wind up turning out like.
We're gonna run it
And see what happens.
I'll go on ahead
And light the still on up.
♪♪
Oh, yeah.
All right, let's get
Somethin' over in her.
All right.
Things don't always go
The way you plan.
There's a million mistakes you
Can make while making moonshine,
And so I got that knowledge
Right there,
That if you do this,
It'll turn out like this,
If you do that,
This is gonna happen.
I tell you what, boy --
That smells good, don't it?
Oh, yeah.
Makin' this mash,
It didn't turn out
How we planned at all,
But a whole lot of things
Have been invented
Throughout the years
Just that same way.
Get you some of that.
All right.
Without taking
A little bit of a risk,
You never gain nothin'.
I'm not about to throw
Any sort of mash away.
You'll never be great
At anything
If you follow everybody else.
I guess now it's just
Play the waiting game.
I reckon so.
This whole deal is about
J.T. Steppin' out on his own,
Learning what to do,
Learning how to do it,
And maybe even comin' up
With a whole-new way
Of doing something.
Do you smell that?I sure do.
What is that --
Your ass?
[ chuckles ] no, it smells
Like that mash in there.
I believe
You might be right.
Let's check it.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah,
She's running good now.
I think she's about there.
Almost.
This one should be good,
Right here.
Yeah.
Ain't no tellin' what we gonna
Wind up with, with this.
Let's see what we got
Goin' on here.
Ah.
♪♪
You taste that
And tell me what you think.
That, to me,
Tastes good as hell.
It's spicy on the front,
Then it kind of mellows on
As it hits
The back of your mouth.
I think we got
Somethin' here.
"Think"? Hell, I know
We got somethin' right there.
This right here,
It is so smooth,
It's like drinking
A cup of warm butter.
Tim: hey!
Hey, tim.
I got somethin'
I want to show you.
We take this double-rye
Over to tim and chuck
And get them to taste it.
Yeah.
What you got there?
I want you to check it out
And see what you think.
♪♪
Ah.
♪♪
Narrator:
It takes an old-timer
To get the timing right
In tennessee.
Mark: it's very important that
We hit these fermentations
Within 12 hours of each other.
You know,
We're at mother nature's mercy.
♪♪
Narrator:
With a jar of their experimental
Double-rye whiskey in hand,
Tickle and j.T. Seek out
Tim's seal of approval.
Hey, tim.
We take this double-rye
Over to tim and chuck
And get them to taste it.
Yeah.
What you got there?
I want you to check it out
And see what you think.
♪♪
Ah.
Boy, that's --chuck: what'd you think, tim?
It's pretty slick, dad.Pretty slick?
-yeah.
-that's smooth.
You could taste
That spiciness, huh?
Tickle: yeah.
Pass it back
Over here, chuck.
[ laughter ]there you go, hey.
It just rolls
Right off the tongue.
-it goes down awful easy.
-heck yeah.
'cause you get a spiciness
From the rye
And then you get that little
Sweetness from the corn, huh?
Yeah, yeah.
I think y'all both
Did a good job here.
I have to say that
I'm really proud of j.T.
This just shows you,
You can't give up, you know,
Even though they knew
They messed up,
They followed through with it.
I mean, sometimes
Those accidents come out
To bein' the best.
Back in the day
When me and my dad
Came up with the first
Climax recipe,
We accidentally made it.
This whole thing
Is what I want j.T. To do.
I mean, I want my son to carry
On the legacy of the family,
Carry on the legacy of my dad,
And carrying on the traditions
Of making moonshine.
If j.T.'s got this wrote down,
We may need to put that...
Well, it might be something
We need to think about doin'.
There you go.
Luckily, j.T. Kept notes
On everything that we did.
It could be scaled up
And run and mass-produced.
Well, y'all did good.
Y'all did really good.
Tim: tickle stood right behind
J.T. The whole time.
I mean, he is clean,
He is straight, he's committed,
And he's back on point today.
About time to drink
The damn liquor.
-you earned it, huh?
-yes, sir.
♪♪
♪♪
What are we needin' off
Of these sassafras trees?
We need
The root off of it.
We ain't havin' no luck
Findin' none.
Hang a right, right here.
We'll go all the way around
This old kudzu.
Narrator: in louisiana,
Patti and david are on the hunt
To find a new
Signature moonshine.
Patti: finally ran
Our last round of our mayhaw.
Daddy came up with this idea of
Making some sassafras moonshine.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
There's one right there.
David: I love sassafras.
I've had sassafras candy,
Sassafras tea.
Might as well
Make moonshine out of it.
Patti:
Sassafras has a green leaf
That kinda got
A little red line in it.
We're just wantin'
The root of it,
And that's where it's most
Potent, is in the root,
And that's what we're wantin'
To make the moonshine with.
Narrator:
Throughout history,
Sassafras root
Has been widely sought
As a key ingredient
In health tonics and elixirs.
The cherokee people utilized
Sassafras tea to purify blood,
As well as treat rheumatism
And a wide spectrum
Of skin disorders.
But the root's reputation
As a cure-all
Wasn't free
From embarrassing controversy.
When prepared as a tea,
Sassafras was said
To treat the venereal disease
Syphilis.
But this purpose
Made sassafras tea time
A much less public affair,
As colonial-era gents worried
About being scandalized
If seen taking the cure.
♪♪
Here, let me see
If I can pull it.
Don't break it.
Mmm. Well, that smells good.A little bit of root.
Patti: to me, it smells like
Root beer, so I'm all for it,
But it's a lot of work
To get sassafras roots.
This is way harder
Than picking mayhaws.
[ shovel snaps ]
Man!
My favorite shovel.
Don't break that shovel.
That was yours there.
This is mine.
That's bull junk.
I bought that one brand new.
*bleep* damn.Let me see.
Me and patti, we like to be
Hands-on when we pick stuff.
You didn't tell me
We needed gloves.
Oh, it's gonna be
Dirty work.
Hoo-ee.
We don't want a lot of it
Right now,
Because that stuff's
Real potent,
And we're gonna try, you know,
Just experimenting with it.
That's a good one there.
It ain't gonna take much.
Patti:
On the bright side,
This is something
That grows year-round.
It's not just something
That's gonna be seasonal.
If it works out, then we can
Run through the winter
If we want to.
Every little bit helps.
♪♪
♪♪
Mark: I appreciate you
Lettin' me take the little one.
Well, that'll be
About your turn.
Narrator:
Deep in the woods of tennessee,
Mark and digger arrive
At their still site,
Armed with barrels of
Freshly-picked muscadine grapes.
Mark: well, today, we're gonna
Mash in our muscadine rye.
This is a new recipe,
So we simply hope to start
Squeezing our muscadines
And get them sugared in
And get 'em yeasted up
And fermenting.
We've got another
Long fermentation
On these muscadines.
Yeah, we do.
We're gonna get the fruit
Mashed in today,
And probably
Five or six more days,
We'll mash the rye in,
Because fruit mash
Takes longer to ferment
Than does grain rye.
Narrator:
Because grain and fruit
Require different amounts
Of time to ferment,
Lining up the mash schedule
Is paramount.
Mark:
If the rye finishes three or
Four days sooner than the fruit,
Then what'll happen is
It starts turning to vinegar.
It'll throw a bad taste,
Plus it'll also --
It cuts down the yield.
Let's see
What it look like.
Digger:
We're gonna use this fruit press
That we bartered around and got.
Mark and I have a vast network
Of people we can call upon
For just about anything we need,
And we found
A guy that's a craftsman.
He's built a fruit press.
And I'm all about swapping
A little liquor for something.
That means you got less money
In the end product.
It ain't gonna be
Too high for you?
I'll make it work
If it don't.
Hell, I'll readjust.
Well, the first steps
In making this mash,
First and foremost, we got to
Squeeze all these grapes
And get all the juice
Out of them.
It's gonna take
A little while, but...
It can't be no longer
Than gathering 'em.
You know, as a general rule,
Mark and myself,
We're gonna continue
To honor our predecessors
By sticking to the old,
Traditional methods
Of production.
I don't know.
I ain't seen
The first drop of juice.
I ain't seen
The first drop of juice.
I'm hearing poppin' and
A crackin' in there, though.
It's probably my damn shoulders
And elbows, though.
It's probably that.
There ain't nothin' easy
In this damn world.
Our little squeezer,
It's provin' difficult for us.
Yep, that's gonna be
More gooder.
I mean, that's easier.
I don't know.
Hell, that ain't
Gonna work for this.
There's no doubt that
The thickness of the hide
On these muscadines --
That's the reason
We're having a hard time
With this fruit press.
Most of 'em are still full.
They ain't busted open.
It takes a tremendous lot
Of mash with your finger
To pop one of 'em.
Well, think about having
500 in there, stacked deep,
And tryin' to squash all them.
We're gonna have to do it
The old-timey way
And go barefoot
And tromp in 'em.
That might do somethin' for
That bunion on your right foot.
Eh, wrong.
It's obvious that this is just
Gonna be slow, hard-ass work.
It's comin' out of there.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Hell, I ain't got a damn clue
At this point.
I just know that we ain't got
A lot of time left,
And we need
To be making liquor.
Maybe my damn idea
Wasn't so good after all.
Digger:
When we made that grappa,
Those grapes had already
Been put through
That high-powered
Grape squasher.
We love the antiquated ways
That our forefathers used,
But this is a bit ridiculous.
We may have
To take these grapes,
Put 'em on the ground,
Put that grinder on 'em,
And beat the juice out of 'em,
And then squeeze 'em.
Is that bustin' them up
A tiny bit?
I'm actually seeing
A little juice
In the bottom
Of this barrel.
It's a slow process,
And, you know,
We're just gonna have
To dig in here and get it.
There ain't but one
Way to do it.
Well,
It's gettin' faster.
By god, it ain't
Gettin' no easier.
With this muscadine mash,
We decided we'd just
Pitch the skins over in there,
Too, and all the pulp,
'cause ultimately,
It's gonna lead some flavor
Right into that mash.
I know it.
We're almost there.
Once we got all our grapes
Squashed up,
We add a tiny bit of water --
Just enough to loosen
Everything else good
And to melt this sugar.
We're only doing
A single fermentation,
Which means we're gonna have
The sugar and the grape juice
And the pulp in the barrel
At one time, fermenting it.
We'll carry out a longer,
Colder fermentation,
And hopefully, we're gonna
Bring all the flavors up.
Every damn gnat, mosquito on
The eastern seaboard'll be here.
Mark: the plan is,
We're gonna come back in
In five or six more days,
And if it's far enough along,
Then we'll be good to go ahead
And cook in the rye mash,
And then that should end 'em up
At the same time.
Let's go pick us some more
Grapes there, big boy.
♪♪
Josh: if you're
Gonna be a moonshiner,
You need to know how to be able
To do a little bit of everything
To survive.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Jack of all trades,
Master of just one...
Ow!
[ chuckles ]
♪♪
Well, let's get this
Experiment underway.
Sassafras moonshine.
-yep.
-here we go.
Narrator:
In louisiana, patti and david
Take the next crucial step
In their sassafras moonshine
Experiment.
Here comes the water.
Patti: I always like
To try to come out
With a new, different flavor
Every season,
So why not try this?
I've ran out of mayhaw,
So we've got to fill that void.
It's free,
Just a lot of work gettin' it.
We'll have to rinse
These roots off, daddy.
Yeah.
First off, we've got
To clean off the roots,
Get the dirt off of it.
You don't never want
To have dirt in your mash.
That's probably
Good there for now.
We've never made moonshine
Out of sassafras,
And I've never heard
Of anybody doin' it,
So we're gonna just do
A small batch, and if it works,
Then we'll start, you know,
Makin' bigger batches.
I hope this works out.
So, is this where most of
The flavor is, is in the bark?
That's where
The flavor's at.
So, we're just gonna
Use the bark, huh?
No, we're gonna...
Or are we gonna throw
The whole root, too?
Gonna throw the root
In there, too.
We're basically just
Gonna use sugar-water mash.
It's pretty potent-smellin',
So it should infuse
Into the liquor.
We're gonna cut these up
Into little pieces.
All right,
Put the fire back on her.
♪♪
David: we're gonna have
To test this out,
Because we've never worked
With a root before.
We'll probably mix up a bucket
Of nothin' but root and sugar
And a little bit of yeast
And see if we can get it
To working that way.
Sassafras tea --
I think it's gonna be a killer.
It kind of brought me back.
I love the flavor of it,
Have all my life.
When I was kid, we was runnin'
Around through the woods,
Pull you up a piece
Of sassafras and wash it off,
Put it in your mouth
And chew on it, you know?
It's the color of root beer,
Too, basically.
David: yeah.
We're gonna bring it
To a good hard boil.
Then we're gonna add
50 pounds of sugar to it.
That looks just like
Root beer, don't it?
It sure does.
We're gonna take us a little cup
Out of it before the --
See what it tastes like.
-ready?
-yeah.
Taste that.
♪♪
A little bit sweet
Right now?
Heck yeah.
Yeah, that's gonna be it,
Buddy.
God dang.
Kind of sad,
The mayhaw runnin' out,
But, you know,
On the other hand,
It's a new door open for us
With this sassafras moonshine.
Maybe we should've
Just pumped this up.
♪♪
Stick the hose in there.
All righty.
Well, daddy.
I think that's it.
All we can do
Is wait and see.
♪♪
♪♪
All right, big dawg.
Where do you want to set
The 2x4s, josh?
Eh, just throw 'em
Down there on the ground.
We're gonna put 'em in as fast
As we can grab 'em 'bout it.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Josh prepares for cooler weather
By building a mash room.
Josh: the problem with
Making mash in cold weather
Is your yeast will go dormant.
If your yeast goes dormant,
You ain't makin' any moonshine,
You ain't makin' any money.
Josh: what do you want --
In the center or what?
Yeah, right there.
[ screwdriver whirs ]
So, right now, we're putting
Together a mash room
So we got a good place
To put all them mash barrels
And we can keep 'em warm.
What are we
Gonna do here?
We gonna frame
On the inside?
♪♪
*bleep*
This plenty good.
All right,
I'm good with that.
Moonshining's not
A very forgiving business.
You don't get very many
Second chances.
We got to do
This wall first.
Okay.
Ow!
[ chuckles ]
Josh: I can't afford
To screw it up again.
If I don't deliver
This plum brandy --
They've already gave me
A second chance,
They're not gonna
Give me a third.
Chuck: it's already
Warm in here.
Josh: I'm hot as hell.
[ laughs ]
After losing 150 gallons
Of cherry bounce,
Somehow I was able
To talk these bikers
Into letting me make
The plum brandy instead.
I have to keep them happy.
In order to do that, I've
Got to be a reliable source.
Let's try to get
This ceiling secured.
Narrator:
With this structure,
Josh will be able
To keep the mash warm enough
To keep the yeast from slowing
Down and halting fermentation.
I would like a light bulb --
One on that end,
And then one in the very center
Of this room.
Okay.
I think we got 'em.
[ screwdriver whirs ]
All right.
Right now, I got a lot
Of different things going on.
If you're gonna be a moonshiner,
You need to know how to do
A little bit of everything
To survive.
You need to know how to grow.
You need to know
How to make your own.
You need to know how
To be self-sufficient.
You need to know how to survive.
Those things are
Really aggravating.
You'd think they'd be
Further apart than that.
I sure ain't gonna make it
As no damn electrician.
♪♪
-some plums?
-yeah.
Narrator: now that
His mash room is complete,
Josh can get back
To chipping away
At the 175-gallon
Plum brandy order.
That's enough for now, big dawg.
That's plenty to get started.
♪♪
Josh: when you're
Breaking up fruit,
You got to think of
Fast ways to do it.
I'm using a drill with a mixer
To mash in my plums.
Once these bikers taste
This plum brandy,
They're gonna be hooked.
Josh: that one's almost done,
Big dawg.
Only 45 boxes of plums
To go.
But I'll tell you what --
It's gonna be plum damn good.
Narrator: for centuries,
Farmers have grown plums
On the carolina piedmont
Because the fruit is well-suited
To tolerate
The region's dry soil in summer
And wet, freezing ground
In winter.
The prime plum harvest lasts
From late august
To early october.
Oh, yeah.
This is beautiful.
Josh: we better make a wad
Off this plum brandy,
'cause we done got
A ass of work in it.
I've done worked up
A whole truckload of plums.
This is just one long run
Out of several long runs
That we got to get done.
What am I gonna do?
All I can do.
Get to work
And make things right.
♪♪
I got to make some money.
Narrator: temptation
Is the devil's currency
In virginia.
Makin' shine in the woods
Is about the only way
I know how to make money.
-illegal moonshine?
-well, yeah.
You just out of jail.
But I'm not
Gonna lie to you.
It's awful tempting.
♪♪
We just gonna have
To kind of guess
And see how much longer we think
That's got to work for us.
Yeah, we can get close,
I think.
We still got
A little sugar back here.
We ain't got no rye,
Though.
We have now.
Narrator:
Eager to start the next phase
Of their staggered
Fermentation process,
Mark, digger, and j.B.
Need to assess the status
Of their muscadine mash.
Well, let's get
To checking barrels.
One thing we've got...
-gnats.
-...Gnats aplenty.
[ sniffs ]
Mark: digger's got this burr
Under his saddle
That he wants to make a run
Of muscadine-rye brandy.
Today we got to check the mash
And see where it's at
In its fermentation.
We figure,
If it's halfway through,
Then we'll be good to go ahead
And start the mash in
On the rye.
[ sniffs ]
It's got
Some alcohol to it.
Digger: what we go by --
We go by the smell,
We go by the taste.
You can put some
On your fingers,
Let it dry,
And your fingers are sticky.
It's just like you got
Pancake syrup on your fingers.
What do you think, j.B.?
♪♪
Mmm.
Damn, that's good.
Mark: j.B., you know, he's
Been doin' this for decades.
I guess j.B.'s got
A half a century
Of moonshinin' under his belt.
His reputation precedes him.
Yeah, I think we're ready
To start the rye.
Yeah, we should.
We got to grind that rye.
Yeah, we got
To get busy on that.
'cause you know we've been
In trouble before,
In the past,
With that rye, don't you?
[ sighs ] yep.
Sometime back, we had issues
Trying to make rye whiskey.
We called on legendary
Rye master jim tom.
They call you
"Mr. Coffee"
'cause you grind so fine,
Don't you?
That's exactly right.
And he just simply told us,
"You ain't grindin' it
Fine enough."
Here!
That's
Doin' the trick now.
Lookit there.
Perfect.
♪♪
This recipe is more tedious
Than any of them
If you want to get
Any rye flavor out of it.
Yeah, we're gettin' there.
Now go again.
Rye's a little harder
To get flavor out of,
So we want to make sure
That we're gonna grind it enough
That it is nothing
But fine flour.
The more we bust it up,
The less we got to cook.
That's what we're gonna need
For this liquor
To balance out that sweet.
We need a little
Peppery rye in it.
So, you know, whatever it takes,
We're gonna get it done.
About got it all,
Didn't he?
Yep.
Yeah,
We got flour in there now.
Gonna make a little mash.
♪♪
Our six-barrel pot,
What we have to do --
We put 15 pounds of flour
In each one of these.
Then, on top of that,
We got to melt
Six 50-pound bags of sugar
In there.
And then we've got
A pitcher of yeast.
That's the only way
That our recipe
Comes through with flavor.
Narrator: mark and digger
Are mashing their rye
Directly into
Their copper pot --
Something they can't do
With their grapes,
As the acid in the fruit mash
Would corrode the copper,
Causing irreversible damage
To the still.
What's that
Temperature like?
There's you a jug.
There's me a jug.
♪♪
Mark: since the grain mash
Will ferment much quicker
Than the fruit mash,
It's very important that
We hit these fermentations
Within 12 hours of each other.
We built these mashes
According to the way
That we feel that they will
Come together at the right time.
We're not under
Perfect conditions
Out here in the woods, you know?
We're at mother nature's mercy.
Hot diggity.
Rye whiskey.
The yeast does not
Like cool weather.
If it'd get much colder,
It won't absorb the sugars
And convert 'em into alcohol.
Well, let's
Put 'em to bed.
We're gonna say
Just a little, quick prayer
To the moonshine gods
That these mashes,
They'll end up
Ready to run together.
If they don't, we're just...
Up a stream of excrement
With no paddle.
♪ rye whiskey,
Rye whiskey ♪
♪♪
♪♪
Patti: ready to go
To the still site?
There's a lot of mud
Down there for you.
You're gonna like
This still site.
-yeah.
-watch that limb.
[ cupcake squeals ]
There you go.
Narrator: in louisiana,
The quest for sassafras shine
Continues.
Ain't no little piggy.
-yeah.
-good girl.
There's a lot of mud
Down at our still site,
So that's just
Right up her alley.
She likes to get muddy.
Well, cupcake's
No longer clean.
She's in her environment.
She's got mud to play in.
She's entertaining herself.
I don't even have
To entertain her.
Let's go check
On the mash.
Smells good, don't it?
Yeah.
We've never
Done sassafras before,
But I think we're both hoping
That that root beer flavor
Will come out.
♪♪
Yeah, it smells like
Root beer, don't it?
Mm-hmm.
Get that pump,
Start pumping her over there.
It's ready to run,
It smells good, it's not sticky.
You can taste
The alcohol content in it,
And you can taste the sassafras.
I'm excited to see
How this batch runs.
♪♪
Patti: and let's make
Some sassafras moonshine.
Something new.
Everybody
Likes root beer.
I mean, we just don't have
Any time to waste,
So this can be
A new start for us,
I mean, if it turns out good,
You know, and we can get
Premium price for it.
Well, you know,
Everybody's trying
To come up with different
Flavors every year,
But one thing
Ain't never changed.
What's that?
Still using oatmeal
To paste it up.
All right, now we just
Got to wait on it.
Bring anything to eat?
I'm hungry.
Oatmeal.
Got some oatmeal.
♪♪
Hopefully, this thing here
Will work out.
Since we done run out
Of pear and mayhaw.
Patti: [ claps ] here, girl.
Are you happy?
[ laughs ]
She said, "Leave me alone."
It won't be long, buddy.
-that's hot there?
-yeah, it's hot.
Look here, cupcake.
Come here.
Oh! There -- something
Shot out of it.
-huh?
-you see it?
Get a jar,
'cause it's fixin' to start.
♪♪
There it is, daddy.
Yeah.
This is the first run
Of our sassafras moonshine.
The taste in mind I'm hoping for
When it comes out
Is really kind of a light fruit/
Root beer flavor.
[ sniffs ]
I don't smell much of it.
Much of what?
Think we ought
To taste it?
Yeah.
♪♪
♪♪
People think, really, if it's
Going legal, you got it made.
But dealing
With big corporations,
I mean, it's just a lot of work.
I talked to this one distributor
And he buys the moonshine.
We're selling it,
Everybody's happy,
Everybody's making money.
A couple of months later,
Someone says,
"Hey, I don't like
That word 'climax'
On the bottle.
Take it off the shelf."
I mean, I can't help it.
I live in the community
Of climax, virginia.
We named the moonshine
For where I'm from.
But somebody
In a corporation out there
Doesn't like the word "Climax."
I mean, you should've just
Told me that in the beginning.
Don't waste my time, okay?
I really didn't have to deal
With all of that stuff
When I was illegal.
Back in the woods,
We didn't put our name on it.
You didn't want nobody to know
Where it was from
Because then they know
Where you're producing it.
But, no, somebody out there
Doesn't like the word "Climax,"
And, you know,
Out the door tim goes.
I should just go
Back to the woods, I guess,
You know?
[ dusts off hands ]
♪♪
I don't smell much of it.
Much of what?
Narrator: louisiana moonshiners
Patti and david
Take the first sips
Of their sassafras shine.
Think we ought
To taste it?
Yeah.
♪♪
That tastes like *bleep*
[ spits ] really.
Euch!
[ spits ]
You ain't lyin'.
[ laughing ]
God, I know.
Our first run of our sassafras
Tasted terrible.
I mean, it just tasted
Like swamp water to me.
Yeah, I'm gonna go up there
And pour that barrel out
So we can start over.
David: see,
This is a experiment.
We've never done it before,
And we're gonna keep on
Till we -- till we
Find out what works.
Narrator: the first
Sassafras shine attempt
Has ended in failure,
In part because
The sassafras root
Doesn't contain
Enough starch on its own
To ferment
For alcohol production.
Patti: when you do any kind
Of new moonshine,
It's an experimental thing until
You can actually get it down.
So, this time,
We're gonna add corn.
Hopefully, it'll do
A little better taste for us.
Narrator: by adding corn
On their second attempt,
Patti and david
Are supplying the starch needed
To give the finished product
More base.
The sassafras root will lend
Its distinct flavor
To the corn- and sugar-based
Shine.
-ready?
-mm-hmm.
♪♪
Patti: sounds like we
Havin' a crawfish boil
Back here, don't it?
[ chuckles ]
Patti: we still got
To boil these roots,
Just like we did
With the first batch,
But this time, we've got
To try somethin' different.
What should we save --
About 1/2 gallon of that juice?
David:
Yeah, at least that.
Pour some in that thumper.
It might infuse more into it.
♪♪
Daddy, I think
This has boiled enough.
Poured in the sugar,
Got that dissolved.
Now it's time to go pour it
Into our mash barrel.
Man, that smells good,
Don't it?
Patti:
It does, don't it?
Hopefully,
Adding this corn
Will give it a lot more
Alcohol taste.
That last batch --
None, if any, alcohol.
Me and daddy, we've been
Workin' really hard at this.
We've got a lot
Of orders comin' in,
So there's no time to waste.
I think this corn's
Gonna do it.
It's just time that we've got
To really be bustin' butt
And gettin' these orders out.
I definitely don't want to not
Take care of my customers,
'cause they'll find somebody
Else to make 'em some shine.
We've got to find
Our next flavor.
I'm hoping if it turns out good,
You know,
It could be a good hit for us,
Bring us enough money
This season
To make more than
What we did last year.
We're gonna get it right.
Yeah, we're gonna get it right,
Sooner or later.
Come on, cupcake.
♪♪
Tickle:
I just got out of jail,
And I know where the expression
"Broke as a convict"
Comes from now.
I got bills piling up,
My daughter's wantin'
To go to college.
I got to figure out how to make
Some money and make it quick.
Hey, tim,
How's it goin', brother?
Hey.
Yeah, what's up?
Not a whole lot, man.
I got to kind of talk to you
About some stuff.
What's happenin'?
What's goin' on now?
Well, you know,
I've been up here,
And I've been
Working with j.T.,
And, you know,
I feel like j.T.'s done --
He's done
Come into his own.
Yeah, yeah.
Y'all work good together.
J.T.'s good,
But that's really not
What I come
To talk to you about.
You know, I-I been --
Been gettin' a whole lot
Of calls from people...
Mm-hmm.
...Wantin' me to make 'em
Some moonshine.
♪♪
Well, tell 'em we got plenty
Of moonshine around here.
Well -- well, they don't want
The legal stuff.
They're wanting
Illegal moonshine.
Just 'cause we had
The reputation
Of makin' good moonshine,
And they know --
Well, that's right.
Now you're out,
So they figure
You're just goin'
Right back in the woods
And make 'em
Some moonshine.
Did you tell 'em you don't have
Any illegal moonshine?
Well, yeah, but you know
Well as anybody,
I'm right out of jail.
That should be reason
To tell you not to do it --
You're just out of jail.
Well, I understand that.
But makin' moonshine --
What was the whole reason
We used to do it?
-yeah, to make money.
-make money.
I got all these
People callin',
And I'm not gonna lie to you --
It's awful tempting.
Tim: I can understand
Tickle's view here.
He's looking at,
"I can make good cash,
Straight money, right then."
But I'm really afraid,
If he gets caught
And gets put back in jail again,
He could be gone
For a long time.
You know, tim, I got to look
At the big picture right here.
I got bills that
Are gettin' behind.
Right.Basically boils down
To I got to make
Some money.
And makin' shine
In the woods
Is about the only way
I know how to make money.
Tim don't think me goin'
In the woods is a good idea.
But comes time when a man's got
To do what a man's got to do.
And what I got to do --
I got to make some shine.
Appreciate you comin'
And tellin' me all this.
I don't have the answer
Right now,
But I know the answer's not
Goin' back in the woods.
Tim: I hate for tickle
To go back to jail,
But I don't have a pile of money
To hand to him
And say,
"I can pay you up front."
I can't do that, neither.
I really think tickle needs
To think about this thing,
And I'm gonna think
About it, too.
We have to figure out a plan.
You just hold tight.
I've got to do something.
♪♪
Narrator: next time
On "Moonshiners"...
Break!
Screw them two together.
The *bleep* bit fell
Out of the drill gun, man.
A shiner snaps under pressure
In north carolina.
I don't got another bit!
[ growls ]
♪♪
Digger: what's it doin'?
That friggin' middle one's
Went out.
Narrator: snuffed out
In tennessee.
Mark:
Turn 'em all three off.
Don't cool that one.
Digger: hey, we got
To cool all of 'em.
We ain't blendin'
Nothin'.
This ain't no good.
♪♪
David: yeah,
That's him right there.
Let's go to him.
And a high-risk run
On the gulf...
Keep your eyes out.
If something's gonna happen,
I think it would happen here.
That's the coast guard.
That ain't good.
♪♪
I don't know whether he's gonna
Crucify me or what.
Narrator: broken promises
In north carolina...
Digger: I think we ought
To make a true muscadine brandy.
Heck yeah.
Narrator:
...Beating the bushes
For a new premium liquor
In tennessee...
Digger:
Quit eatin' so damn many and
The tarp'll fill up quicker.
I'll have to pull over
Three or four times
To let you poop
Going down the road.
I been getting a whole lot
Of calls from people...
...And the backwoods beckon
In virginia.
...Wanting me to make 'em
Some moonshine.
Illegal moonshine.
♪♪
♪ goin' for a ride ♪
♪ runnin' to survive ♪
♪ when you're livin'
Outside the law ♪
♪♪
♪ we're livin'
Outside the law ♪
♪♪
Man: this is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
♪♪
Josh: so, we're back here
In north carolina.
Right now, I'm on my way to meet
This biker connection of mine.
Narrator: josh faces a moment
Of reckoning on the piedmont.
We had 150 gallons
Of cherry bounce in a trailer
On our way to a bike rally,
And I lost everything.
I was supposed to sell it.
Everything burnt to the ground
On the way out there.
All my stuff's burning!
Look!
♪♪
Damn trailer fire burned up
A ton of my racing stuff.
Everything went up in flames.
This biker distributor,
I don't know what he's thinking.
He hasn't let me know whether
He's gonna crucify me or what.
He hasn't told me how I can
Make it straight yet.
I don't got a line up on
Any more cherries right now.
It's not cherry season.
Hopefully, this dude
Won't have any problems
With me making plum brandy
Instead of cherry bounce.
So, I don't know exactly
What to expect.
He may be one pissed-off
Son of a gun.
Can't afford to lose this guy.
♪♪
There he is, right there.
He's already here.
[ keys rattle ]
♪♪
I had some bad luck, man.
I had a fire, and I lost
My trailer and everything in it.
It hurt my business, too.
You don't need to find
Nobody else.
I'll make the deal right.
And the only problem
We have
Is I don't have cherry bounce
Right now.
I'll make
Some plum brandy.
Yeah,
It'll be the same quality.
Now, listen -- listen.
You trusted me enough
To make a deal with me.
Then you should trust
It'll be the same quality,
And you just got to give me
The time to get it to you.
♪♪
Yeah, I can make more.
Thanks, man.
♪♪
Phew.
Well, I got it worked out
At 175 gallons of plum brandy.
Well, we better damn well
Not have no problems.
Narrator:
In order to fulfill
One of the most critical
Shine orders of his career,
Josh will need chuck's help
To set up and complete
Several back-to-back runs.
Josh: I'm gonna have
To get to work right away
Making my heated mash room.
It's getting cold at night,
There ain't gonna be no way
I'm gonna be able to make this
Liquor in this cold weather.
So, I got my work
Cut out for me.
♪♪
♪♪
Mark: look here at
The muscadine grapes.
They're ready to pick.
Digger: yeah,
They're hanging full.
We can't snip these off.
Narrator: in eastern tennessee,
Mark, digger, and j.B. Rader
Are at a local vineyard
Where the muscadine is sweet
And ready for picking.
What the heck
You got me out here fer?
I got a little idea.
-I thought you might have.
-I do.
I was studying about how good
That crop had turned out
With just that pumice --
That trash, our castoff.
We did this cropper run,
And our customers loved it,
And that was made
From scrap.
If that's trash, what can
We do with some real grapes?
These berries,
They're just full of juice.
I think we ought to make
A true muscadine brandy.
Heck yeah.
I just don't know
The exact ratio
Of wine to liquor
I'm gonna need
Quite like you do.
And that's why I was gonna
Pull you in here,
And let's kind of figure out
What we're gonna do.
Digger: we don't have j.B.
In here for his brawn.
We've got him in here for what
He can bring to the table
With what's up here.
This is gonna have to be
On you two,
'cause I don't know about
How to do that at all.
Well,
I'll do the stompin'.
You up to doin'
Any grape stompin'?
Hell yeah.
What my granny
Used to tell me --
We used to go pick these old
Muscadines out behind her house.
She said, "You eat them seeds
And grapes grow out your butt."
-yeah.
-I used to eat 'em and watch.
I'd go look in the mirror.
He's yours.
Digger:
These muscadines are indigenous
To our region, you know.
They're a local grape,
If you will.
That's just part
Of our heritage.
You know, mark and I both
Remember from our childhood,
Romping around these mountains,
You'd find a muscadine vine,
You'd pick it clean.
You know, they're delicious.
Narrator: in 1585,
When english settlers
Established a colony
On roanoke island,
They quickly determined
The indigenous muscadine grapes
Were ideal for making wine.
The roanoke colony
Disappeared without a trace
In one of the greatest mysteries
In american history,
Yet the hardy muscadine plants
They discovered
Are still
Being cultivated today.
Incredibly, the oldest
Muscadine vine on roanoke island
Is believed to be
Over 400 years old,
Dating back to the time
Of the lost colony.
Well, we can't do nothin'
Till we get to pickin'.
Looky right here.
Why can't we start right here?
I'm all for it.
The vintner that owns
The vineyards --
Very, very nice man.
He'll let us have access
To what we need.
Hold that in there, j.B.
Digger says that
He's someone we can trust.
♪♪
We're gonna pick about
Six barrels of these grapes.
Don't leave
No grape behind.
This right here,
Gathering these muscadine,
This is right in my wheelhouse.
I'm concentrating on what
The flavor's gonna be.
If it's a real sweet liquor,
We're gonna balance that
With just a little bit of rye.
Quit eatin' so damn many and
The tarp'll fill up quicker.
I'll have to pull over
Three or four times
To let you poop
Going down the road.
Mark: digger prides his self
On his mashes and recipes.
I don't know what's got a burr
Under his saddle for it,
But I'm good with doin' 'bout
Anything that he wants to do.
Well, I'm gonna go
Find us another bush.
The old-timers, they didn't
Sit on their laurels,
So digger constantly
Pushes the envelope.
Boy, this one's loaded,
Ain't it?
Kind of like milkin' a cow,
Ain't it?
Tiny bit.
There ain't been
One of these kick me yet.
I can kick you if it makes
You feel at home.
Digger: you know,
As far as our corn liquor,
We've outsourced it to kelly.
I'm gonna put about half of this
In this barrel.
Want me to stir?Then stir it up.
Looks good to me.
That'll work.
That loosens me up to
Go back to what I like to do,
And that's making
These extravagant recipes.
Oh, that'll be pretty
Right there.
This recipe that
We're gonna come up with,
We will consider it
One of our premium liquors.
And with that premium status
Comes a premium price.
Mark:
Nah, this ain't so bad.
They hit them vines
On the way down,
They just bounce around
Like ping-pong balls.
After we fill these barrels up,
We got to start
Making a little mash.
Adding this rye, it makes the
Process a little more complex.
We got two pots of muscadines
On one hand,
Then we got one pot of rye,
And hopefully,
It'll make good liquor.
About 37 more of them.
Kind of slow go,
Ain't it?
Yeah, ain't no
Fast man's game, is it?
♪♪
♪♪
Wonder what this stuff
Looks like today.
Narrator:
In culpeper, virginia, a recent
Cold snap across the region
Has delayed fermentation
Of tickle and j.T.'s
Single- and double-rye mashes.
Oh, yeah.
She's still got
A little ways to work.
We'll get more alcohol
Out of her.
Give it
A couple more days.
-yeah.
-hmm.
That looks like
It's about ready.
[ smacks lips ]
It's definitely ready.
Man, that's too much rye
In that thing.
Well, I mean, it's gonna
Make some damn alcohol.
Tickle: we got this double-rye,
I guess you'd call it,
And we messed it up.
There's way too much rye in it.
I don't know what it's gonna
Wind up turning out like.
We're gonna run it
And see what happens.
I'll go on ahead
And light the still on up.
♪♪
Oh, yeah.
All right, let's get
Somethin' over in her.
All right.
Things don't always go
The way you plan.
There's a million mistakes you
Can make while making moonshine,
And so I got that knowledge
Right there,
That if you do this,
It'll turn out like this,
If you do that,
This is gonna happen.
I tell you what, boy --
That smells good, don't it?
Oh, yeah.
Makin' this mash,
It didn't turn out
How we planned at all,
But a whole lot of things
Have been invented
Throughout the years
Just that same way.
Get you some of that.
All right.
Without taking
A little bit of a risk,
You never gain nothin'.
I'm not about to throw
Any sort of mash away.
You'll never be great
At anything
If you follow everybody else.
I guess now it's just
Play the waiting game.
I reckon so.
This whole deal is about
J.T. Steppin' out on his own,
Learning what to do,
Learning how to do it,
And maybe even comin' up
With a whole-new way
Of doing something.
Do you smell that?I sure do.
What is that --
Your ass?
[ chuckles ] no, it smells
Like that mash in there.
I believe
You might be right.
Let's check it.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah,
She's running good now.
I think she's about there.
Almost.
This one should be good,
Right here.
Yeah.
Ain't no tellin' what we gonna
Wind up with, with this.
Let's see what we got
Goin' on here.
Ah.
♪♪
You taste that
And tell me what you think.
That, to me,
Tastes good as hell.
It's spicy on the front,
Then it kind of mellows on
As it hits
The back of your mouth.
I think we got
Somethin' here.
"Think"? Hell, I know
We got somethin' right there.
This right here,
It is so smooth,
It's like drinking
A cup of warm butter.
Tim: hey!
Hey, tim.
I got somethin'
I want to show you.
We take this double-rye
Over to tim and chuck
And get them to taste it.
Yeah.
What you got there?
I want you to check it out
And see what you think.
♪♪
Ah.
♪♪
Narrator:
It takes an old-timer
To get the timing right
In tennessee.
Mark: it's very important that
We hit these fermentations
Within 12 hours of each other.
You know,
We're at mother nature's mercy.
♪♪
Narrator:
With a jar of their experimental
Double-rye whiskey in hand,
Tickle and j.T. Seek out
Tim's seal of approval.
Hey, tim.
We take this double-rye
Over to tim and chuck
And get them to taste it.
Yeah.
What you got there?
I want you to check it out
And see what you think.
♪♪
Ah.
Boy, that's --chuck: what'd you think, tim?
It's pretty slick, dad.Pretty slick?
-yeah.
-that's smooth.
You could taste
That spiciness, huh?
Tickle: yeah.
Pass it back
Over here, chuck.
[ laughter ]there you go, hey.
It just rolls
Right off the tongue.
-it goes down awful easy.
-heck yeah.
'cause you get a spiciness
From the rye
And then you get that little
Sweetness from the corn, huh?
Yeah, yeah.
I think y'all both
Did a good job here.
I have to say that
I'm really proud of j.T.
This just shows you,
You can't give up, you know,
Even though they knew
They messed up,
They followed through with it.
I mean, sometimes
Those accidents come out
To bein' the best.
Back in the day
When me and my dad
Came up with the first
Climax recipe,
We accidentally made it.
This whole thing
Is what I want j.T. To do.
I mean, I want my son to carry
On the legacy of the family,
Carry on the legacy of my dad,
And carrying on the traditions
Of making moonshine.
If j.T.'s got this wrote down,
We may need to put that...
Well, it might be something
We need to think about doin'.
There you go.
Luckily, j.T. Kept notes
On everything that we did.
It could be scaled up
And run and mass-produced.
Well, y'all did good.
Y'all did really good.
Tim: tickle stood right behind
J.T. The whole time.
I mean, he is clean,
He is straight, he's committed,
And he's back on point today.
About time to drink
The damn liquor.
-you earned it, huh?
-yes, sir.
♪♪
♪♪
What are we needin' off
Of these sassafras trees?
We need
The root off of it.
We ain't havin' no luck
Findin' none.
Hang a right, right here.
We'll go all the way around
This old kudzu.
Narrator: in louisiana,
Patti and david are on the hunt
To find a new
Signature moonshine.
Patti: finally ran
Our last round of our mayhaw.
Daddy came up with this idea of
Making some sassafras moonshine.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
There's one right there.
David: I love sassafras.
I've had sassafras candy,
Sassafras tea.
Might as well
Make moonshine out of it.
Patti:
Sassafras has a green leaf
That kinda got
A little red line in it.
We're just wantin'
The root of it,
And that's where it's most
Potent, is in the root,
And that's what we're wantin'
To make the moonshine with.
Narrator:
Throughout history,
Sassafras root
Has been widely sought
As a key ingredient
In health tonics and elixirs.
The cherokee people utilized
Sassafras tea to purify blood,
As well as treat rheumatism
And a wide spectrum
Of skin disorders.
But the root's reputation
As a cure-all
Wasn't free
From embarrassing controversy.
When prepared as a tea,
Sassafras was said
To treat the venereal disease
Syphilis.
But this purpose
Made sassafras tea time
A much less public affair,
As colonial-era gents worried
About being scandalized
If seen taking the cure.
♪♪
Here, let me see
If I can pull it.
Don't break it.
Mmm. Well, that smells good.A little bit of root.
Patti: to me, it smells like
Root beer, so I'm all for it,
But it's a lot of work
To get sassafras roots.
This is way harder
Than picking mayhaws.
[ shovel snaps ]
Man!
My favorite shovel.
Don't break that shovel.
That was yours there.
This is mine.
That's bull junk.
I bought that one brand new.
*bleep* damn.Let me see.
Me and patti, we like to be
Hands-on when we pick stuff.
You didn't tell me
We needed gloves.
Oh, it's gonna be
Dirty work.
Hoo-ee.
We don't want a lot of it
Right now,
Because that stuff's
Real potent,
And we're gonna try, you know,
Just experimenting with it.
That's a good one there.
It ain't gonna take much.
Patti:
On the bright side,
This is something
That grows year-round.
It's not just something
That's gonna be seasonal.
If it works out, then we can
Run through the winter
If we want to.
Every little bit helps.
♪♪
♪♪
Mark: I appreciate you
Lettin' me take the little one.
Well, that'll be
About your turn.
Narrator:
Deep in the woods of tennessee,
Mark and digger arrive
At their still site,
Armed with barrels of
Freshly-picked muscadine grapes.
Mark: well, today, we're gonna
Mash in our muscadine rye.
This is a new recipe,
So we simply hope to start
Squeezing our muscadines
And get them sugared in
And get 'em yeasted up
And fermenting.
We've got another
Long fermentation
On these muscadines.
Yeah, we do.
We're gonna get the fruit
Mashed in today,
And probably
Five or six more days,
We'll mash the rye in,
Because fruit mash
Takes longer to ferment
Than does grain rye.
Narrator:
Because grain and fruit
Require different amounts
Of time to ferment,
Lining up the mash schedule
Is paramount.
Mark:
If the rye finishes three or
Four days sooner than the fruit,
Then what'll happen is
It starts turning to vinegar.
It'll throw a bad taste,
Plus it'll also --
It cuts down the yield.
Let's see
What it look like.
Digger:
We're gonna use this fruit press
That we bartered around and got.
Mark and I have a vast network
Of people we can call upon
For just about anything we need,
And we found
A guy that's a craftsman.
He's built a fruit press.
And I'm all about swapping
A little liquor for something.
That means you got less money
In the end product.
It ain't gonna be
Too high for you?
I'll make it work
If it don't.
Hell, I'll readjust.
Well, the first steps
In making this mash,
First and foremost, we got to
Squeeze all these grapes
And get all the juice
Out of them.
It's gonna take
A little while, but...
It can't be no longer
Than gathering 'em.
You know, as a general rule,
Mark and myself,
We're gonna continue
To honor our predecessors
By sticking to the old,
Traditional methods
Of production.
I don't know.
I ain't seen
The first drop of juice.
I ain't seen
The first drop of juice.
I'm hearing poppin' and
A crackin' in there, though.
It's probably my damn shoulders
And elbows, though.
It's probably that.
There ain't nothin' easy
In this damn world.
Our little squeezer,
It's provin' difficult for us.
Yep, that's gonna be
More gooder.
I mean, that's easier.
I don't know.
Hell, that ain't
Gonna work for this.
There's no doubt that
The thickness of the hide
On these muscadines --
That's the reason
We're having a hard time
With this fruit press.
Most of 'em are still full.
They ain't busted open.
It takes a tremendous lot
Of mash with your finger
To pop one of 'em.
Well, think about having
500 in there, stacked deep,
And tryin' to squash all them.
We're gonna have to do it
The old-timey way
And go barefoot
And tromp in 'em.
That might do somethin' for
That bunion on your right foot.
Eh, wrong.
It's obvious that this is just
Gonna be slow, hard-ass work.
It's comin' out of there.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Hell, I ain't got a damn clue
At this point.
I just know that we ain't got
A lot of time left,
And we need
To be making liquor.
Maybe my damn idea
Wasn't so good after all.
Digger:
When we made that grappa,
Those grapes had already
Been put through
That high-powered
Grape squasher.
We love the antiquated ways
That our forefathers used,
But this is a bit ridiculous.
We may have
To take these grapes,
Put 'em on the ground,
Put that grinder on 'em,
And beat the juice out of 'em,
And then squeeze 'em.
Is that bustin' them up
A tiny bit?
I'm actually seeing
A little juice
In the bottom
Of this barrel.
It's a slow process,
And, you know,
We're just gonna have
To dig in here and get it.
There ain't but one
Way to do it.
Well,
It's gettin' faster.
By god, it ain't
Gettin' no easier.
With this muscadine mash,
We decided we'd just
Pitch the skins over in there,
Too, and all the pulp,
'cause ultimately,
It's gonna lead some flavor
Right into that mash.
I know it.
We're almost there.
Once we got all our grapes
Squashed up,
We add a tiny bit of water --
Just enough to loosen
Everything else good
And to melt this sugar.
We're only doing
A single fermentation,
Which means we're gonna have
The sugar and the grape juice
And the pulp in the barrel
At one time, fermenting it.
We'll carry out a longer,
Colder fermentation,
And hopefully, we're gonna
Bring all the flavors up.
Every damn gnat, mosquito on
The eastern seaboard'll be here.
Mark: the plan is,
We're gonna come back in
In five or six more days,
And if it's far enough along,
Then we'll be good to go ahead
And cook in the rye mash,
And then that should end 'em up
At the same time.
Let's go pick us some more
Grapes there, big boy.
♪♪
Josh: if you're
Gonna be a moonshiner,
You need to know how to be able
To do a little bit of everything
To survive.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Jack of all trades,
Master of just one...
Ow!
[ chuckles ]
♪♪
Well, let's get this
Experiment underway.
Sassafras moonshine.
-yep.
-here we go.
Narrator:
In louisiana, patti and david
Take the next crucial step
In their sassafras moonshine
Experiment.
Here comes the water.
Patti: I always like
To try to come out
With a new, different flavor
Every season,
So why not try this?
I've ran out of mayhaw,
So we've got to fill that void.
It's free,
Just a lot of work gettin' it.
We'll have to rinse
These roots off, daddy.
Yeah.
First off, we've got
To clean off the roots,
Get the dirt off of it.
You don't never want
To have dirt in your mash.
That's probably
Good there for now.
We've never made moonshine
Out of sassafras,
And I've never heard
Of anybody doin' it,
So we're gonna just do
A small batch, and if it works,
Then we'll start, you know,
Makin' bigger batches.
I hope this works out.
So, is this where most of
The flavor is, is in the bark?
That's where
The flavor's at.
So, we're just gonna
Use the bark, huh?
No, we're gonna...
Or are we gonna throw
The whole root, too?
Gonna throw the root
In there, too.
We're basically just
Gonna use sugar-water mash.
It's pretty potent-smellin',
So it should infuse
Into the liquor.
We're gonna cut these up
Into little pieces.
All right,
Put the fire back on her.
♪♪
David: we're gonna have
To test this out,
Because we've never worked
With a root before.
We'll probably mix up a bucket
Of nothin' but root and sugar
And a little bit of yeast
And see if we can get it
To working that way.
Sassafras tea --
I think it's gonna be a killer.
It kind of brought me back.
I love the flavor of it,
Have all my life.
When I was kid, we was runnin'
Around through the woods,
Pull you up a piece
Of sassafras and wash it off,
Put it in your mouth
And chew on it, you know?
It's the color of root beer,
Too, basically.
David: yeah.
We're gonna bring it
To a good hard boil.
Then we're gonna add
50 pounds of sugar to it.
That looks just like
Root beer, don't it?
It sure does.
We're gonna take us a little cup
Out of it before the --
See what it tastes like.
-ready?
-yeah.
Taste that.
♪♪
A little bit sweet
Right now?
Heck yeah.
Yeah, that's gonna be it,
Buddy.
God dang.
Kind of sad,
The mayhaw runnin' out,
But, you know,
On the other hand,
It's a new door open for us
With this sassafras moonshine.
Maybe we should've
Just pumped this up.
♪♪
Stick the hose in there.
All righty.
Well, daddy.
I think that's it.
All we can do
Is wait and see.
♪♪
♪♪
All right, big dawg.
Where do you want to set
The 2x4s, josh?
Eh, just throw 'em
Down there on the ground.
We're gonna put 'em in as fast
As we can grab 'em 'bout it.
Narrator: in north carolina,
Josh prepares for cooler weather
By building a mash room.
Josh: the problem with
Making mash in cold weather
Is your yeast will go dormant.
If your yeast goes dormant,
You ain't makin' any moonshine,
You ain't makin' any money.
Josh: what do you want --
In the center or what?
Yeah, right there.
[ screwdriver whirs ]
So, right now, we're putting
Together a mash room
So we got a good place
To put all them mash barrels
And we can keep 'em warm.
What are we
Gonna do here?
We gonna frame
On the inside?
♪♪
*bleep*
This plenty good.
All right,
I'm good with that.
Moonshining's not
A very forgiving business.
You don't get very many
Second chances.
We got to do
This wall first.
Okay.
Ow!
[ chuckles ]
Josh: I can't afford
To screw it up again.
If I don't deliver
This plum brandy --
They've already gave me
A second chance,
They're not gonna
Give me a third.
Chuck: it's already
Warm in here.
Josh: I'm hot as hell.
[ laughs ]
After losing 150 gallons
Of cherry bounce,
Somehow I was able
To talk these bikers
Into letting me make
The plum brandy instead.
I have to keep them happy.
In order to do that, I've
Got to be a reliable source.
Let's try to get
This ceiling secured.
Narrator:
With this structure,
Josh will be able
To keep the mash warm enough
To keep the yeast from slowing
Down and halting fermentation.
I would like a light bulb --
One on that end,
And then one in the very center
Of this room.
Okay.
I think we got 'em.
[ screwdriver whirs ]
All right.
Right now, I got a lot
Of different things going on.
If you're gonna be a moonshiner,
You need to know how to do
A little bit of everything
To survive.
You need to know how to grow.
You need to know
How to make your own.
You need to know how
To be self-sufficient.
You need to know how to survive.
Those things are
Really aggravating.
You'd think they'd be
Further apart than that.
I sure ain't gonna make it
As no damn electrician.
♪♪
-some plums?
-yeah.
Narrator: now that
His mash room is complete,
Josh can get back
To chipping away
At the 175-gallon
Plum brandy order.
That's enough for now, big dawg.
That's plenty to get started.
♪♪
Josh: when you're
Breaking up fruit,
You got to think of
Fast ways to do it.
I'm using a drill with a mixer
To mash in my plums.
Once these bikers taste
This plum brandy,
They're gonna be hooked.
Josh: that one's almost done,
Big dawg.
Only 45 boxes of plums
To go.
But I'll tell you what --
It's gonna be plum damn good.
Narrator: for centuries,
Farmers have grown plums
On the carolina piedmont
Because the fruit is well-suited
To tolerate
The region's dry soil in summer
And wet, freezing ground
In winter.
The prime plum harvest lasts
From late august
To early october.
Oh, yeah.
This is beautiful.
Josh: we better make a wad
Off this plum brandy,
'cause we done got
A ass of work in it.
I've done worked up
A whole truckload of plums.
This is just one long run
Out of several long runs
That we got to get done.
What am I gonna do?
All I can do.
Get to work
And make things right.
♪♪
I got to make some money.
Narrator: temptation
Is the devil's currency
In virginia.
Makin' shine in the woods
Is about the only way
I know how to make money.
-illegal moonshine?
-well, yeah.
You just out of jail.
But I'm not
Gonna lie to you.
It's awful tempting.
♪♪
We just gonna have
To kind of guess
And see how much longer we think
That's got to work for us.
Yeah, we can get close,
I think.
We still got
A little sugar back here.
We ain't got no rye,
Though.
We have now.
Narrator:
Eager to start the next phase
Of their staggered
Fermentation process,
Mark, digger, and j.B.
Need to assess the status
Of their muscadine mash.
Well, let's get
To checking barrels.
One thing we've got...
-gnats.
-...Gnats aplenty.
[ sniffs ]
Mark: digger's got this burr
Under his saddle
That he wants to make a run
Of muscadine-rye brandy.
Today we got to check the mash
And see where it's at
In its fermentation.
We figure,
If it's halfway through,
Then we'll be good to go ahead
And start the mash in
On the rye.
[ sniffs ]
It's got
Some alcohol to it.
Digger: what we go by --
We go by the smell,
We go by the taste.
You can put some
On your fingers,
Let it dry,
And your fingers are sticky.
It's just like you got
Pancake syrup on your fingers.
What do you think, j.B.?
♪♪
Mmm.
Damn, that's good.
Mark: j.B., you know, he's
Been doin' this for decades.
I guess j.B.'s got
A half a century
Of moonshinin' under his belt.
His reputation precedes him.
Yeah, I think we're ready
To start the rye.
Yeah, we should.
We got to grind that rye.
Yeah, we got
To get busy on that.
'cause you know we've been
In trouble before,
In the past,
With that rye, don't you?
[ sighs ] yep.
Sometime back, we had issues
Trying to make rye whiskey.
We called on legendary
Rye master jim tom.
They call you
"Mr. Coffee"
'cause you grind so fine,
Don't you?
That's exactly right.
And he just simply told us,
"You ain't grindin' it
Fine enough."
Here!
That's
Doin' the trick now.
Lookit there.
Perfect.
♪♪
This recipe is more tedious
Than any of them
If you want to get
Any rye flavor out of it.
Yeah, we're gettin' there.
Now go again.
Rye's a little harder
To get flavor out of,
So we want to make sure
That we're gonna grind it enough
That it is nothing
But fine flour.
The more we bust it up,
The less we got to cook.
That's what we're gonna need
For this liquor
To balance out that sweet.
We need a little
Peppery rye in it.
So, you know, whatever it takes,
We're gonna get it done.
About got it all,
Didn't he?
Yep.
Yeah,
We got flour in there now.
Gonna make a little mash.
♪♪
Our six-barrel pot,
What we have to do --
We put 15 pounds of flour
In each one of these.
Then, on top of that,
We got to melt
Six 50-pound bags of sugar
In there.
And then we've got
A pitcher of yeast.
That's the only way
That our recipe
Comes through with flavor.
Narrator: mark and digger
Are mashing their rye
Directly into
Their copper pot --
Something they can't do
With their grapes,
As the acid in the fruit mash
Would corrode the copper,
Causing irreversible damage
To the still.
What's that
Temperature like?
There's you a jug.
There's me a jug.
♪♪
Mark: since the grain mash
Will ferment much quicker
Than the fruit mash,
It's very important that
We hit these fermentations
Within 12 hours of each other.
We built these mashes
According to the way
That we feel that they will
Come together at the right time.
We're not under
Perfect conditions
Out here in the woods, you know?
We're at mother nature's mercy.
Hot diggity.
Rye whiskey.
The yeast does not
Like cool weather.
If it'd get much colder,
It won't absorb the sugars
And convert 'em into alcohol.
Well, let's
Put 'em to bed.
We're gonna say
Just a little, quick prayer
To the moonshine gods
That these mashes,
They'll end up
Ready to run together.
If they don't, we're just...
Up a stream of excrement
With no paddle.
♪ rye whiskey,
Rye whiskey ♪
♪♪
♪♪
Patti: ready to go
To the still site?
There's a lot of mud
Down there for you.
You're gonna like
This still site.
-yeah.
-watch that limb.
[ cupcake squeals ]
There you go.
Narrator: in louisiana,
The quest for sassafras shine
Continues.
Ain't no little piggy.
-yeah.
-good girl.
There's a lot of mud
Down at our still site,
So that's just
Right up her alley.
She likes to get muddy.
Well, cupcake's
No longer clean.
She's in her environment.
She's got mud to play in.
She's entertaining herself.
I don't even have
To entertain her.
Let's go check
On the mash.
Smells good, don't it?
Yeah.
We've never
Done sassafras before,
But I think we're both hoping
That that root beer flavor
Will come out.
♪♪
Yeah, it smells like
Root beer, don't it?
Mm-hmm.
Get that pump,
Start pumping her over there.
It's ready to run,
It smells good, it's not sticky.
You can taste
The alcohol content in it,
And you can taste the sassafras.
I'm excited to see
How this batch runs.
♪♪
Patti: and let's make
Some sassafras moonshine.
Something new.
Everybody
Likes root beer.
I mean, we just don't have
Any time to waste,
So this can be
A new start for us,
I mean, if it turns out good,
You know, and we can get
Premium price for it.
Well, you know,
Everybody's trying
To come up with different
Flavors every year,
But one thing
Ain't never changed.
What's that?
Still using oatmeal
To paste it up.
All right, now we just
Got to wait on it.
Bring anything to eat?
I'm hungry.
Oatmeal.
Got some oatmeal.
♪♪
Hopefully, this thing here
Will work out.
Since we done run out
Of pear and mayhaw.
Patti: [ claps ] here, girl.
Are you happy?
[ laughs ]
She said, "Leave me alone."
It won't be long, buddy.
-that's hot there?
-yeah, it's hot.
Look here, cupcake.
Come here.
Oh! There -- something
Shot out of it.
-huh?
-you see it?
Get a jar,
'cause it's fixin' to start.
♪♪
There it is, daddy.
Yeah.
This is the first run
Of our sassafras moonshine.
The taste in mind I'm hoping for
When it comes out
Is really kind of a light fruit/
Root beer flavor.
[ sniffs ]
I don't smell much of it.
Much of what?
Think we ought
To taste it?
Yeah.
♪♪
♪♪
People think, really, if it's
Going legal, you got it made.
But dealing
With big corporations,
I mean, it's just a lot of work.
I talked to this one distributor
And he buys the moonshine.
We're selling it,
Everybody's happy,
Everybody's making money.
A couple of months later,
Someone says,
"Hey, I don't like
That word 'climax'
On the bottle.
Take it off the shelf."
I mean, I can't help it.
I live in the community
Of climax, virginia.
We named the moonshine
For where I'm from.
But somebody
In a corporation out there
Doesn't like the word "Climax."
I mean, you should've just
Told me that in the beginning.
Don't waste my time, okay?
I really didn't have to deal
With all of that stuff
When I was illegal.
Back in the woods,
We didn't put our name on it.
You didn't want nobody to know
Where it was from
Because then they know
Where you're producing it.
But, no, somebody out there
Doesn't like the word "Climax,"
And, you know,
Out the door tim goes.
I should just go
Back to the woods, I guess,
You know?
[ dusts off hands ]
♪♪
I don't smell much of it.
Much of what?
Narrator: louisiana moonshiners
Patti and david
Take the first sips
Of their sassafras shine.
Think we ought
To taste it?
Yeah.
♪♪
That tastes like *bleep*
[ spits ] really.
Euch!
[ spits ]
You ain't lyin'.
[ laughing ]
God, I know.
Our first run of our sassafras
Tasted terrible.
I mean, it just tasted
Like swamp water to me.
Yeah, I'm gonna go up there
And pour that barrel out
So we can start over.
David: see,
This is a experiment.
We've never done it before,
And we're gonna keep on
Till we -- till we
Find out what works.
Narrator: the first
Sassafras shine attempt
Has ended in failure,
In part because
The sassafras root
Doesn't contain
Enough starch on its own
To ferment
For alcohol production.
Patti: when you do any kind
Of new moonshine,
It's an experimental thing until
You can actually get it down.
So, this time,
We're gonna add corn.
Hopefully, it'll do
A little better taste for us.
Narrator: by adding corn
On their second attempt,
Patti and david
Are supplying the starch needed
To give the finished product
More base.
The sassafras root will lend
Its distinct flavor
To the corn- and sugar-based
Shine.
-ready?
-mm-hmm.
♪♪
Patti: sounds like we
Havin' a crawfish boil
Back here, don't it?
[ chuckles ]
Patti: we still got
To boil these roots,
Just like we did
With the first batch,
But this time, we've got
To try somethin' different.
What should we save --
About 1/2 gallon of that juice?
David:
Yeah, at least that.
Pour some in that thumper.
It might infuse more into it.
♪♪
Daddy, I think
This has boiled enough.
Poured in the sugar,
Got that dissolved.
Now it's time to go pour it
Into our mash barrel.
Man, that smells good,
Don't it?
Patti:
It does, don't it?
Hopefully,
Adding this corn
Will give it a lot more
Alcohol taste.
That last batch --
None, if any, alcohol.
Me and daddy, we've been
Workin' really hard at this.
We've got a lot
Of orders comin' in,
So there's no time to waste.
I think this corn's
Gonna do it.
It's just time that we've got
To really be bustin' butt
And gettin' these orders out.
I definitely don't want to not
Take care of my customers,
'cause they'll find somebody
Else to make 'em some shine.
We've got to find
Our next flavor.
I'm hoping if it turns out good,
You know,
It could be a good hit for us,
Bring us enough money
This season
To make more than
What we did last year.
We're gonna get it right.
Yeah, we're gonna get it right,
Sooner or later.
Come on, cupcake.
♪♪
Tickle:
I just got out of jail,
And I know where the expression
"Broke as a convict"
Comes from now.
I got bills piling up,
My daughter's wantin'
To go to college.
I got to figure out how to make
Some money and make it quick.
Hey, tim,
How's it goin', brother?
Hey.
Yeah, what's up?
Not a whole lot, man.
I got to kind of talk to you
About some stuff.
What's happenin'?
What's goin' on now?
Well, you know,
I've been up here,
And I've been
Working with j.T.,
And, you know,
I feel like j.T.'s done --
He's done
Come into his own.
Yeah, yeah.
Y'all work good together.
J.T.'s good,
But that's really not
What I come
To talk to you about.
You know, I-I been --
Been gettin' a whole lot
Of calls from people...
Mm-hmm.
...Wantin' me to make 'em
Some moonshine.
♪♪
Well, tell 'em we got plenty
Of moonshine around here.
Well -- well, they don't want
The legal stuff.
They're wanting
Illegal moonshine.
Just 'cause we had
The reputation
Of makin' good moonshine,
And they know --
Well, that's right.
Now you're out,
So they figure
You're just goin'
Right back in the woods
And make 'em
Some moonshine.
Did you tell 'em you don't have
Any illegal moonshine?
Well, yeah, but you know
Well as anybody,
I'm right out of jail.
That should be reason
To tell you not to do it --
You're just out of jail.
Well, I understand that.
But makin' moonshine --
What was the whole reason
We used to do it?
-yeah, to make money.
-make money.
I got all these
People callin',
And I'm not gonna lie to you --
It's awful tempting.
Tim: I can understand
Tickle's view here.
He's looking at,
"I can make good cash,
Straight money, right then."
But I'm really afraid,
If he gets caught
And gets put back in jail again,
He could be gone
For a long time.
You know, tim, I got to look
At the big picture right here.
I got bills that
Are gettin' behind.
Right.Basically boils down
To I got to make
Some money.
And makin' shine
In the woods
Is about the only way
I know how to make money.
Tim don't think me goin'
In the woods is a good idea.
But comes time when a man's got
To do what a man's got to do.
And what I got to do --
I got to make some shine.
Appreciate you comin'
And tellin' me all this.
I don't have the answer
Right now,
But I know the answer's not
Goin' back in the woods.
Tim: I hate for tickle
To go back to jail,
But I don't have a pile of money
To hand to him
And say,
"I can pay you up front."
I can't do that, neither.
I really think tickle needs
To think about this thing,
And I'm gonna think
About it, too.
We have to figure out a plan.
You just hold tight.
I've got to do something.
♪♪
Narrator: next time
On "Moonshiners"...
Break!
Screw them two together.
The *bleep* bit fell
Out of the drill gun, man.
A shiner snaps under pressure
In north carolina.
I don't got another bit!
[ growls ]
♪♪
Digger: what's it doin'?
That friggin' middle one's
Went out.
Narrator: snuffed out
In tennessee.
Mark:
Turn 'em all three off.
Don't cool that one.
Digger: hey, we got
To cool all of 'em.
We ain't blendin'
Nothin'.
This ain't no good.
♪♪
David: yeah,
That's him right there.
Let's go to him.
And a high-risk run
On the gulf...
Keep your eyes out.
If something's gonna happen,
I think it would happen here.
That's the coast guard.
That ain't good.
♪♪