Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 7, Episode 4 - Pony Express - full transcript

Josh: you had to be able to do
A little bit of everything

To survive in the old days.

You needed to know
How to make your own.

You needed to know
How to be self-sufficient.

People aren't survivors
Anymore, but...

When the united states
Went into the depression,

People, they didn't know how
To take care of theirselves.

People were starving to death.

But moonshiners knew
How to survive.

It was just a part
Of our culture.

Narrator:
It's summer across appalachia,



And as mother nature
Continues to turn up the heat,

So, too, does the pressure
On moonshiners to produce.

It's a mad scramble
This time of year

That has some taking
Their biggest risks --

Risks that could make
Or destroy a season.

In north carolina, josh takes
A gamble on a distribution deal

With some rough customers.

Josh: selling moonshine
Is a cutthroat business,

And if you don't
Watch your back,

You could end up in a hole.

Narrator:
In tennessee, two old pros
Find out if the weeks of work

On their three-pot still
Will finally pay off.

Let's get us
A little tastey of that.

And in virginia,



Tim rolls the dice
When he sticks his neck out

For an old buddy
One last time.

I was trying to get here
Before you got out,

And you got out early.

Yeah, man. Look, man.
They let me out.

Just as soon as I could get
Out of there, I was gone.

♪ no one can hold me down ♪

♪ or make me change my ways ♪

♪ so don't waste your breath
Sayin' ♪

♪ crime never pays ♪

♪ 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

You gonna take a bath
While you're in there?

Narrator:
On the carolina border,
Josh has been itching to run,

But true to form,
A series of mishaps

Has him late out
Of the starting gate.

Be good if it don't rain
Two or three days or four.

It rains every day,
Like the rainforest.

Normally, old crazy chuck
Is out here helping me,

But he's got some stuff
Going on in town,

So I got red dog
Out here helping me.

Narrator:
After a bout with heat stroke...

Josh: please help me.
I'm so sick.

...Josh enlisted the help
Of his friend chuck.

I'm excited
To be damn rolling.

[ thunder crashes ]holy *bleep*!

But the weather continues
To foil his efforts.

What's it look like?

All this mash has been
Ready to run, red dog,

But if it's supposed
To rain all week,
What are we gonna do?

♪♪

Josh:
Basically, I just need some sort
Of structure over my head

To keep the rain off my still
And off my mash

So I could have a dry place
To work all season.

It don't matter how hard I work.
I can't work hard enough.

Have you got enough money
To last the rest of your life?

No.

Well, get to working,
I guess -- all I know.

I'm gonna start
On this other hole.

When you're making moonshine
Or doing things against the law,

You can't just trust anybody.

You pretty much have to
Trust them with your life,

And red dog is a man
That I trust with my life.

When it's hard, you got to
Get hard with it, young man.

You're the one wanted to be
A big-time moonshiner.

Now you got you
All four points.

What I think we can do

Is we'll put about two inches
Of fall on that roof

And run the water
Off over here.

Whatever you want to do,
Chief.

I'm just thankful
To have some help.

Shut up and
Do what I say.

You get
A screw in it?

Yes, sir.

-oh!
-ooh!

You all right?That'll get you a pay cut, now.

Did it hit you in the face?No.

I was too damn fast
For you.

I forgot I didn't
Have that finger.

You ain't gonna have a head,
You do that again.

♪♪

Right on!

I'm gonna take a look, josh,
And see how square you look.

Hell,
It don't matter.

What if the county building
Inspector comes over here?

[ laughs ]we're going to jail.

Look here, josh.

I got to play
A music gig tomorrow

Down at a biker bar.

Josh: red dog is sort of
A local guitar legend.

He's been pickin' and grinnin'
Around these parts forever.

He's picked guitar
With lynyrd skynyrd,

All kind of famous people.

There's a guy been selling
Some shine down there,

And he's looking for
Something a little better.

I could hook you up with him,
If you want me to.

I don't want to be
Part of any deal,

But I'll introduce
The two of you tomorrow.

I don know
Who they are, though.

I know him.
He's straight-up.

I trust him,
And he moves a lot.

Normally, I don't sell
To people I don't know,

And selling to some bikers
May be dangerous.

Bikers are known to take
A steel pipe to your kneecap.

So they're wanting
A steady connection?

Yeah, 'cause they're
Selling it regularly.

I'll hook
The two of you up.

Alright.

Sounds good. I'll see you
At the biker bar, then.

This guy that red dog's
Hooking me up with,

If he likes my shine, it could
Mean a lot of business for me.

♪♪

[ panting ]

-boy.
-damn.

Digger: that's the only thing
That you don't miss --

Muling this stuff in.

We didn't really think
About all this

When we decided we wanted
Three big stills, did we?

No, sir.

Narrator: deep in
The great smoky mountains,

Veterans mark and digger
Are finally mashing in

For the first time
This season.

There we go.

Mark:
We didn't think we'd ever
Reach this point.

This three-pot still system,
It's assembled.

We come out of here alive,
It's gonna be a miracle.

Well, if we don't, either way,
Our damn troubles are over.

Are you *bleep* me?

Narrator:
Mark and digger's plans
For an early-season start

Were crushed...

*bleep*

...When a 60-foot tree
Fell on their still site.

I want to run
A three-barrel still.

Really?

Then a difficult still build
Delayed them even further.

*bleep* damn it!

Now the duo
Is a month behind schedule

And thousands of dollars
In the red

Without a drop of shine
To show for it.

Digger: well, I've been itching
To make a little liquor,

And it's time to do it.

We're gonna make this
Maple-syrup,

Vanilla-bean moonshine.

You know, it's gonna be
Easy for us

To fetch $150 a gallon
For this liquor

When it's said and done.

Which mash you gonna
Put in what?

This big news,
Pot big sloppy,

Is getting the corn...Okay.

...And this one's
Gonna get vanilla bean,

And then that one
There's getting

A beaucoup
Of vermont maple syrup.

Usually, we've made
Mash in barrels,

But we're not a stranger
To mash in our pots.

The simplicity
And the time saved,

We're not filling 700 gallons
Of water each time,

So we ought to make more liquor
In a shorter period.

I'm gonna take my tap
And be good.

But we've never fermented
Anything like this before.

We're running three pots
With three different mashes.

Each one
Is its own little factory.

Well, all it takes
Is an accident

In one of those factories to
Throw this whole operation off.

Pipe to still.

Flame it before
You crank that up.

♪♪

There we go.

Digger:
This first run out of the gate,

We've got everything
At stake here.

I mean, if it goes south,

Then we're that much
Further behind.

Mark: digger, he seems to think
That we can reach

1,100-gallon goal this year,

But we're like a month behind.

Over on the other hand,

If it works the way
We intend it to do,

We will catch up very quickly.

Digger:
This is our homemade
Vanilla-bean paste --

42 million calories.

Lord have mercy,
It's rich.

Mark: honestly and truly,
You could probably just mix

All of these ingredients
In one mash.

But everybody's done that.

We're mark and digger.

That's not about
Pushing the envelope.

We got to cap
These things off

'cause it'll be full
Of squirrels if we don't.

♪♪

♪♪

Tim: well, j.T., let's get
Loaded up, man.

Let me get
The shotgun, too.

Never know when you'll
Need a shotgun, you know?

Narrator:
In climax, virginia,

Tim is taking j.T.
On a quest to find the best

That the world of
Illegal moonshine has to offer.

Tim: I'm never going back
To the illegal side,

But I'm still trying to carry on
The heritage of my dad

In a legal fashion.

I really want j.T. To appreciate
The roots and the hard work

And the heritage that got us
To where we are today.

Tim: we are taking a little bit
Of risk going back.

Have to be careful.

Well, I'm ready
To see them.

I'm ready to see what
They're working with today.

Some of these old guys,
They got some good pointers.

They can let us know,
You know, the good and bad

And maybe some shortcuts.

But, you know,
We coming in just to visit,

Not running the still.

If you light the fire up
And get it going,

You're breaking the law.

If we get caught,
We're out of business.

Ain't going to be long
You're gonna see

A sign that says
"Welcome to franklin county."

Okay.

They well known
For making moonshine.

Narrator:
In the blue ridge mountains
Of virginia

Lies the moonshine
Capital of the world,

Franklin county.

Its history in illegal liquor

Stretches back
To the late 1700s,

When a wave of scots-irish
Immigrants settled the area.

They soon started
Making liquor

According to the centuries
Of distilling knowledge

They brought with them
From the old world.

Because of the abundance of
Moonshine being produced there,

Franklin county
Soon became known

As the wettest
County in america.

By the time prohibition arrived,

It's said that 99 out of every
100 of the county's residents

Was involved
In the illegal liquor trade.

Henry's dad was
One of the biggest kingpins,

Probably,
In the east coast.

He had crews of guys

Putting out
2,000 or 3,000 gallons a week.

That's some bad guys.
You don't want to make them mad.

-oh, no.
-so don't make them mad.

We ain't going to do
None of that.

Tim:
Now, henry and his whole family,

They are outlaw moonshiners.

I want to dig into these guys

And try to get
Information from them.

What's the selling product here?

Because, you know,
The illegal guys,

They don't have to get out
And market, like I do.

They already got the customers.

Narrator:
While henry's family operation
Is rooted in the backwoods,

It's been fully modernized
For efficiency.

They got cameras
On this thing everywhere.

J.T.: mmm.

Alright.

Tim.

Been a long time, man.

Been working.
How you doing?

-good to see you.
-alright. Good.

Who's this young man?

J.T.How you doing, j.T.?

Next generation --
You know how it is.

You got to
Keep it going.

I see you
All high-tech.

You got these cameras
On the building

Watching everything.

Yeah, man.

If anything comes
In here, I know it.

I'm a little concerned
About that truck there.

You sure
You weren't followed?

Tim: well, I mean, we stopped
At a few places and looked.

We didn't see nobody
Following us.

I'm gonna do a sweep
On it to make sure

That it don't have
Any tracking devices on it,

If you don't mind?

No.
No, I don't mind.

Kenny. We need to do a sweep
On this truck.

Kenny:
All right, man.

Man, come on.
We wasn't expecting all of that.

Tim: well, I hope they ain't got
No tracking device on it.

Henry:
Well, me, too.

I'm taking a lot of risk
In coming here.

Henry:
Do a whole sweep on it.

Tim:
What's that?

It'll check for
Tracking devices, bugs,

If there's anything in there,
It'll go off.

Tim: yeah?[ beeping ]

Making me nervous
Already. Mm.

[ beeping continues ]

Narrator: coming up...

Digger: you ain't never seen
Nothing like this, rader.

...Mark and digger unveil
Their three-pot still

To a moonshine legend....

It sticks out
Like a giant sore thumb.

We just
Got to hide it.

...And christmas comes
Early in kentucky.

Why is my christmas tree
In here?

What christmas tree?

♪♪

Henry: I'm a little concerned
About that truck there.

I think I need to do
A sweep on it to make sure

That it don't have
Any tracking devices on it.

Narrator:
Tim and j.T.'s journey into
The world of outlaw moonshine

Already has them on high alert

As they face
Some extreme security measures.

Making me nervous
Already.

Henry: how's it checking,
Kenny?

-I think she's clear.
-yeah, we're good.

Want to check out
My operation?

Yeah, let's go in,
See what you got going on.

Tim:
Things has changed with henry.

The thing, out in the woods,

You got to do a lot
Of moving around.

You don't stay nowhere long.

Tim: boy, it smells good
In here.

-huh?
-it smells real good.

He's invested a lot of money,
So he's not gonna move,

But you got to make it
More safer, more secure.

Henry:
And we got some brandy
Over here, of course.

Tim: oh, yeah.

Stick your head in
And take a deep breath.

Ooh-hoo!
Man, I love that.

This is all stainless steel
And aluminum top,

And plus, we had it camoed
When we had it out in the woods.

And right there's a special
Thing behind you -- that cap.

Look at the ax holes in it.
It's been cut about 10 times.

I see it's done been cut
A whole lot of times.

Narrator:
During raids, a fireman's ax

Was the abc agent's
Still-breaking weapon of choice,

And this old copper cap
Bears the scars to prove it.

Henry: it'll have to go
Into the moonshine museums.

Tim: being there kind of
Brought back all those memories

Out in the woods with my dad.

This is where we come from.
This is our heritage.

Henry: I talked to my father
The other night,

And he remembers
Your dad.

I think my dad and your dad
Pulled time together.

500 spring street.
Yep. Yep.

The last time dad
Got out of jail was in '99.

'99 -- okay.

And then he was
Indicted again

With that lightning strike
In the year 2000.

Narrator:
Operation lightning strike

Was a joint
Federal and state task force

Formed in response
To the abundance

Of illegal moonshine operations
In franklin county, virginia,

During the 1990s.

What alarmed agents

Even more than the amount
Of illegal distilleries

Was the size to which
The average operation grew.

Gone were the days
Of mom-and-pop setups

Knocking out 100 gallons a year.

Authorities
Were suddenly encountering

A whole new breed
Of moonshiner,

With multi-pot
Backwoods distilleries

Cranking out thousands
Of gallons every month.

Agents knew that in order
To run that much liquor,

Moonshiners would need
Steady access

To a large supply
Of raw materials.

So they started keeping
A close watch

On area farm
And industrial supply companies.

The tactic paid off big.

After a local farmer's exchange

Sold several large orders
Of sugar and plastic jugs,

Agents subpoenaed
The company's books

And found that
During a 12- to 18-month period,

Nearly 500 tons of sugar

And one million one-gallon
Plastic jugs were sold.

The amount of moonshine
Represented by the jugs

Meant over a $20 million loss
In tax revenue

To the state of virginia.

The 30 arrests and indictments
That followed

Resulted in an average
15-year sentence

For each offender.

Lightning strike
Sent shock waves

Through the world
Of illegal distilleries

And nearly doubled
The price of moonshine.

I'm gonna take
Young blood here

And show you
Some good peach brandy.

We can do that.

Think y'all
Can handle it?

Come over, young blood.
Check it out.

♪♪

♪♪

-oh!
-oh, man.

Well, mommy,
What do you think?

It sticks out
Like a giant sore thumb.

It's like, "Hey. Look at me.
Here I am."

Yeah, but,
Hey, look at me,

We're gonna hide that.

Narrator:
In kentucky, chico and sondra

Are beginning the camouflage
Phase of their site.

We just got to
Hide it.

It's got to go away.

Camouflage is the main thing
We got to worry about

'cause we're trying
To be hidden.

You know, I want to get
The entire system

Up off the ground,
So we're not at eye level

With the people
Coming through the site.

Narrator:
In order to stay hidden,
Chico and sondra

Enlisted the help
Of a fellow moonshiner

To help construct a platform
For their still

High in the trees.

Once the camouflage is complete,

They can start making moonshine.

Come on.
All right.

See, we got --

Why is my christmas tree
In here?

What christmas tree?

Uh, the big *bleep* box
That says "Xmas tree."

Chico:
You mean the christmas tree

I've been tying
To throw away for nine years?

Are you seriously thinking
About using that to, like...

I'm repurposing junk
That's in my way

That I've been wanting
To throw away.

I cannot even deal
With you today.

Either it goes
On the stand or
It gets burnt

With the rest
Of the junk
When we're done.

I know, I know!

It really is
Serving a purpose,

So I will sacrifice my tree

For the greater good.

We don't want it
To be noticeable.

If we can break up
The straight lines

With branches
Or camouflage netting,

That'll help so, so much,

Just so where you won't see it
Out of your peripheral vision.

Chico:
How does that look?

Sondra:
We need to put one
More branch up here.

Why? What is with
The one little stick?

The start of every year
Is the same.

It seems like
It takes forever.

And this will do it,
Man, like, for real.

I mean, with the big tree

And the other limbs
And stuff...

Chico:
I know it's just been
A few weeks,

But it feels like
We're running in place.

Sondra:
All right, what now?

Chico: we got to go
Get mash barrels.

We got to get
The stilling stuff down here

'cause I have to start
Putting some money
Back in my pocket.

Okay, well,
Let's keep moving.

Yah!

♪♪

♪♪

Henry:
We got the proofing barrel
Back here

That we would
Normally be using.

And we got some brandy
Over here, of course.

Narrator: back in
Franklin county, virginia,

Tim and j.T. Are knee-deep
In the operation

Of an illegal distillery.

Want to try it out,
Young blood?

Oh, yeah, let's see
What we got.

It's about 110 proof.

Oh, yeah.

That's pretty good.I'm telling you.

J.T.:
Going on this road trip,

It's given me
A couple good ideas.

I want to make my own moonshine,

And build a small still,
You know,

Experiment with my own flavors,
My own recipe,

What I feel
That people might like.

I'm pretty excited.

Tim: well, it's a nice
Operation you got here,

I'll tell you that
Right now.

Henry: you want to show
The young blood

How to make
The liquor, huh?

Yeah, yeah.

Well, we need to get
Those apples ground up,

And I need some help.

I could use him.
The young blood
Could earn a lot.

I want him to dig
Into these guys

And try to get
Information from them

And actually make him
More motivated

And interested
In making moonshine.

♪♪

Henry: come over,
Young blood.

There's a bag, and I want
You to put two buckets.

We're gonna thump it,
And the rest of it,

We're gonna put over
In the still.

Tim:
J.T., he's working.
He's helping them.

And kind of exciting
For me, too.

J.T. Was really getting into it,
Getting his hands into it,

Getting dirty and everything.

Alright.
Good job.

Alright,
She's ready to cap.

Alright.

Two-by-fours are back there
Behind the wall.

-there you go.
-thank you, man.

Here, get that wet.

Start putting
Some around that cap.

J.T.

J.T.

♪♪

J.T.!

You know, they breaking
The law, man,

Once they
Turn that fire on.

That's, like, getting
Across the line here.

We just come by
To see the operation.

We didn't come
To run the operation.

It's about time
For us to leave.

Come, man.

Let's get
In this truck, man.

Let's get out of here.Henry: tim!

♪♪

They breaking
The law, man,

Once they
Turn that fire on.

It's about time
For us to leave.

Narrator:
In virginia, tim is getting
That old nervous feeling again.

Henry: tim!

Tim: we were just
Coming by to visit.

Hell, we didn't know
You was ready to run

Peach brandy in there.

We're just gonna
Get out of your way.

Let us back
On out of here.

Tim: now, henry really
Made me nervous,

Reminding me all the reasons
Why I went legal,

You know,
Looking over my shoulder,

Abc agents trying to
Catch me in the woods.

Yeah, I didn't expect them
To be running liquor.

I was just wanting you
To maybe see the operation

And take a taste
Of what the product

That they produce,
You know?

But I can't go back
To the woods like that.

[ cellphone ringing ]

Hello?

Uh-huh.
When?

Okay.

Alright.
I'll be there.

Turn around!
We got to go back home.

Everything all right?

♪♪

♪♪

We got to get
This stuff transferred over.

Josh: yeah.

Shoot it to me,
Boss man.

Narrator:
In the carolina foothills,

The roof over the still site
Is complete.

Now josh and chuck
Can finally make moonshine.

How's that?

That's good.

Josh: I hired chuck
To come in and help me,

And he's coming along,
He's getting it all figured out,

And I'm glad to have him.

That's about all I'm gonna
Get out of it.

Is it full?
-yeah.

-alright.
-just coming out the top.

Let's light
This thing up.

♪♪

Narrator:
Counting on a successful meeting
At the biker rally,

Josh is going to stockpile
A perennial favorite,

Corn liquor.

Chuck: we've got a big
185-gallon still,

And it takes
Three or four hours

Just to get it to steaming.

And then, when we slow it down
And start running it,

It's a good 12- to 14-hour day.

There's gonna be
All-nighters to do that.

♪♪

Chuck: what do you think?
We getting close?

Well, you can
Feel it thumping.

Put your hand on it.

Oh, yeah.
It's thumping pretty good.

It's starting to
Piss liquor right now.

Yeah.

Hell, we about got
A quarter of a quart

In there already.

Damn.
We're on it, man.

You gonna let a
Little bit go for
The heads, ain't you?

Oh, yeah.
Let me see that.

Narrator: the initial output
Of the run,

Called the "Foreshot,"
Or "Heads,"

Contains toxic methanol.

♪♪

Oh, man.
That's good *bleep*.

♪♪

Yeah!

For right out of the worm,
That's smooth.

Yeah. You better not
Drink too much more.

We got to get
This run finished.
[ laughing ]

♪♪

Well, tomorrow,
It's not about
How much we sell.

It's about the deal.I hear you.

It's about where
It's gonna carry us.

And if that goes well,

We're well on our way
To selling the rest of it.

Okay.

Narrator:
Josh's all-night run yields
45 gallons of premium moonshine

Totaling 75 gallons
For his season so far.

Man, the sun's gonna be
Coming up soon.

I'm glad to be
Almost be done

With this son of a bitch.
This took forever.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator:
In kentucky, it's time
For chico and sondra

To mash in.

So, we need to get all
This stuff down there.

They'll need to collect
A few last pieces of equipment.

So, the leastattention,
The better.

So we agree on the
Four-wheeler as a
Bad idea to do this.

Well, I was thinking
A little more

Under the radar.

Chico:
Quad makes a lot of noise.

If you hear a quad
Going in the woods, you go,

"I wonder who that is."

And you follow it.

If someone comes
To the still site,

Our entire system is shut down.

Chico: we got to
Be careful, though.

He's mean.

Sondra:
Oh, my lord.

Horses has been around
Since time.

They were the first
All-terrain vehicle.

You think he's gonna
Be able to pack us

And the still
And the barrels?

He can pack three times
His body weight,

So he can
Probably pack you.

Ow!

We're gonna use little pony
To get down our still

And all of
Our mashing supplies.

Can you
Get in there?

Into the cart?

Yeah, of course.

And if he can, perfect,
Because that is no noise.

He's portable.

Let's roll,
Little man.

Yeah, boy!

It's perfect.
You know?

Whether pony can do it or not,
I don't know.

We're gonna see.
He's got a big heart.

Chico:
Easy, little man.

Lighten up.

Whoop, whoop,
Whoop, whoop, easy!

Whoop, whoop,
Whoop, whoop!

Whoa, buddy!

I got mud
On my ass!

Sondra: I see that.*bleep* damn it, boy!

I'm glad
He didn't get down.

What about me?!

You're okay,
Just a little muddy.

Alright, boy.

Come on, easy.

Chico:
It takes a little more time,

But it's worth it
At the end of all this.

Chico:
Whoa, bub!

-whoa baby.
-oh, man.

Sondra: alright,
Are you ready?

Let's unload
This thing,

And you can
Head back with him,

Can't you,
And get them barrel?

Uh, yeah. Yeah,
That should be fine.

There's four barrels
Up there.

You should be able to just
Grab them and come on back.

Okay, what are you
Gonna be doing?

Got you.
I can handle that, yes.

Easy, easy.

Chico:
She is the love of my life,

But time spent apart
Is time valued by me.

That is for sure.

Whoa, good boy.

Alright.

Now, we got to figure out
These barrels, boyfriend.

So, I'm a little skeptical
About how I'm gonna get

All four barrels in this cart
With me and the pony.

I don't know,
I think chico is kind of

Not sending me
On a fool's errand,

But he expects this to be
Very difficult for me,

And I think he did that
On purpose.

[ groaning ]

This is a joke.

Alright.
Alright.

Alright.
Alright.

Do some serious
Regrouping here.

♪♪

That's not big enough.

How in the hell am I
Gonna make this work?!

Sondra:
It's been a hard day --

A really hard,
Long day with pony.

[ groaning ]

Pony and I, we need to
Get back down to the site.

Damn it, man.

There's way too much
Riding on this.

We got to get
Mashed in tonight.

We need to start
Making money.

Lord.

♪♪

Alright, pony,
Are you ready to
Try this out again?

Narrator: in kentucky,
Sondra is loaded to capacity.

Chico:
Man, it's been an hour,
Hour and a half.

It seems like
We're crawling again.

♪♪

Sondra:
Whoa, easy.

Well, it's like when
I send you to the store.

Whoa, pony.You're gone for two days.

[ laughing ]
Lord have mercy.

Chico is, like, ready
To get this mash going,

Like, yesterday.

But, you know,
This is hard work.

Yeah.

Okay.

Chico:
We're gonna bucket our
Mash materials up on the deck,

So people don't see us.

We've got kids at home,
So we have to make sure

That me and her are safe.

Now all we got to do

Is take the hook
At the end of the rope,

Hook them in the barrels and see
If the pony can handle that.

-go?
-yeah.

There you go, pony.

-easy.
-whoa!

Come on, pony!

Ugh!

-whoop!
-there you go.

Good boy.

Chico:
Come up, bub.

Sondra:
Come on, pony.

Chico:
Alright, hold him!

Pull!

Good job!
Whoa!

Good job, buddy.

-see?
-alright.

♪♪

[ muttering ]

A little tight up here,
Isn't it?

Uh-oh.

That's not
Enough room.

I mean,
That's way too close.

What are we gonna do?

Chico: after we've built
This massive platform

In these trees,

Still, we don't have
Enough room.

I mean, we need to start
Getting liquor in jars.

We're not making
Any money this way.

It's driving me nuts,
Man.

I mean, I feel like
I'm literally standing

And jumping in place.

♪♪

Digger: you ain't never seen
Nothing like this, rader.

Narrator:
A week after mashing in,
Mark and digger are joined

By one of their mentors,
J.B. Rader,

For the maiden voyage
Of their three-pot still.

Mark: there's gonna be
A lot of challenges

Running this triple still,
And a fresh set of eyes on it,

Especially
J.B. Rader's eyes on it,

Why, that's a plus.

Narrator:
J.B. Rader is one of the
Living legends of moonshining.

That's it
For the last one.

This is it.

He was partners with
The infamous popcorn sutton.

It has to be spongy
For it to fit.

Together they became
The most renowned moonshiners

Of their generation.

Digger: how about
That there, jacob b?

Mark: oh, it does
Smell good.

Digger: this is
Virgin territory.

Get over there
And turn that gas on.

Let's light
Big sloppy up.

♪♪

Mark: we spent a monstrous
Amount of time and money

Putting this rig together.

We're like a month behind.

But if this thing works
Like we think it's going to,

I mean, we can make
100 gallons at a run,

One of the biggest
Concerns with this--

It takes longer to heat up
The 300-gallon pot

Versus the 200-gallon pots.

Narrator:
Mark and digger's goal
Is to use three-pot still

To create
Vapor-blended liquors.

To do this,
Alcohol vapor from each pot

Must hit the manifold
Simultaneously,

Where they'll blend before
Condensing into liquid form.

To obtain the correct balance,

The three pots
Must finish cooking off

At exactly the same time.

Because the large pot
Holds 100 gallons more

Than each smaller pot,

It will need to begin heating
Sooner and run slightly hotter,

But how much sooner
And how much hotter

Can be a tricky call to make.

If successful,
The technique will provide

The subtle flavor profile

That mark and digger
Are banking on.

Digger: you know,
If it doesn't blend perfect,

Then, you know,
All this extra work,

It's been for nothing.

Mark:
Don't you worry, buddy.

It's gonna be
A good run.

♪♪

Digger:
Manifold's hot.

-everything's hot.
-condenser head's hot.

Mark: surely, to god,
It's time

For some liquor
To come out of there.

Vanilla, maple syrup,
And corn --

It can't help
But be delicious.

Do I see a pre-drip
Right there?

Digger: well, yep.

I believe we do.

One way to prove it.

♪♪

First run
Of the season, boys.

First liquor
Out the gate.

Mark: yeah.

♪♪

Digger: yep.

Stir that up there,

And let's get us
A little tastey of that.

Digger: well, I'm gonna
Tell you what.

Yeah,
This still my idea,

So I'm gonna take
The first sip.

Fair enough.
Have at it.

Mmm.
Damn.

I don't know that
You'll want one.

Oh, you're just
Messing with me.

No.
That's horrible.

Ugh.

You'uns
Just japing me.

I wish I was.

♪♪

No, no, no,
No, no!

-damn it.
-yep.

I mean, it's like
Damn lye soap.

Hey.

It's that damn manifold.

Well, we -- yeah.
We cleaned all.

-look here.
-oh, no, maybe...

♪♪

Stick your finger in
That and then stick
It in your mouth.

I don't have to.

We used
Three cans of flux

To solder that up,

And we didn't clean it,

Knowing damn good
And well

We needed to get
All that flux out of there.

Narrator: flux, a paste used
To help bond soldered seams,

Is used in the construction
Of copper stills.

If any excess
Is not completely removed,

It'll leave the liquor
With a bitter, metallic taste.

Digger:
We made about 35, 37 gallons

Of flux-laden liquor

And ruined it
Right out of the gate.

First run of the year,

And here we are
Back to damn square one.

We can't tolerate
Many more

Of these rookie mistakes.

By god,
There ain't no sense

In even running
Another damn quart

Of that *bleep*.

Digger:
You know, I don't know
Where to start

With how far behind we are
In the season right now.

You know, if this
Was early spring,

I wouldn't be
As on edge as I am.

But you know, we're just
Spinning our wheels,

And we've come up with nothing.

Narrator:
Coming up...

I'll be glad
To see the sun.

I ain't seen it
In a long time.

...Reunited with freedom...

-dad!
-hey, baby.

...And family.

I missed you.

Josh: fricking cutie pie get bit
By a big, damn, poisonous snake,

Just about took her out.

I hate that son of a bitch.

Josh: you want to
Go eat that?

Red dog: yeah.
[ laughing ]

Josh:
It may be weird to keep it

'cause I probably won't want
Nothing to remind me of that.

He's coming out
Right pretty,
Though, ain't he?

But at the same time,

You got to have respect
For the snake.

He can't help
He's a snake, you know,

Just like we can't help
We're humans,

And we're at the top
Of the food chain.

It's all yours,
Buddy.

Hard to believe
Something like that

Packs such a punch,
Ain't it?

Yes, it is.

I'm gonna hang this up
At the still site.

Chuck: well, how much we
Gonna take down to the bar?

What we got
Right here.

Oh, hell.

We got all that liquor
Down at the still.

I don't know who the hell
I'm dealing with,

So until
I feel comfortable,

We're gonna work
Our way into it.

Narrator:
In north carolina,

Josh and chuck
Are making preparations

To close a big deal.

Josh: today is not about
Making a big sale.

Today is about
Making a deal

That's gonna pay us
All season.

And I don't know
This guy.

Anything could happen.

Red dog's band has been
Playing up at this biker bar,

And there's this guy up there,
And he needs a good supplier

'cause he's selling
More moonshine

Than he knows what to do with,

And red dog thinks he'll be
A good customer for me.

Well, if this deal works out,

I'm gonna make
A bunch of money,

But selling moonshine
Is a cutthroat business.

If you don't watch your back,

You could end up in a hole,

And you can definitely
End up in jail.

Only reason I'm doing this

Is 'cause this dude is supposed
To be a hell of a connection.

Red dog said they're cool,
And I trust red dog.

So I'm just kind of keeping
To myself until red dog

Makes the introduction.

Red dog:
It is a private club.

If they don't know you,

You might want to tread
A little light at first.

Hey, josh!
How you doing, bro?

Josh:
What's happening, buddy?

You are, man.

Come over here.

I'm just gonna introduce
Two people I know well,

And I'm gonna walk away.

Whatever they talk about
Is up to them.

Red dog: I know everybody.
I trust everybody.

That's all I know.

I'm out of here, bro.

Alright.
Good.

Yeah, I got some
Right here.

Take you
A snort off of that.

♪♪

There's plenty of that
Where that come from.

I got $600 worth here
If you want to take that,

And then, if you want
Some more later,

I can hook you up,

But that's all
I got with me right now.

♪♪

♪♪

Put all that
Stuff back in there.

Yeah. Yeah, I can get
All you want.

Sounds good.
Appreciate it.

Alright.
Sounds good.

Josh: this sale is gonna be
The start of something

Really beautiful.

They're gonna be able
To take almost

All of my moonshine
Off of my hands.

They're gonna bootleg it for me.

I just got to make one sale.

I'm stoked.
I'm really excited.

♪♪

You know,
It's early in the morning.

Well, I had plans
On taking j.T. Out on

Kind of a tour here
And do some tasting,

But, you know, that's gonna
Have to hold for right now.

I got to go back and,
You know, see my old friend.

♪♪

I'm gonna pull up right here

So I can see him
When he comes out,

'cause I know where
He's gonna come out at.

Well, hell, there's somebody
Just sitting right there.

♪♪

I was trying to get here
Before you got out,

And you got out early.

Yeah, man. Look, man.
They let me out.

Just as soon as I could get
Out of there, I was gone.

Yeah, the sun's gonna be up
In a few minutes.

Yeah, well, I'll be glad
To see the sun.

I ain't seen it
In a long time.

Well, I think
You been eating good.

You know, they put me
Down in the kitchen.

I was baking the rolls
And the biscuits

And the cakes
And all that.

Can you believe they give me
The yeast and the sugar?

[ both laugh ]I mean, really.

Narrator:
Last season...

Tim!
What's up, man?

What's going on?

Man!

...When tickle was released
From prison,

Tim was there to help him pick
Up the pieces and start again.

If you can stay straight,
I need you.

But a subsequent
Probation violation

Had tickle right back
In the slammer.

It's amazing the stuff
You take for granted

When you're in there.You miss all that stuff.

Like mom and daisy,
And you know,

I get to see them
When they come and visit me,

But you don't get
To touch them.

That's right.

You don't get
To touch them.

There's somebody
Coming here.

It might be her now.

There you go.
That's your family.

-hey.
-dad!

Tickle:
Hey, baby.

-hi.
-hey.

[ groans ]
I missed you.

I missed you.I missed giving you hugs.

-hey, mama.
-oh.

[ groaning ]

Are you gonna
Behave yourself now?

Yeah, yeah.

I think I done got all that
Out of my system.

I sure hope so.Mwah.

I ain't going back
In there, I promise.

I'm so...
I know.

Mwah,
I missed you.

I'm back now.
Okay?

Okay.

Well,
Are you all ready?

I'm tired
Of this place.

What are you
Gonna do now?

Well, I reckon I'm gonna
Head on home with them.

I guess I'll see you
In a little bit.

We'll get us something
To eat or something.
What do you think?

Alright.
I'll see you, brother.

-see you.
-alright.

Bye, tim!Lois: nice seeing you.

Tim:
Well, I may have some ideas

To try to keep tickle
Out of jail.

I will put him to work
To stay busy,

Stay out of trouble.

Narrator:
Next time on "Moonshiners"...

Mark:
This whole three-pot system,

We don't know
If we did it right or not.

Narrator:
...One last chance to save
The season in tennessee.

Digger: my future
In the liquor business,

It lays right here.

Son of a bitch.

Narrator:
Pressure builds in louisiana.

You think that thing's
Gonna blow?

And in virginia,

Tim has a plan
To keep his old friend

On the free side
Of the fence.

Since you don't have
Nothing to do,

Why don't you come
And help us out?

You reckon it'll be
As much fun?