Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 8, Episode 13 - Appalachian Inheritance - full transcript
♪♪
On this episode
Of "Moonshiners"...
It's the most complicated setup
We've ever had to fiddle with.
Better hope this works, boys.
I'm gonna slap the piss
Out of you if it don't.
In the smoky mountains,
An unexpected delivery sparks
A trial by fire.
God almighty.
What are we gonna do?
I ain't believe
In this damn *bleep*
This will cripple us.
You know damn well
That's gonna stir up
Another hornet's nest.
In tennessee, a turf war
Threatens to reignite.
I only got one question.
That's the buyer.
And in north carolina,
Burned by a thief,
Two shiners take back what's
Justice into their own hands.
-it's moved.
-yes, it is.
Well, well, well.
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
What the hell is kenny
Wanting us come up here
And meet him for?
Did he tell you
Anything about it?
No.
I hope it ain't
He's telling us
He's turning in his notice.
That would be
No bueno.
In the backwoods
Of cocke county, tennessee,
Mark and digger are checking in
With kelly and j.B.,
Two veteran shiners they hired
To handle runs of corn whiskey.
Get in here and see
What them rascals has got.
They might have got drunk.
We recruited kelly and j.B.
To run our corn maker
This whole year,
And they've done well at it.
Look who's coming here.
-howdy, old farts.
-rader.
Your eyes is looking
A little glassy there, buddy.
You been in a damn
Liquor jar somewhere?
Maybe.
Is these full of liquor?
-hell yeah.
-they are.
That's 40 gallons
Of liquor.
Ah.
J.B. And kelly,
They've put in a hard,
Hard season at this point.
They've made a lot
Of corn liquor for us.
You did good.
This is outstanding.
That will last us well
Through the winter
And maybe into spring
A little bit.
I couldn't be happier.
I'm gonna just tell them,
You know, "Take you a week off,
J.B., and go out
And go squirrel hunting."
We ain't got
No mash working.
If you ain't got no mash
Working, take you a week off.
But we got
A good idea, though.
I got something
I wants you to try,
A little side project
That I worked on.
I got j.B. Sold on it.
He's tried it.
Yep.
Taste that and see
How you feel about it.
My god, buddy,
That's good liquor.
That's what
We like to hear.
That's damn fine liquor.
It smells a little bit
Like brown sugar.
Well, what is it?
That's what I was fixing
To ask you.
-sorghum.
-sorghum? Hmm.
-that's sorghum?
-yeah.
Looks like a cat turd floating
Around in there, ain't it?
I've never done anything
With sorghum.
It's all damn german to me.
I don't know anything about it.
Sorghum, it's only
One time a year
That you can even get it.
In the south,
Sorghum has been grown
For generations.
The crop is commonly used
As feed for livestock,
But when processed
Into a molasses-like sweetener,
It fetches a much higher price,
And like any fermentable sugar,
The sweet juice can be
Turned into moonshine.
They had to run it.
As quick as they cut the cane
And run the juice,
They've got to run it
In three or four days.
They ain't got no shelf life.
-nope.
So you can't get the cane
To do it with
But just about three weeks
Out of the year.
Out of the year.
You know, mark and myself
Run molasses before,
But sorghum, it's expensive.
It took $80 of sorghum
To make that quart.
It took a little bit.
This sorghum juice, it has about
10% or 11% sugar in it,
So you start cooking it down,
And if we can get it to
About a 20% to 25% sugar,
Hopefully digger can come up
With a yeast
That will handle that,
And we can make
Some really good stuff.
Sorghum liquor,
What's it sell for?
Is there such a thing
On the market?
I mean...
If you can find this,
It's $60 a quart --
A quart,
Not a gallon.
That's $240 a gallon.
I'm not the brightest
Bulb on the tree,
But I can add and subtract.
It appears there's
A good opportunity
For a substantial amount
Of money to be made here.
All right.
Get us some juice.
-get us some juice.
-how much do you want?
Hell,
Get all you can get.
We can cook it down
To where the...
-20% to 30%, yeah.
-...Sugar content is enough.
-if we can hit 20%...
-sugar.
...Yeah, sugar content,
Anything,
It'll make a damn fine mash.
All right.
Get all you can get.
Well, I'll call them as quick
As we get out of the woods.
Let's get this out of here,
And then we'll go from there.
J.B., we'll get this.
You just sit there and stay
Out of that jar.
-I got the jar.
-all right, then.
Mission accomplished.
♪♪
Well, I can't remember
Exactly how much it was
We still yet owe, but...
We're getting there
To get them boys paid off.
We're getting real close.
Across the county line,
Mike and daniel
Built a 100-gallon still
To speed up their debt
Payments to mark and digger
And hit pay dirt with a run
Of clear apple pie brandy.
This apple pie is gonna
Blow everybody's mind.
Now with their next
Sale lined up
And their second debt payment
Due, mike and daniel must decide
How big a cut
To give their rivals.
I initially agreed
To give mark and digger
Half of all my profits,
And I know that I may not be
Giving them straight-up
Half of my profits
Off of the big still,
But I'm giving them
A whole lot more than half
Than I was making
On the little still.
You know, daniel, now that
We got that bigger still,
We can put, you know,
All that extra money
Back in our pocket.
But still yet, man,
You know as well as I do
They're gonna whine
And cry.
Well, they can whine
And damn cry all they want to.
I'm doing everything I can
To get them boys paid off,
So we'll get up here and see
How much this fellow wants.
The clear apple pie is
The number-one seller this year,
And daniel has got some buddies
That are real damn interested
In this apple pie brandy.
And I told him
$200 a gallon.
Well, hell.
That's how I like that.
My friend,
He's talking about
Throwing a pretty
Good-sized party,
So he'll probably need
Plenty of spirits.
I'm gonna have to put
This son of a bitch
In four-wheel drive if
I'm gonna get back in there.
I think you are.
Right back in there
Is where he's wanting us
To meet him at,
And I promise you,
We won't be able to miss him.
Crack the windows.
-put that window down.
♪♪
Damn.
I don't know if you call him
A natural-born idiot or...
-they crazy, ain't he?
-...Just a bunch of good timers.
Phew.
What's up, man?
What up, scotty?
You can't hide that,
Can you, brother?
Yeah,
If you're good and loud,
You're not hiding anything,
Are you, buddy?
This dude is coming
In a rock bouncer,
Something I've never seen
Except for on tv,
And these are some
High-powered machines.
You like that?
Let him get
A horn of it.
We don't add no kind of
Flavoring or nothing to ours.
It's all natural.
That just comes
Through the worm.
You know, them big corporate
Distilleries,
They put the flavor
In it.
That, we run it right through
The worm, that flavor.
All right.
I've got to get rid of more
Than 2 gallons of it.
I mean, you ain't got
To take all of it.
A box would be three.
A box would be three.
And it'd be easier on you
To haul and not bust.
Yeah?
We don't have to separate jars,
You know?
Three gallons?
That'll be good.
This is a good sale for us.
I mean, hell, $600 is a lot
Better than nothing,
And after this party
And people taste
This clear
Apple pie moonshine,
I hope there'll be
Some more of them
Wanting the rest of what
We've got, which is good.
I mean, it's good for business.
See you, guys.
Boy, I like the hell
Out of that thing, daniel.
♪♪
♪♪
Got big, old bubbles,
Ain't it?
Mm-hmm.
Just over the state
Line in graham county,
North carolina, mark and huck
Are proofing down a batch
Of shine for a customer
Who's paid up
For a 20-gallon drop.
The alcohol content in a run
Of shine
Typically starts high and drops
As the run continues.
That's a little better,
Ain't it?
By catching the shine
In small jars,
Mark can blend
Several runs together
For a uniform taste
And proof.
And lastly, it goes in the
5-gallon buckets for sale.
20 more gallons.
We been selling to a bootlegger
For a couple weeks now,
And everything has been
Going pretty good.
20 gallon every week or so,
That's a lot of liquor.
Yeah.
To avoid getting caught
For making the sale in person,
Mark and huck are using a method
Called a dead drop
Where the liquor is hidden
In a secret location
For the buyer
To pick up at a later time.
I'm getting nervous,
Don't you?
Uneasy.
Yeah, bootlegging is
The worst part of it.
I'd rather work
Around the stills.
Time for them
Old stumps.
Yeah, we got it.
What this, right here,
Set us back?
In tennessee,
A rogue employee
Wagers the season
On a risky recipe.
Easy now.
You said, "Go get
All you can get."
♪♪
We're making pretty good money,
Though, so far.
Oh, yeah.
Get us a little hunting money
Saved up.
In the hills of
Robbinsville, north carolina,
After dropping 20 gallons
Of shine at a secret spot,
Mark and huck are waiting
For word their buyer
Has picked up the stash.
Yeah, we might get back
And might shut applejack in.
What do you think of that?
Hmm.
That's the buyer.
What's going on?
Right behind them old
Wide-oak logs, it's not there?
You sure you're at
The right place?
We'll get back with you here
Just in a little bit.
All right.
They have to see you.
Something just ain't right
About this.
I've got an idea.
Go and get another drop point
And drop 20 more gallons.
Let's just set him up
And see what's going on.
You want to?
Somebody has got our liquor,
And we got to get to the bottom
Of it one way or another,
So we'll just set him up
And see.
But if you get liquor stole
From one of your drop spots,
That's the end of that site
Right there.
You don't ever want
To use it again.
We want to let him have
Any more liquor,
I'm gonna pick him
A drop spot this time.
Well, it's gone.
Well,
I'll tell you what.
We'll drop it
In a different place.
How's that?
Do you remember where that
Old, abandoned hydro house
Is out there?
-yep.
Right behind it,
There's an old log
And old brush pile.
We'll put 20 gallons
Right there.
We'll have it there,
And we'll get up with you
When we get it stashed.
Something is wrong,
Bad wrong.
I hate to accuse anybody
Of anything not knowing 100%,
But it just kind of something
A little bit shady about him.
Ain't no way anybody else
Could have seen us
Put that there.
♪♪
I'm headed out to pick up
This sorghum juice.
Mark and digger, they've
Given me a green light
To do something
A little different.
North of the state
Line in tennessee,
Mark and digger
Have deputized kelly
To purchase in-season
Sorghum juice
For a run of specialty shine.
Mark said,
"Buy all you can get,"
So 1,000 gallons, 5 grand.
This is just the sorghum juice.
Now we're gonna have to
Cook it all down and everything,
And it's got a shelf life
Of about three days,
So we've got to act
On this stuff pretty quick.
♪♪
I mean, sorghum,
It's just sugar water
That just ain't been
Cooked down.
Kelly has called.
He's on his way back from
Picking up the sorghum juice,
That sorghum cane juice,
And he wants to meet
At a barn out here
On the side of the road,
Down the road from his house.
Yeah.
Hell, that might work out good
For all of us.
We'll see. I mean, what's
The worst that can happen?
Yep.
Kelly has convinced us
To try sorghum,
So, you know,
We're gonna roll with it.
Well, here he comes.
Ain't nothing in the back
Of his truck.
What in the world?
Hmm.
Damn, son.
How much of it you got?
A thousand.
Beside the fact that we ain't
Never made no sorghum liquor,
What this, right here,
Set us back?
What'd you have
To swap for that?
I swapped...
Easy now...
$5,000.
That's your boy.
We went from what we thought
Was gonna be
A couple of barrels
Of sorghum juice
To getting 1,000 gallons
Of sorghum juice.
How long is the shelf life
On this stuff?
About three days.
Three days?!
What we gonna do
With that?
Four of us can't carry all this
*bleep* back in the woods.
Really, I'm just
At a loss here.
I figured 100, 150 gallons
At the most.
You said, "Go get
All you can get."
No, no.
We didn't have a conversation
About making this much.
Not only has kelly
Invested 5,000
Of our favorite dollars
In some syrup,
We're obligated
To make liquor out of it,
And it's got
A shorter shelf life.
Nothing ain't gonna
Happen to it.
We're gonna get it in
And cook it down
And make liquor
Out of it.
Why can't we just put it
In the pots like it is?
Probably throw
Some yeast in it.
It won't run
Through your still.
It'll blow your still up.
Got the cook the enzymes
Out of this.
When you start heating this
In the still,
You'll get
That old green foam
And all them enzymes
And all that stuff.
-it'd stop it up.
-yeah.
-digger.
-I got nothing.
I don't know what kelly
Was thinking,
But obviously, he wasn't.
We've got stills that
Are out in the sticks.
We take our ingredients
To the still.
You know, 50 pounds of sugar,
You can make a few trips
And get that in there.
300-gallon tote,
You can't just take out
In the woods,
And if we don't get this
Working in the mash
To get it converting,
Then we're gonna lose $5,000.
Stills are gonna have
To come this.
This ain't gonna go
To the stills.
-we're going to your barn.
-all right!
We're onboard then.
It's kind of like pulling out
In front of a damn truck.
You're obligated,
Either that or dead.
♪♪
Well, you know,
It's always best
To be
A little bit cautious.
We'll feel him out.
I'm not gonna sell to just
Anybody in the world
If I don't trust them.
Trust is earned,
Isn't it?
It's earned.
That's right.
Just across the county line,
Mike and daniel have a lead
On a potential new buyer
Who tasted their shine
At a party
And wants to get
Some of his own.
Me and daniel,
We're on our way
To meet a new potential buyer.
We ain't gonna carry
Anything with us today.
We just gonna go up
And meet him
And feel him out a little bit.
There he is, ain't it?
You must be jamie.
How you doing, buddy?
All right, man.
A buddy of mine told me
You wanted to meet up with me
And talk with me,
So what can I do for you?
Well, our new one
Is our clear apple pie.
Hell, no.
I ain't got no samples
Right now.
I don't know
Who you are, brother.
You know, what part
Of the country you from?
Upper end of cosby?
That's cocke county.
That's cocke county.
Cocke county.
Cocke county, boy.
I heard that.
He mentions
He's from cocke county.
That sort of puts a...
Throws a red flag
Up to me and daniel.
So me and mark and digger,
We're in neighboring counties.
They're cocke county,
And I'm sevier county.
I would prefer that he be from,
Say, sevier county
Or maybe possibly somewhere else
Other than cocke county.
It could, you know,
Play into effect
And be a little bit of problem
With mark and digger.
How much liquor are you
Looking to get?
Well, I tell you what.
I'll give you a call
Just as quick
As we get
That stuff run off,
And I'll let you know
About that.
-okay. Good.
-how's that sound to you?
He wants 15 gallons
Of good alcohol,
But he's from cocke county.
You know damn well
That's gonna stir up
Another hornet's nest.
Mark and digger, they got
A little bit twisted for me
Selling to people
In cocke county.
If you had been raised
Up in the world we was in,
You respected people
That made liquor,
You wouldn't be stepping
In another county.
I don't -- I'm not trying
To step on nobody's toes.
I can show you 30
Or 40 tombstones up here
That ought to be chiseled
With the words,
"I was warned."
But this is my county,
Not theirs.
If there's a man coming
From cocke county
To sevier county
To get liquor...
That means that they like
Our liquor better, don't it?
Obviously.
If we don't sell this
To this guy...
Mark and digger
Don't get their money.
But still yet, man,
You know as well as I do,
They're going
To whine and cry.
Well, I'm not trying
To cause a conflict.
I'm caught between a rock
And a hard place.
I want to show these boys
That I can get them paid off,
That I'm a man of my word,
But I don't want to do anything
To keep this feud going.
I don't know what
We're gonna do.
In north carolina...
...If you steal shine
From a mountain man,
You'd better be good
At covering your tracks.
Well, well, well.
Oh *bleep*
You said,
"Get all I could get."
Yeah, but damn.
I wouldn't have thought there
Was that much sorghum
In tennessee.
In cocke county, tennessee,
With the help of kelly
And j.B., mark and digger
Are scrambling to get 1,000
Gallons of sorghum juice
Mashed in before it spoils.
Yeah, mark and digger
Were a little bit taken back,
But the plan looks like
We're gonna take this
And just drop everything else
We're doing
Right now
To make this work.
How does this *bleep* work?
Oh, I see.
I got...
Me and digger, we've never
Run liquor like this before.
That's what j.B. Is here for.
He says actually that he made
Sorghum molasses in high school.
It was a school project.
We just start with 15 gallons
In a little old pot.
What's it gonna do here, j.B.?
We got to cook it
Until it gets rid of the foam.
Then you just keep that...
Well, look at it over here
Sizzling like mash.
I'll be damned.
Starting with sorghum juice
And making a mash out of it,
This is virgin territory for us.
That's green foam.
Plumb
Yellow looking, ain't it?
Taste that sludge.
Ho, god!
Tastes like cow *bleep*
This juice, it isn't
Very attractive.
It's kind of a
Pea-soup-green-looking color.
You have to stir it very slowly,
Constantly
And all the time
Skimming the scum,
And it seems like
This takes forever,
And we've got
985 more gallons of it.
We can't do it 15 gallons
At a time.
We'll never get done.
-well, hell, no.
If we had four
Of five tubs,
Instead of running 15 gallons
At a time,
We could run 50 or 60.
Kelly has got some big livestock
Watering troughs.
We're gonna put our burners
Under them
And cook it down with it.
Oh, yeah!
I just hope it's worth it.
I hope we get a good yield,
A good turnout.
We're just trying to get this
Cooked down
To the sugar content we want.
I'd hate to think we work this
Hard and don't make no money.
The color of it should be not
A real heavy brown
Like the molasses,
But it does have
To start browning up.
Well, hours and hours
And hours later,
We got all
The sorghum squeezings
Boiled down into about
20% sugar content.
Damn.
It's very sweet.
You can tell the sugar content
Is up.
That ought of have plenty of the
Things that the yeast are after.
I'm gonna
Tell you something,
If this don't make some liquor
And some good liquor,
We're just gonna split
Your nut sack
And run your leg
Through it.
No.
J.B., that's when you need
To take up for me.
We got potential
To knock it out,
At least
120 gallons of liquor.
If it sells for as much
As you say it does,
We get any more close to that,
Why, your nuts are safe.
Boy,
I hope it works then.
♪♪
The main most im-damn-portant
Thing is about it,
We're not selling our liquor
In cocke county.
We're selling our liquor
In sevier county.
All I was worried about
Is you know
It'll cause
Much more conflict.
One county over,
Mike and daniel
Face a tough decision
On whether or not to sell
15 gallons of brandy
To a new buyer
From cocke county.
This guy is from cocke county,
But now he's coming over here
To sevier county.
Mark and digger didn't say
Nothing about selling
To somebody that lived
In cocke county.
Look at it
On this principle,
If we don't sell this
To this guy...
Mark and digger
Don't get their money.
They didn't want us coming over
In their county
Without giving them
A cut of money.
Well, that's right.
You know, and that's
*bleep* anyway.
I'll bet you money
That mark and digger
Has got people that drives
From sevier county
And gets their liquor.
-I'm sure they do.
I think if a man is thirsty
And wants some liquor
And he comes to us
To buy it,
We ought to be able to sell it,
And I'm going to.
I'm done
With the feud, baby.
I guess you're right.
Here he comes
Around the bend.
He's real tickled
About the good alcohol.
We're gonna sell him
Some liquor.
-let's get it.
-see what he's done.
Why, yeah.
How you doing, buddy?
Howdy, buddy.
What's happening?
Good, buddy, good.
We got what you're
Looking for...
-I hope you like it.
-...If you like it.
We'll see if you do.
Give us some money,
And we'll get you fixed up.
That looks good to me,
Bubba.
He bought all 15 gallons
From us, and we're gone.
We're out of here.
Yeah, buddy.
If you need anything else,
Holler.
That, right there,
Helped us a bunch,
Didn't it, old buddy?
Yeah, man.
Where it goes after it leaves
Here is out of our hands.
I agree with that much,
But still yet,
It's gonna
Cause conflict.
Well, I'll just bring
Their asses
A roll of paper towels
To sop all those
*bleep* tears up.
♪♪
Good dog.
Good lady.
Come here.
This gps collar we're using
On our hunting dog
Actually tells you
Where your dog was at.
We're gonna take this
And put it in the bottom
Of one
Of the liquor buckets,
And we're gonna try
To catch a thief.
Three counties south,
In north carolina,
Mark and huck are using a bit
Of backwoods ingenuity
To set a trap
For a bootlegger
Whom they think stole
20 gallons of their shine.
How about right there,
You think?
Yeah, it's working.
I think
We'd better try it.
♪♪
-you got her?
-yep.
Lay it to it.
I'll get that cooling tub.
Put the two big ones
In the back
And the two littler ones
In the front.
Suits me.
In the hills of east tennessee,
Mark and digger face a choice --
Either find a way to run
The sorghum mash
Bought by kelly
Or flush 5 grand down the drain.
I locked the gate
When I come through, boys.
Well, good because we don't
Want to get caught
With all this mess.
There's enough stills here
To send a men
To penitentiary for 30 years.
All these stills,
It's about like a legal
Distillery, I guess.
I've never seen so many
In one spot.
We'll have to run
These things twice, boys,
To get all
This damn mash.
We've got all the
Sorghum squeezings boiled down,
And we've got somewhere
Around 600 gallons
Of it to turn into mash,
But it still looks like it
Belongs in a septic tank
Instead of a liquor still.
You better hope
This works, boys.
I'm gonna slap the piss
Out of you if it don't.
J.B., you take my slapping,
Okay?
You know, we got a lot of money
On the line with this stuff.
We got a lot of time
Invested in it already,
So we really got to make
This go.
Get her fired up.
We've got four
Full-blown stills working now.
We've got old j.B.
He's on his own.
Kelly...
It looks pretty impressive.
I think it's a thing of beauty,
But with four stills,
There's four times the chance
Of something to go wrong here
Today than normal,
And the two stills that
Digger and I are using,
They've been in storage.
We haven't used them in a while,
So it's a roll of the dice,
But it always is.
It's the most complicated setup
We've ever had to fiddle with.
It better make some damn
Good whiskey and a side of it.
You know, this has been
An all-day chore,
Getting all these stills
Put together,
All this mash pumped in.
There better be something
Come out good
Or somebody has dug us
Into a deep hole.
It better make some fine liquor,
Or we're gonna end
Up castrating kelly.
I think there's a lot of money
Here for us all to make,
But damn if we ain't earned
Every penny of it.
I got one
Dripping over here.
I've got just a good drip here,
Digger, boy.
Yeah,
That's where I'm at.
Seem like this has took forever.
We finally got the sorghum
Running,
And kelly and j.B.
Have a little bigger stills,
So naturally ours
Is gonna run first.
Boy, it's cloudy though.
It's milky, ain't it?
This is the heads
That are coming out,
And I don't mind them
Being a little cloudy,
But that's a bad start.
It's a bad omen.
Hell, god almighty.
It looks awful, though,
Don't it?
Looks like milk.
It's not a good thing
To make cloudy liquor.
If it's cloudy, that means
Whoever made it don't know
What the hell they're doing.
It ain't just cloudy,
It's got damn grease in it.
I don't know if we done
Something wrong.
J.B. Says we've done it right.
We haven't saw any of kelly
And j.B.'s liquor yet.
That looks like
Buttermilk.
Yeah, it does.
This is a large run.
We've got $5,000 in the squeeze
And 35 hours cooking it down.
This would be
A disastrous fail for us.
Look here, kelly.
This is almost heartbreaking.
I talked these guys into putting
All this money
And all this time and effort
Into this whole deal.
If it's running like this,
What are we gonna do?
I didn't believe
In this damn sorghum.
This is a tremendous loss.
This will cripple us.
$5,000
Down the damn drain.
You know, at this point,
We don't really know
What to think.
It could possibly be a problem
With the mash,
But we don't if kelly and
J.B.'s liquor is cloudy or not.
Mine has finally
Started running.
Ain't it?
You know, my still
Started to run,
And I didn't know
What to expect.
I was almost afraid to look
In the bottom of the pot.
But it's clear!
Well, look at that.
That's pretty.
Your stills had to be dirty.
Hmm.
-damn.
-well...
All season long,
We've been
Using the big stills.
We hadn't run these
In quite a while.
I think it's our stills.
Yep.
The two stills that digger
And I are using,
They've been
In storage a while.
You never know
What you're gonna get
Or what kind of problems
You're gonna have
When you build a fire under them
When they've been
Sitting idle for a while.
Mine has got all kinds
Of crud in it.
The still I'm using,
It's been sitting in storage.
As it gets hotter, it'll pick up
Some of these light
Little sediment
And carry it on over through the
Vapor, you know, into the worm.
It smells like
High-proof liquor.
On the upside, there's nothing
Like 170-proof liquor
To clean something up
And sterilize it.
The liquor, it cleans
Your equipment.
That looks clear.
Digger, lookee here.
Mine is clearing up.
It ain't got
That grease in it.
-well, that's cleared up.
-hell, yeah.
Guess I'm gonna
Throw the heads out,
And we'll see
What she does.
Sorghum whiskey,
Here it comes.
At this point, I'm feeling
Better about it.
It's washed all of the stuff out
Of the condensers eventually,
And it's clear
As a crystal.
J.B., do you think
This is okay?
Yeah, it's all right.
It's damn
Fine-tasting whiskey.
Well, yous had me
Worried sick.
Yeah.
Kelly, he wasn't born
Last night.
He knows what he's doing.
This is a good idea.
Hell of a lot of work,
But I think it's gonna
Pay off for all of us.
And I was back there
Just wanting to be quiet.
I thought, "God,
What I have done?
I've got us all
Into this."
This is on me.
We're looking at two
Runs apiece on each still.
That's enough liquor
To fill up two barrels,
Which is a damn good run
On something
We've never run before.
That's it for me.
That's it.
It's been a long day.
That's a full barrel.
-well, them is 53 apiece.
-that's 106 gallons.
I think
It's an excellent run.
-hell yeah.
-I'll kill the lights.
-turn out the lights.
-party is over.
♪♪
All right.
Here we go.
It's a hell of a tale,
Ain't it?
We're gonna find out
Where he's going
And what's going on.
Just across the state
Line, in north carolina,
The trap is set.
Now mark and huck
Prepare to catch a thief.
Well, that's where
It is, mark.
Right here.
That's good.
We just picked out
A second drop spot for him
That we knew about.
There was a little water house
And an old tree down over
On the right-hand side.
Might never see that,
Will he?
Hopefully, he will.
And that's where we stashed
The four buckets,
The one with the collar
In it, too.
That'll work.
What's going on?
We dropped it off.
All right.
It ain't moved yet.
Yeah, he'll take it.
It's moved.
Yep, it's moving.
He's got it.
Straight left.
We're getting closer.
He's 1/2 mile
Ahead of us.
Turn right.
-right right here?
-yeah.
Just keep going straight.
We is a 1/4
Of a mile of him.
150 yards,
Turn due right.
That's good.
Right there he is.
Right there.
That old barn.
Well, well, well.
Eight buckets.
Found her, didn't we?
Boy, what do you think
You're doing?
No, it ain't no
Misunderstanding.
You done stole...
♪♪
Here.
Hold my spit cup for me.
I don't want to hold
Your *bleep* cup, man.
Can't *bleep* say nothing to you
Without you popping off.
-nobody is popping off.
-yeah, you are.
I'm not one of them
Little people
That's scared of you,
Mike.
I'm not scared of your ass,
Neither, buddy.
Well, that's good.
I won't have to chase you.
You damn right you won't
Have to chase me.
I'll draw this *bleep*
Over for you.
Okay, buddy.
I don't care.
Get pissed off
Over a...Coffee cup.
-"I don't want to hold that!"
-I don't.
We like to aggravate each other.
It's good to get a little heated
Every once in a while.
It makes things live up
A little.
Oh.
Cocke county heavies
Mark and digger
Have cranked out
726 gallons of shine.
Mark and huck are up
To 365 gallons,
And upstarts mike and daniel
Have amassed 315 gallons
Of shine
Despite paying out
A quarter of their profits
To rivals mark and digger.
♪♪
Well, well, well.
Eight buckets.
Found her, didn't we?
Boy, what do you think
You're doing?
No, it ain't
No misunderstanding.
No, you done stole...
Yep. They'd have never
Seen you again.
You stole from us.
Yeah, exactly.
It's there.
You said it wasn't where it's
Supposed to be, but there it is.
No, that ain't.
That ain't.
That ain't no good
Right there.
Take every bit of it.
No.
We can't trust you.
I'll watch him.
Don't you ever sell another
Quart of liquor in this county.
No. Phew.
♪♪
♪♪
-they wouldn't tell us.
-no.
I can't help where people is
From that wants our liquor.
In eastern tennessee,
Mike and daniel
Are headed into cocke county
To make the second payment
Towards settling a debt
With their cross-county rivals.
I don't live 5 minutes
From the cocke county line,
And they like
To drink my liquor,
So I decided
It wouldn't be a problem
If I sold them my liquor.
I wasn't stealing
Nobody's customers.
They've tread on
Dangerous ground with their sale
To a buyer from mark
And digger's neck of the woods.
I'm 100% with you,
But you know what I'm saying.
Yeah.
I just don't want
No more *bleep*
I want this stuff to be
Ended and over with.
Me too, and there shouldn't be
No problems as long as
We give them their money on time
Like we told them we'd do.
Right.
-is that them coming?
-here they come.
It's raining.
You want to go ahead
And try and get that?
Mike and daniel, it's been
A couple weeks
Since they made a payment.
-what's going on, men?
-howdy, guys.
-how are you, fellas?
-hello, fellas.
-how you doing, mark?
-hey, man.
Pull my hood up.
Bad timing to meet,
I know, but...
Boys, how much money
You got for us today?
We got you...
It's just $3,000 right here
Today we're gonna hand y'all.
-*bleep*
-that's a hell of a lick.
We been running around the clock
To get this done,
And $3,000 for you.
I hate to count money
In front of somebody,
But it ain't that
We don't trust y'all.
We don't trust nobody.
They pull out an envelope,
And they say
There's $3,000 there,
And sure enough, I count it,
And they've got $3,000.
That's outstanding.
That's working hard,
Boys.
We're doing everything we said
We'll do to get you guys
Paid off and get this
All behind us, you know.
I only got one question.
♪♪
You boys knowed it was raining,
Why didn't none of yous
Bring a raincoat?
By god,
It's bad, ain't it?
I don't know whether
They're selling turnips
Or they're selling liquor,
But they paid us,
And that's all that matters.
-we're gonna get out of here.
Boys, get out there
And get to work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
-digger.
-we could be done,
But we probably gonna go
Drink a couple beers.
Yep, I heard that.
We'll see you, buddy.
-just give us a holler.
-I'll give you a holler.
We'll meet you right back down
This little hole.
All right.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Hey, what's going on,
Tim?
...Reunited but still
Divided in virginia.
I'm thinking I'd get
You closer up here,
And we can work on
Something.
-can I help in any way?
-let's see.
Yeah, I'm gonna build me
A crow's nest.
If we hear something,
We can see what's coming up.
Building up
To a bird's-eye view
In north carolina...
Do you hear that?
Somebody's over there
Shooting at something.
It ain't hunting
Season, though.
Yeah, we've got a leak.
...And a less than
Peachy run in franklin county.
We lose mash, we lose whiskey.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
On this episode
Of "Moonshiners"...
It's the most complicated setup
We've ever had to fiddle with.
Better hope this works, boys.
I'm gonna slap the piss
Out of you if it don't.
In the smoky mountains,
An unexpected delivery sparks
A trial by fire.
God almighty.
What are we gonna do?
I ain't believe
In this damn *bleep*
This will cripple us.
You know damn well
That's gonna stir up
Another hornet's nest.
In tennessee, a turf war
Threatens to reignite.
I only got one question.
That's the buyer.
And in north carolina,
Burned by a thief,
Two shiners take back what's
Justice into their own hands.
-it's moved.
-yes, it is.
Well, well, well.
This is how
We make the moonshine!
Captions paid for by
Discovery communications
What the hell is kenny
Wanting us come up here
And meet him for?
Did he tell you
Anything about it?
No.
I hope it ain't
He's telling us
He's turning in his notice.
That would be
No bueno.
In the backwoods
Of cocke county, tennessee,
Mark and digger are checking in
With kelly and j.B.,
Two veteran shiners they hired
To handle runs of corn whiskey.
Get in here and see
What them rascals has got.
They might have got drunk.
We recruited kelly and j.B.
To run our corn maker
This whole year,
And they've done well at it.
Look who's coming here.
-howdy, old farts.
-rader.
Your eyes is looking
A little glassy there, buddy.
You been in a damn
Liquor jar somewhere?
Maybe.
Is these full of liquor?
-hell yeah.
-they are.
That's 40 gallons
Of liquor.
Ah.
J.B. And kelly,
They've put in a hard,
Hard season at this point.
They've made a lot
Of corn liquor for us.
You did good.
This is outstanding.
That will last us well
Through the winter
And maybe into spring
A little bit.
I couldn't be happier.
I'm gonna just tell them,
You know, "Take you a week off,
J.B., and go out
And go squirrel hunting."
We ain't got
No mash working.
If you ain't got no mash
Working, take you a week off.
But we got
A good idea, though.
I got something
I wants you to try,
A little side project
That I worked on.
I got j.B. Sold on it.
He's tried it.
Yep.
Taste that and see
How you feel about it.
My god, buddy,
That's good liquor.
That's what
We like to hear.
That's damn fine liquor.
It smells a little bit
Like brown sugar.
Well, what is it?
That's what I was fixing
To ask you.
-sorghum.
-sorghum? Hmm.
-that's sorghum?
-yeah.
Looks like a cat turd floating
Around in there, ain't it?
I've never done anything
With sorghum.
It's all damn german to me.
I don't know anything about it.
Sorghum, it's only
One time a year
That you can even get it.
In the south,
Sorghum has been grown
For generations.
The crop is commonly used
As feed for livestock,
But when processed
Into a molasses-like sweetener,
It fetches a much higher price,
And like any fermentable sugar,
The sweet juice can be
Turned into moonshine.
They had to run it.
As quick as they cut the cane
And run the juice,
They've got to run it
In three or four days.
They ain't got no shelf life.
-nope.
So you can't get the cane
To do it with
But just about three weeks
Out of the year.
Out of the year.
You know, mark and myself
Run molasses before,
But sorghum, it's expensive.
It took $80 of sorghum
To make that quart.
It took a little bit.
This sorghum juice, it has about
10% or 11% sugar in it,
So you start cooking it down,
And if we can get it to
About a 20% to 25% sugar,
Hopefully digger can come up
With a yeast
That will handle that,
And we can make
Some really good stuff.
Sorghum liquor,
What's it sell for?
Is there such a thing
On the market?
I mean...
If you can find this,
It's $60 a quart --
A quart,
Not a gallon.
That's $240 a gallon.
I'm not the brightest
Bulb on the tree,
But I can add and subtract.
It appears there's
A good opportunity
For a substantial amount
Of money to be made here.
All right.
Get us some juice.
-get us some juice.
-how much do you want?
Hell,
Get all you can get.
We can cook it down
To where the...
-20% to 30%, yeah.
-...Sugar content is enough.
-if we can hit 20%...
-sugar.
...Yeah, sugar content,
Anything,
It'll make a damn fine mash.
All right.
Get all you can get.
Well, I'll call them as quick
As we get out of the woods.
Let's get this out of here,
And then we'll go from there.
J.B., we'll get this.
You just sit there and stay
Out of that jar.
-I got the jar.
-all right, then.
Mission accomplished.
♪♪
Well, I can't remember
Exactly how much it was
We still yet owe, but...
We're getting there
To get them boys paid off.
We're getting real close.
Across the county line,
Mike and daniel
Built a 100-gallon still
To speed up their debt
Payments to mark and digger
And hit pay dirt with a run
Of clear apple pie brandy.
This apple pie is gonna
Blow everybody's mind.
Now with their next
Sale lined up
And their second debt payment
Due, mike and daniel must decide
How big a cut
To give their rivals.
I initially agreed
To give mark and digger
Half of all my profits,
And I know that I may not be
Giving them straight-up
Half of my profits
Off of the big still,
But I'm giving them
A whole lot more than half
Than I was making
On the little still.
You know, daniel, now that
We got that bigger still,
We can put, you know,
All that extra money
Back in our pocket.
But still yet, man,
You know as well as I do
They're gonna whine
And cry.
Well, they can whine
And damn cry all they want to.
I'm doing everything I can
To get them boys paid off,
So we'll get up here and see
How much this fellow wants.
The clear apple pie is
The number-one seller this year,
And daniel has got some buddies
That are real damn interested
In this apple pie brandy.
And I told him
$200 a gallon.
Well, hell.
That's how I like that.
My friend,
He's talking about
Throwing a pretty
Good-sized party,
So he'll probably need
Plenty of spirits.
I'm gonna have to put
This son of a bitch
In four-wheel drive if
I'm gonna get back in there.
I think you are.
Right back in there
Is where he's wanting us
To meet him at,
And I promise you,
We won't be able to miss him.
Crack the windows.
-put that window down.
♪♪
Damn.
I don't know if you call him
A natural-born idiot or...
-they crazy, ain't he?
-...Just a bunch of good timers.
Phew.
What's up, man?
What up, scotty?
You can't hide that,
Can you, brother?
Yeah,
If you're good and loud,
You're not hiding anything,
Are you, buddy?
This dude is coming
In a rock bouncer,
Something I've never seen
Except for on tv,
And these are some
High-powered machines.
You like that?
Let him get
A horn of it.
We don't add no kind of
Flavoring or nothing to ours.
It's all natural.
That just comes
Through the worm.
You know, them big corporate
Distilleries,
They put the flavor
In it.
That, we run it right through
The worm, that flavor.
All right.
I've got to get rid of more
Than 2 gallons of it.
I mean, you ain't got
To take all of it.
A box would be three.
A box would be three.
And it'd be easier on you
To haul and not bust.
Yeah?
We don't have to separate jars,
You know?
Three gallons?
That'll be good.
This is a good sale for us.
I mean, hell, $600 is a lot
Better than nothing,
And after this party
And people taste
This clear
Apple pie moonshine,
I hope there'll be
Some more of them
Wanting the rest of what
We've got, which is good.
I mean, it's good for business.
See you, guys.
Boy, I like the hell
Out of that thing, daniel.
♪♪
♪♪
Got big, old bubbles,
Ain't it?
Mm-hmm.
Just over the state
Line in graham county,
North carolina, mark and huck
Are proofing down a batch
Of shine for a customer
Who's paid up
For a 20-gallon drop.
The alcohol content in a run
Of shine
Typically starts high and drops
As the run continues.
That's a little better,
Ain't it?
By catching the shine
In small jars,
Mark can blend
Several runs together
For a uniform taste
And proof.
And lastly, it goes in the
5-gallon buckets for sale.
20 more gallons.
We been selling to a bootlegger
For a couple weeks now,
And everything has been
Going pretty good.
20 gallon every week or so,
That's a lot of liquor.
Yeah.
To avoid getting caught
For making the sale in person,
Mark and huck are using a method
Called a dead drop
Where the liquor is hidden
In a secret location
For the buyer
To pick up at a later time.
I'm getting nervous,
Don't you?
Uneasy.
Yeah, bootlegging is
The worst part of it.
I'd rather work
Around the stills.
Time for them
Old stumps.
Yeah, we got it.
What this, right here,
Set us back?
In tennessee,
A rogue employee
Wagers the season
On a risky recipe.
Easy now.
You said, "Go get
All you can get."
♪♪
We're making pretty good money,
Though, so far.
Oh, yeah.
Get us a little hunting money
Saved up.
In the hills of
Robbinsville, north carolina,
After dropping 20 gallons
Of shine at a secret spot,
Mark and huck are waiting
For word their buyer
Has picked up the stash.
Yeah, we might get back
And might shut applejack in.
What do you think of that?
Hmm.
That's the buyer.
What's going on?
Right behind them old
Wide-oak logs, it's not there?
You sure you're at
The right place?
We'll get back with you here
Just in a little bit.
All right.
They have to see you.
Something just ain't right
About this.
I've got an idea.
Go and get another drop point
And drop 20 more gallons.
Let's just set him up
And see what's going on.
You want to?
Somebody has got our liquor,
And we got to get to the bottom
Of it one way or another,
So we'll just set him up
And see.
But if you get liquor stole
From one of your drop spots,
That's the end of that site
Right there.
You don't ever want
To use it again.
We want to let him have
Any more liquor,
I'm gonna pick him
A drop spot this time.
Well, it's gone.
Well,
I'll tell you what.
We'll drop it
In a different place.
How's that?
Do you remember where that
Old, abandoned hydro house
Is out there?
-yep.
Right behind it,
There's an old log
And old brush pile.
We'll put 20 gallons
Right there.
We'll have it there,
And we'll get up with you
When we get it stashed.
Something is wrong,
Bad wrong.
I hate to accuse anybody
Of anything not knowing 100%,
But it just kind of something
A little bit shady about him.
Ain't no way anybody else
Could have seen us
Put that there.
♪♪
I'm headed out to pick up
This sorghum juice.
Mark and digger, they've
Given me a green light
To do something
A little different.
North of the state
Line in tennessee,
Mark and digger
Have deputized kelly
To purchase in-season
Sorghum juice
For a run of specialty shine.
Mark said,
"Buy all you can get,"
So 1,000 gallons, 5 grand.
This is just the sorghum juice.
Now we're gonna have to
Cook it all down and everything,
And it's got a shelf life
Of about three days,
So we've got to act
On this stuff pretty quick.
♪♪
I mean, sorghum,
It's just sugar water
That just ain't been
Cooked down.
Kelly has called.
He's on his way back from
Picking up the sorghum juice,
That sorghum cane juice,
And he wants to meet
At a barn out here
On the side of the road,
Down the road from his house.
Yeah.
Hell, that might work out good
For all of us.
We'll see. I mean, what's
The worst that can happen?
Yep.
Kelly has convinced us
To try sorghum,
So, you know,
We're gonna roll with it.
Well, here he comes.
Ain't nothing in the back
Of his truck.
What in the world?
Hmm.
Damn, son.
How much of it you got?
A thousand.
Beside the fact that we ain't
Never made no sorghum liquor,
What this, right here,
Set us back?
What'd you have
To swap for that?
I swapped...
Easy now...
$5,000.
That's your boy.
We went from what we thought
Was gonna be
A couple of barrels
Of sorghum juice
To getting 1,000 gallons
Of sorghum juice.
How long is the shelf life
On this stuff?
About three days.
Three days?!
What we gonna do
With that?
Four of us can't carry all this
*bleep* back in the woods.
Really, I'm just
At a loss here.
I figured 100, 150 gallons
At the most.
You said, "Go get
All you can get."
No, no.
We didn't have a conversation
About making this much.
Not only has kelly
Invested 5,000
Of our favorite dollars
In some syrup,
We're obligated
To make liquor out of it,
And it's got
A shorter shelf life.
Nothing ain't gonna
Happen to it.
We're gonna get it in
And cook it down
And make liquor
Out of it.
Why can't we just put it
In the pots like it is?
Probably throw
Some yeast in it.
It won't run
Through your still.
It'll blow your still up.
Got the cook the enzymes
Out of this.
When you start heating this
In the still,
You'll get
That old green foam
And all them enzymes
And all that stuff.
-it'd stop it up.
-yeah.
-digger.
-I got nothing.
I don't know what kelly
Was thinking,
But obviously, he wasn't.
We've got stills that
Are out in the sticks.
We take our ingredients
To the still.
You know, 50 pounds of sugar,
You can make a few trips
And get that in there.
300-gallon tote,
You can't just take out
In the woods,
And if we don't get this
Working in the mash
To get it converting,
Then we're gonna lose $5,000.
Stills are gonna have
To come this.
This ain't gonna go
To the stills.
-we're going to your barn.
-all right!
We're onboard then.
It's kind of like pulling out
In front of a damn truck.
You're obligated,
Either that or dead.
♪♪
Well, you know,
It's always best
To be
A little bit cautious.
We'll feel him out.
I'm not gonna sell to just
Anybody in the world
If I don't trust them.
Trust is earned,
Isn't it?
It's earned.
That's right.
Just across the county line,
Mike and daniel have a lead
On a potential new buyer
Who tasted their shine
At a party
And wants to get
Some of his own.
Me and daniel,
We're on our way
To meet a new potential buyer.
We ain't gonna carry
Anything with us today.
We just gonna go up
And meet him
And feel him out a little bit.
There he is, ain't it?
You must be jamie.
How you doing, buddy?
All right, man.
A buddy of mine told me
You wanted to meet up with me
And talk with me,
So what can I do for you?
Well, our new one
Is our clear apple pie.
Hell, no.
I ain't got no samples
Right now.
I don't know
Who you are, brother.
You know, what part
Of the country you from?
Upper end of cosby?
That's cocke county.
That's cocke county.
Cocke county.
Cocke county, boy.
I heard that.
He mentions
He's from cocke county.
That sort of puts a...
Throws a red flag
Up to me and daniel.
So me and mark and digger,
We're in neighboring counties.
They're cocke county,
And I'm sevier county.
I would prefer that he be from,
Say, sevier county
Or maybe possibly somewhere else
Other than cocke county.
It could, you know,
Play into effect
And be a little bit of problem
With mark and digger.
How much liquor are you
Looking to get?
Well, I tell you what.
I'll give you a call
Just as quick
As we get
That stuff run off,
And I'll let you know
About that.
-okay. Good.
-how's that sound to you?
He wants 15 gallons
Of good alcohol,
But he's from cocke county.
You know damn well
That's gonna stir up
Another hornet's nest.
Mark and digger, they got
A little bit twisted for me
Selling to people
In cocke county.
If you had been raised
Up in the world we was in,
You respected people
That made liquor,
You wouldn't be stepping
In another county.
I don't -- I'm not trying
To step on nobody's toes.
I can show you 30
Or 40 tombstones up here
That ought to be chiseled
With the words,
"I was warned."
But this is my county,
Not theirs.
If there's a man coming
From cocke county
To sevier county
To get liquor...
That means that they like
Our liquor better, don't it?
Obviously.
If we don't sell this
To this guy...
Mark and digger
Don't get their money.
But still yet, man,
You know as well as I do,
They're going
To whine and cry.
Well, I'm not trying
To cause a conflict.
I'm caught between a rock
And a hard place.
I want to show these boys
That I can get them paid off,
That I'm a man of my word,
But I don't want to do anything
To keep this feud going.
I don't know what
We're gonna do.
In north carolina...
...If you steal shine
From a mountain man,
You'd better be good
At covering your tracks.
Well, well, well.
Oh *bleep*
You said,
"Get all I could get."
Yeah, but damn.
I wouldn't have thought there
Was that much sorghum
In tennessee.
In cocke county, tennessee,
With the help of kelly
And j.B., mark and digger
Are scrambling to get 1,000
Gallons of sorghum juice
Mashed in before it spoils.
Yeah, mark and digger
Were a little bit taken back,
But the plan looks like
We're gonna take this
And just drop everything else
We're doing
Right now
To make this work.
How does this *bleep* work?
Oh, I see.
I got...
Me and digger, we've never
Run liquor like this before.
That's what j.B. Is here for.
He says actually that he made
Sorghum molasses in high school.
It was a school project.
We just start with 15 gallons
In a little old pot.
What's it gonna do here, j.B.?
We got to cook it
Until it gets rid of the foam.
Then you just keep that...
Well, look at it over here
Sizzling like mash.
I'll be damned.
Starting with sorghum juice
And making a mash out of it,
This is virgin territory for us.
That's green foam.
Plumb
Yellow looking, ain't it?
Taste that sludge.
Ho, god!
Tastes like cow *bleep*
This juice, it isn't
Very attractive.
It's kind of a
Pea-soup-green-looking color.
You have to stir it very slowly,
Constantly
And all the time
Skimming the scum,
And it seems like
This takes forever,
And we've got
985 more gallons of it.
We can't do it 15 gallons
At a time.
We'll never get done.
-well, hell, no.
If we had four
Of five tubs,
Instead of running 15 gallons
At a time,
We could run 50 or 60.
Kelly has got some big livestock
Watering troughs.
We're gonna put our burners
Under them
And cook it down with it.
Oh, yeah!
I just hope it's worth it.
I hope we get a good yield,
A good turnout.
We're just trying to get this
Cooked down
To the sugar content we want.
I'd hate to think we work this
Hard and don't make no money.
The color of it should be not
A real heavy brown
Like the molasses,
But it does have
To start browning up.
Well, hours and hours
And hours later,
We got all
The sorghum squeezings
Boiled down into about
20% sugar content.
Damn.
It's very sweet.
You can tell the sugar content
Is up.
That ought of have plenty of the
Things that the yeast are after.
I'm gonna
Tell you something,
If this don't make some liquor
And some good liquor,
We're just gonna split
Your nut sack
And run your leg
Through it.
No.
J.B., that's when you need
To take up for me.
We got potential
To knock it out,
At least
120 gallons of liquor.
If it sells for as much
As you say it does,
We get any more close to that,
Why, your nuts are safe.
Boy,
I hope it works then.
♪♪
The main most im-damn-portant
Thing is about it,
We're not selling our liquor
In cocke county.
We're selling our liquor
In sevier county.
All I was worried about
Is you know
It'll cause
Much more conflict.
One county over,
Mike and daniel
Face a tough decision
On whether or not to sell
15 gallons of brandy
To a new buyer
From cocke county.
This guy is from cocke county,
But now he's coming over here
To sevier county.
Mark and digger didn't say
Nothing about selling
To somebody that lived
In cocke county.
Look at it
On this principle,
If we don't sell this
To this guy...
Mark and digger
Don't get their money.
They didn't want us coming over
In their county
Without giving them
A cut of money.
Well, that's right.
You know, and that's
*bleep* anyway.
I'll bet you money
That mark and digger
Has got people that drives
From sevier county
And gets their liquor.
-I'm sure they do.
I think if a man is thirsty
And wants some liquor
And he comes to us
To buy it,
We ought to be able to sell it,
And I'm going to.
I'm done
With the feud, baby.
I guess you're right.
Here he comes
Around the bend.
He's real tickled
About the good alcohol.
We're gonna sell him
Some liquor.
-let's get it.
-see what he's done.
Why, yeah.
How you doing, buddy?
Howdy, buddy.
What's happening?
Good, buddy, good.
We got what you're
Looking for...
-I hope you like it.
-...If you like it.
We'll see if you do.
Give us some money,
And we'll get you fixed up.
That looks good to me,
Bubba.
He bought all 15 gallons
From us, and we're gone.
We're out of here.
Yeah, buddy.
If you need anything else,
Holler.
That, right there,
Helped us a bunch,
Didn't it, old buddy?
Yeah, man.
Where it goes after it leaves
Here is out of our hands.
I agree with that much,
But still yet,
It's gonna
Cause conflict.
Well, I'll just bring
Their asses
A roll of paper towels
To sop all those
*bleep* tears up.
♪♪
Good dog.
Good lady.
Come here.
This gps collar we're using
On our hunting dog
Actually tells you
Where your dog was at.
We're gonna take this
And put it in the bottom
Of one
Of the liquor buckets,
And we're gonna try
To catch a thief.
Three counties south,
In north carolina,
Mark and huck are using a bit
Of backwoods ingenuity
To set a trap
For a bootlegger
Whom they think stole
20 gallons of their shine.
How about right there,
You think?
Yeah, it's working.
I think
We'd better try it.
♪♪
-you got her?
-yep.
Lay it to it.
I'll get that cooling tub.
Put the two big ones
In the back
And the two littler ones
In the front.
Suits me.
In the hills of east tennessee,
Mark and digger face a choice --
Either find a way to run
The sorghum mash
Bought by kelly
Or flush 5 grand down the drain.
I locked the gate
When I come through, boys.
Well, good because we don't
Want to get caught
With all this mess.
There's enough stills here
To send a men
To penitentiary for 30 years.
All these stills,
It's about like a legal
Distillery, I guess.
I've never seen so many
In one spot.
We'll have to run
These things twice, boys,
To get all
This damn mash.
We've got all the
Sorghum squeezings boiled down,
And we've got somewhere
Around 600 gallons
Of it to turn into mash,
But it still looks like it
Belongs in a septic tank
Instead of a liquor still.
You better hope
This works, boys.
I'm gonna slap the piss
Out of you if it don't.
J.B., you take my slapping,
Okay?
You know, we got a lot of money
On the line with this stuff.
We got a lot of time
Invested in it already,
So we really got to make
This go.
Get her fired up.
We've got four
Full-blown stills working now.
We've got old j.B.
He's on his own.
Kelly...
It looks pretty impressive.
I think it's a thing of beauty,
But with four stills,
There's four times the chance
Of something to go wrong here
Today than normal,
And the two stills that
Digger and I are using,
They've been in storage.
We haven't used them in a while,
So it's a roll of the dice,
But it always is.
It's the most complicated setup
We've ever had to fiddle with.
It better make some damn
Good whiskey and a side of it.
You know, this has been
An all-day chore,
Getting all these stills
Put together,
All this mash pumped in.
There better be something
Come out good
Or somebody has dug us
Into a deep hole.
It better make some fine liquor,
Or we're gonna end
Up castrating kelly.
I think there's a lot of money
Here for us all to make,
But damn if we ain't earned
Every penny of it.
I got one
Dripping over here.
I've got just a good drip here,
Digger, boy.
Yeah,
That's where I'm at.
Seem like this has took forever.
We finally got the sorghum
Running,
And kelly and j.B.
Have a little bigger stills,
So naturally ours
Is gonna run first.
Boy, it's cloudy though.
It's milky, ain't it?
This is the heads
That are coming out,
And I don't mind them
Being a little cloudy,
But that's a bad start.
It's a bad omen.
Hell, god almighty.
It looks awful, though,
Don't it?
Looks like milk.
It's not a good thing
To make cloudy liquor.
If it's cloudy, that means
Whoever made it don't know
What the hell they're doing.
It ain't just cloudy,
It's got damn grease in it.
I don't know if we done
Something wrong.
J.B. Says we've done it right.
We haven't saw any of kelly
And j.B.'s liquor yet.
That looks like
Buttermilk.
Yeah, it does.
This is a large run.
We've got $5,000 in the squeeze
And 35 hours cooking it down.
This would be
A disastrous fail for us.
Look here, kelly.
This is almost heartbreaking.
I talked these guys into putting
All this money
And all this time and effort
Into this whole deal.
If it's running like this,
What are we gonna do?
I didn't believe
In this damn sorghum.
This is a tremendous loss.
This will cripple us.
$5,000
Down the damn drain.
You know, at this point,
We don't really know
What to think.
It could possibly be a problem
With the mash,
But we don't if kelly and
J.B.'s liquor is cloudy or not.
Mine has finally
Started running.
Ain't it?
You know, my still
Started to run,
And I didn't know
What to expect.
I was almost afraid to look
In the bottom of the pot.
But it's clear!
Well, look at that.
That's pretty.
Your stills had to be dirty.
Hmm.
-damn.
-well...
All season long,
We've been
Using the big stills.
We hadn't run these
In quite a while.
I think it's our stills.
Yep.
The two stills that digger
And I are using,
They've been
In storage a while.
You never know
What you're gonna get
Or what kind of problems
You're gonna have
When you build a fire under them
When they've been
Sitting idle for a while.
Mine has got all kinds
Of crud in it.
The still I'm using,
It's been sitting in storage.
As it gets hotter, it'll pick up
Some of these light
Little sediment
And carry it on over through the
Vapor, you know, into the worm.
It smells like
High-proof liquor.
On the upside, there's nothing
Like 170-proof liquor
To clean something up
And sterilize it.
The liquor, it cleans
Your equipment.
That looks clear.
Digger, lookee here.
Mine is clearing up.
It ain't got
That grease in it.
-well, that's cleared up.
-hell, yeah.
Guess I'm gonna
Throw the heads out,
And we'll see
What she does.
Sorghum whiskey,
Here it comes.
At this point, I'm feeling
Better about it.
It's washed all of the stuff out
Of the condensers eventually,
And it's clear
As a crystal.
J.B., do you think
This is okay?
Yeah, it's all right.
It's damn
Fine-tasting whiskey.
Well, yous had me
Worried sick.
Yeah.
Kelly, he wasn't born
Last night.
He knows what he's doing.
This is a good idea.
Hell of a lot of work,
But I think it's gonna
Pay off for all of us.
And I was back there
Just wanting to be quiet.
I thought, "God,
What I have done?
I've got us all
Into this."
This is on me.
We're looking at two
Runs apiece on each still.
That's enough liquor
To fill up two barrels,
Which is a damn good run
On something
We've never run before.
That's it for me.
That's it.
It's been a long day.
That's a full barrel.
-well, them is 53 apiece.
-that's 106 gallons.
I think
It's an excellent run.
-hell yeah.
-I'll kill the lights.
-turn out the lights.
-party is over.
♪♪
All right.
Here we go.
It's a hell of a tale,
Ain't it?
We're gonna find out
Where he's going
And what's going on.
Just across the state
Line, in north carolina,
The trap is set.
Now mark and huck
Prepare to catch a thief.
Well, that's where
It is, mark.
Right here.
That's good.
We just picked out
A second drop spot for him
That we knew about.
There was a little water house
And an old tree down over
On the right-hand side.
Might never see that,
Will he?
Hopefully, he will.
And that's where we stashed
The four buckets,
The one with the collar
In it, too.
That'll work.
What's going on?
We dropped it off.
All right.
It ain't moved yet.
Yeah, he'll take it.
It's moved.
Yep, it's moving.
He's got it.
Straight left.
We're getting closer.
He's 1/2 mile
Ahead of us.
Turn right.
-right right here?
-yeah.
Just keep going straight.
We is a 1/4
Of a mile of him.
150 yards,
Turn due right.
That's good.
Right there he is.
Right there.
That old barn.
Well, well, well.
Eight buckets.
Found her, didn't we?
Boy, what do you think
You're doing?
No, it ain't no
Misunderstanding.
You done stole...
♪♪
Here.
Hold my spit cup for me.
I don't want to hold
Your *bleep* cup, man.
Can't *bleep* say nothing to you
Without you popping off.
-nobody is popping off.
-yeah, you are.
I'm not one of them
Little people
That's scared of you,
Mike.
I'm not scared of your ass,
Neither, buddy.
Well, that's good.
I won't have to chase you.
You damn right you won't
Have to chase me.
I'll draw this *bleep*
Over for you.
Okay, buddy.
I don't care.
Get pissed off
Over a...Coffee cup.
-"I don't want to hold that!"
-I don't.
We like to aggravate each other.
It's good to get a little heated
Every once in a while.
It makes things live up
A little.
Oh.
Cocke county heavies
Mark and digger
Have cranked out
726 gallons of shine.
Mark and huck are up
To 365 gallons,
And upstarts mike and daniel
Have amassed 315 gallons
Of shine
Despite paying out
A quarter of their profits
To rivals mark and digger.
♪♪
Well, well, well.
Eight buckets.
Found her, didn't we?
Boy, what do you think
You're doing?
No, it ain't
No misunderstanding.
No, you done stole...
Yep. They'd have never
Seen you again.
You stole from us.
Yeah, exactly.
It's there.
You said it wasn't where it's
Supposed to be, but there it is.
No, that ain't.
That ain't.
That ain't no good
Right there.
Take every bit of it.
No.
We can't trust you.
I'll watch him.
Don't you ever sell another
Quart of liquor in this county.
No. Phew.
♪♪
♪♪
-they wouldn't tell us.
-no.
I can't help where people is
From that wants our liquor.
In eastern tennessee,
Mike and daniel
Are headed into cocke county
To make the second payment
Towards settling a debt
With their cross-county rivals.
I don't live 5 minutes
From the cocke county line,
And they like
To drink my liquor,
So I decided
It wouldn't be a problem
If I sold them my liquor.
I wasn't stealing
Nobody's customers.
They've tread on
Dangerous ground with their sale
To a buyer from mark
And digger's neck of the woods.
I'm 100% with you,
But you know what I'm saying.
Yeah.
I just don't want
No more *bleep*
I want this stuff to be
Ended and over with.
Me too, and there shouldn't be
No problems as long as
We give them their money on time
Like we told them we'd do.
Right.
-is that them coming?
-here they come.
It's raining.
You want to go ahead
And try and get that?
Mike and daniel, it's been
A couple weeks
Since they made a payment.
-what's going on, men?
-howdy, guys.
-how are you, fellas?
-hello, fellas.
-how you doing, mark?
-hey, man.
Pull my hood up.
Bad timing to meet,
I know, but...
Boys, how much money
You got for us today?
We got you...
It's just $3,000 right here
Today we're gonna hand y'all.
-*bleep*
-that's a hell of a lick.
We been running around the clock
To get this done,
And $3,000 for you.
I hate to count money
In front of somebody,
But it ain't that
We don't trust y'all.
We don't trust nobody.
They pull out an envelope,
And they say
There's $3,000 there,
And sure enough, I count it,
And they've got $3,000.
That's outstanding.
That's working hard,
Boys.
We're doing everything we said
We'll do to get you guys
Paid off and get this
All behind us, you know.
I only got one question.
♪♪
You boys knowed it was raining,
Why didn't none of yous
Bring a raincoat?
By god,
It's bad, ain't it?
I don't know whether
They're selling turnips
Or they're selling liquor,
But they paid us,
And that's all that matters.
-we're gonna get out of here.
Boys, get out there
And get to work.
Thank you.
Thank you.
-digger.
-we could be done,
But we probably gonna go
Drink a couple beers.
Yep, I heard that.
We'll see you, buddy.
-just give us a holler.
-I'll give you a holler.
We'll meet you right back down
This little hole.
All right.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
Hey, what's going on,
Tim?
...Reunited but still
Divided in virginia.
I'm thinking I'd get
You closer up here,
And we can work on
Something.
-can I help in any way?
-let's see.
Yeah, I'm gonna build me
A crow's nest.
If we hear something,
We can see what's coming up.
Building up
To a bird's-eye view
In north carolina...
Do you hear that?
Somebody's over there
Shooting at something.
It ain't hunting
Season, though.
Yeah, we've got a leak.
...And a less than
Peachy run in franklin county.
We lose mash, we lose whiskey.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.