Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 8, Episode 8 - Moonshiner's Apprentice - full transcript

♪♪

On this episode of
"Moonshiners"...

This is a heating element.
No fire, no propane.

...In north carolina,
Josh's mobile-still masterpiece

Is ready to hit the road.

Looks frickin' perfect.

Start making some money.

-it's looking good.
-just got ready.

So what is
The problem, though?

In virginia, it's boom or bust

For tim's big bet
Against mother nature...



It's just stuck.
It's not good.

It acts like something's broke.

...And one carolina moonshiner

Uses an ex-lawman's advice

To help sell thousands
In illegal liquor.

This is how
We make the moonshine!

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

I got to get
The shop cleaned up.

I got sid on the way.

In the foothills of
The smoky mountains,

After losing access
To his still site,

Josh is rebuilding his moonshine
Operation from the ground up.

I got a race-car trailer,

And we're gonna put a still
Right in the very front of it.



I'm gonna have
A mobile still site.

I'm gonna be able to
Make liquor

And sell liquor
At any biker rally

And take my operation
Anywhere I want to go.

This still's gonna be made
Out of stainless steel.

Copper is just
Way more expensive.

And anytime I need
Stainless welding done,

There's no better man
For the job other than sid.

Lord, have mercy.
This place is hard to find, boy.

What are you doing, buddy?
What's happening?

Sid's one of my good buddies,

And he's a master welder.

There's nothing
He can't do with metal.

I want to put
A still in here,

Insulate all this,
And put a wall in here.

I'm not exactly sure
How to do it yet.

You want to make it to where
You can actually have it

In here all the time?

And never take it out.Don't take it out?

This is a custom job,
Never been done before.

Sid's gonna help me
Figure it out.

I feel comfortable with sid
Knowing what's up.

I can trust him.

He's not gonna tell anybody
What he's doing.

We are right at 4/5.

I'm good with it right there.
Let's mark it.

I know josh comes up
With some wild ideas.

I feel like
I'm a good influence on him,

Try to put a little structure
And maybe a dab of discipline,

But that's not
The easiest task.

We're gonna have the pot
Come out an angle.

All of this is gonna
Be sitting on legs.

We need to put a thermometer
Somewhere in here.

Let's weld this thing.

Sid's brought sheets
Of stainless steel from his shop

To cut and weld
For this custom still.

-ready?
-yep.

Steel costs
Half as much as copper

And heats 10 times slower,

Which will give josh more
Control over his temperature.

A stainless still will also
Be stronger

And should hold up better
To life on the road with josh.

Watch your eyes.

We'll work one side
At a time.

Sid is calculated, you know?

He's kind of precise
With the things that he does.

Because once you've cut it,
You weld it.

That's it.

Hey.

Hell no. I stay away
From them things.

That's what cut my fingers off,
Right there, y'all.

Hot damn.

I'm not even gonna be
In the same room

With that son of a bitch.

I say away from grinders.

After blowing my fingers off
With one of those things,

That's when I started
Finding out

How many people actually had
Accidents with those things.

It's a gnarly wound.

Hey, just come look
What I'm doing.

The grinder's
One of josh's fears,

And it's understandable.

But he does other things

That are more dangerous
Than grinding.

I mean, he could lose his life

With the race cars
And motorcycles

And just anything
And everything that he does.

You just wrecked at 100
And something miles an hour.

Why you gonna get back
On that race car?

You about killed yourself.

All you did there was
Just hurt your finger.

I know. That's kind of
Crazy, isn't it?

No, that's just josh.

He made a good point.

"Why are you afraid
Of this grinder, man?

It's just -- you know,
The odds are the same

As you getting hurt
During the race."

That is not my finger.

Owwww!
Owwww! Aah!

I got this.

So the hell with it.

I'm using the grinder again.

Now that the pipe's all welded
Up, it looks pretty good.

But there's still
A lot of work to do --

Getting the holes cut in it,

Getting the cap
And the drain valve

And the thermostat
And all that stuff in it.

But I'm super excited
About getting this thing done.

All right, bubba.
That looks pretty good.

You've done a real good job
Pulling it off.

♪♪

♪♪

Here we are.

Good temperature up here
To learn how to make liquor.

Man, I am pumped.

Three counties away
In tennessee,

Mark and digger are repaying
A favor to an old friend

With a lesson
In moonshining 101.

That sucker right there
Is gonna be the cape.

Killer beaz came through
On his end of the deal.

60 gallons of
Cherry-vanilla sipping cream.

Cherry-vanilla?Vanilla sipping cream.

What, they lower
The drinking age to 12?

Yep. When you bring us
$10,500 of our money,

That's your tuition
To learn how to make liquor.

I'll do it.

He has earned this scholarship,

And today he starts in mark
And digger's school of liquor.

You did have
That one incorrect.

-okay.
-this one -- you had it right.

-oh, okay.
-thump.

Mark and digger
Are into the art form.

So they science the crap
Out of it.

You don't want to fill
Any liquid past that.

If I could learn to make
Moonshine from them,

That's a big deal.

There are very few people
In the world

With this opportunity.

So if that held
100 gallons of mash,

That would be
A two-barrel pot.

That is a two-barrel pot.

Very good, grasshopper.

Beaz has surprised us
A little bit.

Beaz is doing a good job,

But this little part of his test
Is the easy part.

The other part is
To go into a pile of stills

That me and mark have
And pick him out

Working components
That work together.

You pick you
A pot out first,

And then you find all the parts
You need to make that work.

Mm-kay.

And the one that you
Put together, now,

Is the one you're gonna use
On your inaugural run.

Oh. All right,
Let's go this guy.

Mm-kay.

Too big.

All these different stills --
They're all different sizes.

They all don't interchange
With each other.

There he goes.
He's got it.

We're watching beaz,
And by and large,

He picks out the right pot

That I would have picked out
For a maiden run, if you will.

Let's see.
That's too loose a fit.

I'd say you
Hear that a lot.

He made a couple mistakes.

He had the wrong thump keg
Picked out.

This thump keg goes
With this still.

This is going to be
Raised up.

This will be up higher,

And we'll have to
Sit this up higher.

He's not getting
The right connections

To go with the cap.

We have to intervene
And help him a little bit.

Your punishment
For screwing up --

You have to carry
This piece around.

Oh, oh.

If you lose that, then
Your still won't function.

Mm-kay.
I got it.

You know, the true test
Is gonna be

When beaz finds his still site,
Takes his still into the woods,

And sets it up
To where it will run.

Oh, also, did we tell you
Your first run of liquor --

It belongs to us?

-so there's that.
-so there's that.

-let's get his ass to the woods.
-off we go.

I'm gonna guard this
Severely.

you better.

♪♪

I'd say that cap broke good,
Ain't it?

Across the state line
In north carolina, mark and huck

Are finally ready for
Their first run of the season.

The hillbilly jam is
An annual festival

In the smoky mountains,

Drawing thousands
Of thirsty patrons

And a big payday for any shiner
Willing to risk a large crowd.

We're about ready
To build a fire, ain't we?

Ah, damn.

Ugh.

Ready?
-yeah.

We got it now.

We're gonna have to
Get it run quick now

'cause that festival -- it's
Just a few days down the road,

And we got to be ready.

We got to at least
Have 30 gallons, you know?

Yeah, it is.

Hoo!

Pretty hot, ain't it?
-yeah, boy.

I believe that run
Right there is gonna

Produce quite a bit
Of alcohol. Don't you?

I believe it will.

I guess we can go jar
Up some now.

Can't we?
-yeah.

We wound up with about
15 gallons this run.

We got time to make
One more run,

And then the festival
Is the next day.

yep, start it back again.

The rye is ready to be
Harvested right now.

In culpeper county,
It's now or never.

♪♪

This morning,
I talked to chuck.

You know, chuck just lays it
On the line,

"Hey, the rye is ready.
The sun is shining,

And todd has called,
And he has a problem."

In culpeper, virginia,
Tim's big gamble on rye

Is ready to hit the jackpot
Or come up bust.

Right now I'm kind of concerned

About this rye project.

It's costing a whole lot
Of money to put it together.

$10,000?
-all right.

We fronting the money
For the rye,

Fronting the money
To buy a silo,

And at the end
Of the day here,

If it doesn't come together,
I lose.

We're at the rye field.

It looks good.

I don't know
What the problem is.

We get to the harris farm,
And I'm looking for todd

To find out,
What is this problem?

Todd!
-how you doing, tim?

So what's the deal
With the rye?

I think we got it
Ready to roll.

You got your sidekick
With you.

-how we doing?
-all right.

Let's look at it.

Looking good.
-it just got ready.

So what is
The problem, though?

What?

Is that the problem?

That's the problem.

Well, todd --
He's telling me,

You know, he's got
The combine ready,

But the whole problem is
They're just short-handed,

And he's trying to
Plant the soybeans,

And the rye is ready
To be harvested right now.

Okay, you know,
That's no problem.

All right.
-all right. Well, good luck.

Yeah, good luck. All right.

I have run a combine before,

But I have not
Combined rye before.

Got the motor on.

We're gonna move
Into the field.

I'm getting about $10,000
Worth of rye,

And I'm using a $500,000 machine
To do it with,

So, you know, no mistakes.

The combine works by
Harvesting the entire rye plant,

Then sending it along
The conveyor belt

Where drums and blowers
Separate the straw from seed.

So, we just pulling
The heads off the top,

And then we leaving
The stalks behind.

We had some floods
And a lot of rain come in.

I see some spots here
Where the wind has done got it

And knocked it down,
But we're gonna make it happen.

Moonshiners don't quit.

We don't sleep, neither.
We just got to go.

What is my alarm telling me?

It's telling me
That my brake is on.

My brake is not on.

All of a sudden -- blugh! --
It just stops.

I don't want to mess up
The equipment.

That's one thing.

It's like it chokes down.

That's it. Kind of like
I'm dead in the water here.

It's just stuck.
That's not good.

It acts like something's broke.

♪♪

Across the state line

In graham county,
North carolina,

Mark and huck
Are prepping to sell

3 grand worth of shine
At the hillbilly jam.

But to move that much product

Under the nose
Of law enforcement

Will require the help
Of an inside man.

Here comes chuck.

-ho.
-ho, mark.

-ho, chuck.
-huck. How are you?

You been behaving?

-we're trying.
-trying?

best we can.

Yeah.

Last season, mark
Turned to his childhood friend

Former deputy sheriff chuck

And presented him with an
Opportunity to cross the line.

Chuck -- he's a former cop,
You know,

And he's got a lot
Of inside information.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-all right.
-see you, chuck.

Yeah, yeah, it'll make you
About sick to your stomach.

Won't it?
-yeah.

♪♪

♪♪

It's beautiful.
Sid here is a master.

Let's get her done.

Five counties over,

Josh continues work
On his mobile moonshine trailer.

With the help of his friend
And master welder sid,

They've constructed
A custom-fit still,

But firing it up calls for
Some complicated engineering.

-it's coming off.
-I got it.

This mobile-still unit's
Never been done before.

It's a custom job,
And I'm just ready

To see this whole operation
Up and running

So we can go on the road --
Biker rallies and festivals --

Start making some money.

This is gonna be our cap.

That's a good-looking cap.

This a heating element
For a hot-water heater.

I got two of them.These are electric?

-yep, no fire and no propane.
-that's right.

Because it's an enclosed space,

The safest way to heat the still

Without burning
The trailer to the ground

Is by using electric burners.

All my stuff's burning!

This is the trip from hell!

Aaaah!
Somebody help me!

After last year,
I know firsthand

That a trailer goes up
In about 15 minutes.

Weld these in
Somewhere in here.

We're gonna run these
To a thermostat,

And we're gonna be
Able to control

The temperature
Of our mash.

I've never done this before,

And putting a still
In a trailer is risky

'cause anytime you got
Electricity and you got water

And you got metal all together,
There's room for error.

So I don't know exactly
How it's gonna work out,

But I've got a plan.

Josh is building
His mobile moonshine still

For stealth and safety.

He's angled the sides
Of the 250-gallon

Stainless-steel pot

To fit the precise
Dimensions of the trailer.

Since a propane flame in this
Enclosed space is too risky,

Josh is using two 50-amp
Electric heating elements.

Once the mash boils,
The vaporized alcohol will pipe

Directly into
A 30-foot copper worm

Housed in a tall, narrow
Condensing barrel.

And to avoid prying eyes,

The entire operation will be
Tucked behind a false wall.

Now we've got to
Make a worm.

I got us
Some 3/4-inch coil.

Kind of twist that thing,
And let me put it in place.

Josh -- he's like a rat trap.

I mean, he just springs into it
And just dives in

And does what he thinks,

Not wanting to measure
As accurately as I am.

We're at 14.

Well, I was gonna say, check
And see we ain't too big.

We're -- no.
Well, we're a little bit big.

It's bigger than the hole?
Tell me it ain't.

It's just right at it.
It's right at the hole.

But we establish it
Getting round,

And we can tweak it in
A little bit smaller.

It'll be all over
The place, though.

What difference
Does it make

Whether it's touching
The sides or not?

We can tweak it down
A little bit more

After we've got it bent
A little bit.

You know metal,

But I've done this worm
A bunch of times.

If we roll that, and then
We can't get it in there,

And it ain't right,
It ain't helping me.

It's just hurting me
And costing me

That much more
Time and money.

I don't think we got
Any other option,

And the clock's running.

Well, I would rather fix it
Exactly like I know

That I want it
And be done with it.

Whatever you want to do,
Let's do it

'cause we wasting time.

After we get this done,
We got to put it in there.

Then we got to weld it.

We got to finish
All of that up.

I don't know, but I'm getting
The hell out of here.

♪♪

♪♪

I went back up to the house,

And I saw this cigarette can
Right here.

It's exactly 10 inches.

It's just perfect.

Sidney, look here.

It's good and solid,
And it's the right size.

That's what you want to use,
We'll roll with it.

In columbus, north carolina,

Josh and master welder sid

Have hit a snag working on
Josh's mobile-still unit.

Their copper worm is too wide

To fit inside
The condenser barrel.

Listen, man, I'm sorry
I got frustrated earlier.

I know that you just
Want to get this done.

That's fine.
Watch out.

You're about to drop it.
Okay.

Sid is the master welder,

But I know
How to make moonshine.

See how much
Too big we were?

-yeah.
-ridiculous.

This project,
As simple as it is,

Has been really
Trying my patience.

All right, now sidney,

Just kind of
Spin her in there.

I thought I was just
Gonna bang it right out,

And I honestly
Underestimated it.

What a royal
Pain in the ass.

Are we doing this
The hard way, or what?

Oh, no.
We're doing it your way.

Josh makes things a little bit
Difficult sometimes,

But we're moving forward,

And I've done the best
I could do to help him.

All right.
We're done.

Oh, my god.

Got the worm all wrapped up.

Now I'm just ready to see this
Whole operation up and running,

Get it tested,
Start making some money.

I've got it.

We about to get some
Radical-ass *bleep*.

When this thing comes together,
It's gonna be

Smokin' *bleep* hot.

The moonshine's gonna
Roll out of this baby

Is gonna be awesome.

You want to feed it
All the way around.

You got it.
-you the man, sid.

I think it looks good.

Let's stand it
Over there.

It looks frickin' perfect.

We got the pot in.
We got the worm in.

We got to get it
All soldered together.

We're just about there, y'all.

I'm super excited.

By taking my operation
On the road,

I'm gonna be able
To make moonshine anywhere.

Now the only thing to do
Is blow her out,

Hook our electricity up,

Make us a run,
And hit the road.

♪♪

♪♪

That little ass*bleep*
Was supposed to have
Been here by now.

We got to pick out
A still site.

Yeah, he better have
His pipe with him.

Here she comes.

Three counties away,
Just over the state line,

Mark and digger
Are giving killer beaz

The next lesson
In his moonshine education.

Really? That's what
You're gonna wear in the woods?

Today is day two of mark
And digger's school of liquor.

Beaz is finding a site
To set up his still

And build him
A little run of mash.

But he shows up dressed
Like don ho.

Baby bigfoot.

No.

The only thing that I see
In your favor

Is you've got it
In your hand.

Yeah, you remembered
Your damn piece of tubing.

Beaz -- I get it
'cause he's a comedian,

But, you know,
He's got to understand

This is very serious business.

You're gambling
With your freedom.

Oh, yeah,
Now you're pretty.

-now?
-we're gonna go with you.

But your still site's
Is up to you.

♪♪

You know, beaz --
We sent him first.

It's his still site.
He needs to find it.

But, you know, he's not used to

Being outdoors a lot.

There you are.

I kept looking
Back there for you.

So the creek's
Right down there.

So why would you not use
This flat spot

That has a log to sit on
For a still site?

It's an excellent still site,
Other than one thing.

You're about 250 feet
To the creek.

You got a pump
That will pump 60 feet.

Good still site,
Poor location for water.

Okay.

Mark, you want to
Go first?

Are you scared?

Killer beaz
As an outdoorsman

Is kind of like a fart
In a diving helmet.

It's there, but it shouldn't be.

It's gonna be
Clean water, right?

Doesn't it kind of
Filter itself?

Get you
A big drink of it.

How's it taste?

That water is cold.

Did it warm up a little
Just then?

Why? Are you peeing?
Is that what we got?

I don't mind it.

Now, this don't look bad.

This is pretty level.

-mm-hmm.
-mm-hmm.

And it's back over that
Little hump from the water.

Your canopy's great.
Your cover's good.

I'm good with it.

-all right.
-mm-kay.

We're gonna help you
Get your stuff together,

But it'll be up to you
To get it in here.

Digger will show you how
To make your mash.

I'm pumped.

Well, beaz has finally
Settled in on a spot,

And it's a good spot,

But the hardest battle
Is gonna be getting

All the equipment in here.

So how come you guys
Aren't carrying stuff?

-you're the damn student, buddy.
-there you go.

Put the pot right here.

You can do what you want to,
But I would bring your burner

And your barrel
And another hose.

-okay.
-chop, chop. Time's a-wasting.

We'll wait on you.

Life as a stand-up comedian

Don't usually require
Much lifting and toting.

You know, if he wants to be
A moonshiner,

This is the way it is.

-where's your corn?
-over there.

You're going back
To the truck.

Corn.
That's a good idea.

We're gonna get him
Through this.

It might kill him.

But if you carry each
And every piece of this in

And each and every
Ingredient in,

You know what you got to have.

That'll teach you every time.

Okay, there's my corn,
My sugar.

Next step --
Water hose to the pump.

I knew it was gonna be hard,

But just to be out here

Training with mark and digger
Is so worth it.

Imagine your tutors were
Criminals.

Look here.

My *bleep* left, and...

I see where you're going
With this.

Beaz -- he dishes out jokes
Very well.

We're gonna see how good
He is at taking them.

Reckon he'll see it
If we put it there?

He ain't
Gonna see *bleep*.

He's got seven days
To figure out

How to get
That thing down.

Okay, water is happening.

Let's get this ball
Starting to roll.

Get you about 8 pounds
Of that corn in there.

Okay.

All right.
-don't scald yourself, boy.

Let's pour it in there
Pretty swiftly. All right.

You start stirring
Your mash there, sir.

What's
The cadence on this?

Half a circle
Counterclockwise, back,

Then do
Half a clockwise,

One full stir
Counterclockwise,

One full stir clockwise,
Three...

Then you can do it any way
You want to after that.

That looks like a bowl
Of chicken and dumplings.

It does.

Get all them big old lumps
Busted up.

Still want to know
How to make liquor?

Oh, yeah.

He's done a damn fine job.

Now comes beaz's time to shine.

It's time for him to treat
This barrel of mash

Like it's his baby.

We'll be back
In seven days.

And then when
We get back,

Your still better be
Put together.

-oh.
-we'll see you, beaz.

Be careful
Getting out of here.

Okay, guys.
Thank you.

I'm confident that the mash
Is gonna turn out good,

But this is my first still site,
And so there's pressure there.

I want to do well.

Okay, we've got corn,
Sugar, and yeast.

Put the lid on,
And it'll start working.

All right.
My first mash barrel ever.

Hopefully this works.

I got a little shine,
If you want to try some.

In the smoky mountains,

Two shiners implement
A risky plan

To distribute moonshine
To the masses.

I'm sure nervous.
Someone could be uncover.

You interested?

♪♪

It's not good.

In culpeper county, virginia,

On the sidelines
With a broken combine,

Tim is watching his double-rye
Dreams go to sea.

-tim!
-hey.

-what we got going on?
-I ain't got nothing going on.

All of this is moving.
This is moving.

The shaft runs,
But it just jams up.

I've been combining.

All of a sudden, it just stops.

Something in here
Ain't moving.

Todd's son, paul --
He shows up.

He can see that,
Hey, it must be a problem.

Well, I'll be damned.
Yeah, that's the problem.

The chain is off.

We both look at it.

We notice that the chain --
It came off.

You only harvest rye
One time a year.

That's it.
It's only a one-time-shot deal.

You broke
Your master link.

Yeah, you got
A 60 master link?

-yes, sir.
-the chain is broken.

A lot of material had got stuck
In it, almost like a concrete.

So we had to play with
That thing a little bit.

Yeah, you got it now.

But I got everything
Figured out.

We got this thing back together.

-you ready.
-all right, man.

I'm gonna start it up.

Okay.

Good?
-we good!

I'm gonna have to go
Get some more.

We had to regroup a little bit.

It should be no problem
To just fill this thing up.

We combining right,
Doing all right.

♪♪

I got 1,000 bushels --
$10,000 worth of rye.

Now we got to get to the farm.

You know, everybody thinks
That making moonshine's easy.

I mean, you look at this
Right here.

I'm truck-driving, combining,

And then we got to grind it up.

Then after all of that,
I got to compete against

All them
Big corporations out there.

Hey.

All right.
You made it back.

We want to prove that
The little guy

Can still go out
And make whiskey.

It looks good
To me, tim.

I'm really excited about
This double-rye recipe.

Every day I keep running
Into some hiccups.

You just have to keep going.

This whole thing is
Just in my heart --

To do the best I can,
Do the right thing.

I'm carrying on
My father's heritage.

Yeah, she's full
To the top.

Wow. We really
Filled it up, huh?

Look, chuck.
I'm standing in it.

Good lord.

♪♪

♪♪

All right.
Let's see.

Right there.

Across the state line
In tennessee,

Killer beaz
Is ready to graduate

From mark and digger's
School of shine.

But first, he'll have to pass
His final exam.

I've got most of the still
Put up.

I'm missing the piece
That mark and digger told me

"Do not lose."

Other than that,
The mash is ready.

What's up there,
Student of the year?

You ready to
Run that liquor?

Well, somehow
This connector piece --

The post and arm
Do not seem to be

With the rest of
The components.

I suspect foul play.Oh.

You've not seen
Any sign of that?

I have not.

You're about as clueless
As they come, aren't you?

Do you think pieces of copper
Like that grow on trees?

-I do not.
-well...

Okay, so now
I'm looking in the trees.

Okay.

How you reckon
That got there?

Geez.

Do I ever feel like
I'm getting teased

Or hazed by mark and digger?

Um, only constantly,

But I'm very pumped up
About wanting to do well.

-let's look at your mash.
-oh.

It went and cleared off
Real good.

-beaz, I'm proud of you.
-good deal, man.

So we can just pump it
Into here, right?

-yep.
-all right. Well, then...

-ready?
-yep.

Well, we need to
Light that pot.

We'll get it
Heating up.

Good time
To do that?

Yeah.

Yeah!

-now make you some paste.
-it don't take a lot of water.

Everywhere there's a connection,
You got to paste up, beaz.

Yeah, I had no idea
There was this much to it.

You'll be thumping
In no time.

We can't cut beaz short
On the fact

That he's not paid attention
Because he has.

All in all, he's been
An outstanding student.

You know, beaz,

The first time I stuck
My coon pecker in there,

I knew right then
I wanted to do it a lot.

How did that work out?

We've made a lot of liquor,
Ain't we?

Yeah, you have.

Oh, here we go.
That is liquor.

-hot dang.
-way to go, killer.

Thanks, man.

Congratulations, there,
Liquor-maker.

Yeah, excellent.
Holy cow. Look at that.

Now, the first little bit --
You don't want that.

That's heads.Okay, got you.

We strain through
White-oak fire coals.

They catch all the fusel oils
That come out on this alcohol.

It's pretty and clear
Coming out of there.

Yeah, it's a good
Stream of liquor.

Look at that.

I am pumped up.

We are actually
Making moonshine.

To get that first jar out --

I just love it.

That's real.

How's it feel to have
Your big-boy panties on?

Dude.

Mmm.

Damn. That's good.

Oh, it smells good.

-good?
-it's good liquor.

Beaz just made
His run of liquor,

And it's liquor
That he can be real proud of.

Our very first graduate

From the mark and digger school
Of liquor-making.

Your scepter, my friend.

My own coon pecker.
Look at that.

Also, killer,
Your diploma.

Gentlemen, I hope
Y'all know how great

This has been for me.

-that makes one of us.
-yes.

This opportunity to make
Moonshine with mark and digger

Has absolutely been fantastic.

Hard work --
I mean, grueling.

But a coon pecker --
I have my own coon pecker.

All right.
Let's skedaddle out of
Here with our liquor.

Shame to have to forfeit that,
Ain't it?

-we'll let you keep one jar.
-okay.

♪♪

♪♪

Pretty country over in here,
Ain't it?

It is.

Well, I ain't see nothing
Out of place yet. Have you?

Not yet.

Two counties south
In north carolina,

Mark and huck are running
30 gallons of shine

To the hillbilly jam.

Following the advice

Of ex-lawman-turned-inside-man
Chuck,

Mark and huck can score
A $3,000 payday

If they sell all their product.

Yeah.

I always get nervous.
Don't you?

Yep.

Well, I don't know
If that's enough.

We thought about bells,

And we thought about whistles
And everything else,

But we got old pony shoes
Laying around.

So this is gonna be our little
Rudimentary alarm system.

We might never need them,

But I don't want to know
That they don't work.

More cowbell.

Did it ring our bell?

Well, it rung our shoes.

First time of getting caught,
We'll come back

After we get out of jail
And put a bell on there.

Hey, I hope we never
Hear them ring.

Against all odds,
Josh still maintains his lead,

But the tennessee two
Are closing fast,

And mark is out of the gate
With 30 gallons.

I always get nervous.
Don't you?

Yep.

Yeah.

Well...

Yeah.

Phew!

Don't look back.

Kind of gives me
A little sick feeling

On the top of my stomach.Yep.

No more than
Two good shots, now.

I know.

"Yeah. Here.
Come on, now.

Take two, you need two."

No money, no liquor.

Damn, at the people.

Now, we gonna kind of stay
Around the outer edges.

We don't want to get around
Right in the middle of it

And try anything like that

'cause that's where the law
Will be a-watching.

I'm sure nervous --
Real nervous.

You know, there's cops
Running around,

You know,
A-watching and a-looking.

Someone could be undercover.

I mean, you can't really tell.

We kind of know
How to pick them out.

Word travels real fast
In a place like that.

We've got some good stuff,
If you want to sample it.

They'll get to
Sharing it around

With their buddies
And stuff, you know,

And then when
They start doing that,

We don't want to be
Nowhere around.

He took all of what we had left,
You know.

We helped him put it
Inside his camper, you know,

And then we got our money,
And we never looked back.

I'm glad
We got rid of all that.

Well, we're just about
Home free, ain't we?

♪♪

♪♪

All right.
Let her rip, tater chip.

There you go.
You're running.

It's about time we
Got to damn fill this
Thing up with mash.

Four counties away,
Josh is getting ready

To test his custom mobile-still
Unit for the first time.

All right.
And we got power.

Yeah, fill the worm up.

Well, since we've had
To leave red dog's,

I'm really anxious to get
This operation up and running.

It's been a couple weeks
Since we've made any moonshine,

And all the biker rallies
Is creeping up on me.

It's gonna be here
Before I know it.

Man, I'm so excited.

Everything's right here
In the trailer.

I don't have to carry everything
Damn 100 miles in the woods.

I don't have bears knocking
My mash barrels over,

People finding my still site.

Now when somebody runs me off,

I just drive off into the sunset
To my next spot.

♪♪

There it goes.

Yeah, she's just starting.

That's the head.
You throw that off.

Then start collecting it.

So that, right now --

As that's filling up,
Can we taste that?

Oh, yeah.

When that started coming out,

It was coming out kind of slow

Because electricity doesn't heat
Quite as fast

As the other stuff.

But it was a happy time.

That's what we've been
Working towards.

Mmm!
Good and clear.

Cheers, bubba.

All right.

Ooh-ah!

Oooooh!

It was rather strong.

I'm not much on
Strong alcohol.

Let's finish
Filling it up.

If we can't sell it
For something to drink,

It'd probably power
A vehicle somewhere.

I need to go home.

-what?
-that's all I wanted, too.

That's all I wanted to do
Was taste one little bit.

-thank you so much.
-you're welcome.

Working with
Josh's temperament --

It can be very difficult to do.

Now I got to damn get
All these buckets by myself.

you want the pacifier?

But we've worked through it

Without anybody
Drawing any blood.

All right, man.
There's one bucket down.

Josh's test run turns out

Just a small 5-gallon batch
Of shine,

But it proves his mobile-still
Unit is ready to hit the road.

Now that we've tested the still,

We know everything's
Up and working good.

Now we're gonna work
On the tiller,

And we're gonna put in a wall

'cause I'm really itching
To hit the road,

Start making some money.

Next time on "Moonshiners"...

Couldn't have
Come up with more?

Well...

...Time to pay up
Or shut up in tennessee...

We've been running
Day in and day out.

We had hoped for
Some more.

Oh, gosh.

...Thunder
And white lightning

In the smoky mountains...

Probably the biggest conductor
Of electricity around.

Hits your damn still,
You could blow up.

Alcohol is kind of forbidden
Around the reservation.

...And unwanted spirits

On tribal lands
In north carolina.

-hey, josh.
-how are you?

-I'm josh owens.
-I know who you are.

Your reputation
Precedes you.