Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 9, Episode 1 - Back to the Woods - full transcript

♪♪

Tickle: it is my right
As one of god's children

To make moonshine
If that's what I want to do.

Apples is going to turn into
A little alcohol on they're own

If you just leave him
Sitting there,

And you going to tell me that
Just because we perfect it

And got it real good,
The government wants their cut.

Hell no, you ain't never
Shutting us down.

Moonshiners have passed on
This art

From generation
To generation.

Every year, soon as it gets warm
Enough, we go in the woods,



And we make moonshine,
Because that's what we do.

Narrator: it's moonshine season,
And appalachia's

Most notorious outlaws
Are heading back to the wood.

Whoo!
We are running damn vodka now.

Mike:
My grandfather always told me
You got to take chances,

And that's what
I'm here to do.

If you take the best recipe
And the very best still,

And you can't have anything

But the finest liquor
That's ever been.

-I kind of like this spot.
-yeah.

Tickle: moonshine -- everyone in
The world knows it's illegal.

But you know what?
We don't care,

'cause as far as we's
Concerned, we above the law.

-looky here, kiss my butt.
-oh!



Fire in the hole,
Brother.

-ow!
-oh, my god.

[ laughs ]
It looks just like a turtle.

Tickle: look at that.
That's liquid gold.

-small fortune right here.
-let's do it.

Mike: on top of the world,
Son.

Timber! Whoo-hoo!

-it's an airplane.
-circling. That's not good.

♪ no one can hold me down ♪

♪ and make me change my ways ♪

♪ goin' for a ride ♪

♪ runnin' to survive ♪

♪ when you're livin'
Outside the law ♪

♪♪

♪ we're livin'
Outside the law ♪

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

Man: this is how
We make the moonshine!

♪ come away that morning ♪

♪ ain't got time to die ♪

♪ come away that morning ♪

♪ there's a devil... ♪

♪♪

Henry: you see the way
The road's dug out here,

It's an old wagon-trail road.

-yeah.
-been here a long time.

You can look at the trees
Growed up on the side of us,

And tell how long
This road's done been here.

Narrator:
In the blue ridge mountains,
25-year veteran moonshiner

Tickle returns to the woods
With fellow outlaws,

Henry and kenny law.
They're looking for a still site

Where they can build
Their fortune in illegal liquor.

Tickle:
I'm really looking forward
To getting back into the woods,

Finding still sites,
Building stills, making mad.

Narrator:
After years in jail...

-have a good one, tickle.
-alright.

Narrator:
...The prodigal son of moonshine
Is, at last, a free man.

How in the world
Did you run across

Someplace
Way out of here?

Henry: the thing with tickle is,
The guy comes out of prison.

It's hard to get started again.

Need a few dollars,
And we know that

So we're glad to help him.

And here we are.

This is going to be
A big season for us.

Customers are wanting
That brand name,

We're going to give it to them.
With tickle's help,

We're hoping to knock down
1,500 gallons or more.

Our plan is to take our old
Truck right in the water itself,

And that's going to leave
No signs.

If the law comes by,
They can't see anything.

There's nothing to give away
The still place.

-alright. See what I can't do.
-talk to to me.

Alright, yeah,
You're good.

Tickle:
I'm in the back of the truck.
I'm trying to direct henry.

"Hang on, no, no,
Little to the left.

No, a little back to the right."

Go on. Give her some gas.
Yeah, there you go, easy.

How are the rocks back there.
Are they too big?

Hug it on up,
Closer to the passenger side.

Alright, you're supposed
To be guiding me, son.

Get a little deep here.

Stay up closer to the bank.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Come on, hug on up
Onto the bank a little more.

Going to get into it deep.

The river's got holes over here,
Piles of rocks over there.

It looks like it's getting
Pretty deep to me.

-alright.
-talk to me, son.

-well, you got a deep hole.
-[beep]

I-I don't know
That we going to be able

To go much farther
Than what we are.

If this thing got
Two inches deeper,

It'd be in the cab
Of your truck right now.

Tickle: by the time
We put materials and stuff

And load that truck down,
It's going to sit even lower.

And the last thing we want

Is the truck stuck
In the middle of the river.

I won't lie to you henry,
I don't know

If we're going to be able
To make any shine down here.

Henry: I don't think so,
Either.

It's just too deep,
It looks like to me.

A lot of stuff has changed
From 30 years ago.

I remember walking up there,

Taking that ride
With those guys.

It wasn't much more
Than ankle deep.

We get it there this time,
It just wasn't the same.

What do you reckon,
We look for another spot?

[ sighs ] I don't think so.
Damn.

Kenny: about like a woman,
Ain't it, henry?

She might look good
From a distance.

Up close,
You don't really know.

I don't believe
You're going to win

Any beauty pageants yourself,
Kenny.

♪♪

♪♪

Howdy, boy.

Howdy, puss.

What are you doing?

Been imbibing
And libating.

Narrator:
Eight counties southwest,

Mark and digger kick off
A new shine season.

As heirs to the legacy
Of their mentor,

Popcorn sutton, they're
Practically moonshine royalty

In appalachia.

Brought you
A little liquor.

I don't need no liquor.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

Want to get you
To do something.

This we created,
Mimicking that old recipe.

Yep. Smells familiar.

Uh-huh.

Tastes like really good
Corn liquor to me.

Yep.

Now...

...Tempt your palate
With that.

Wow. Is that the liquor
That was under the porch?

Yep.

That's some of the best liquor
I've ever drank in my life.

That's that
Barleycorn-rye recipe.

I want to make
Some of this.

Narrator: popcorn sutton
Was the most famous

American-outlaw moonshiner.

His influence extends
Beyond mark and digger

To the entire
Moonshine community.

Digger: last year,
Me and mark and j.B.,

We perfected popcorn's
Corn-liquor recipe.

Wow.

But the way the current
Liquor market is,

Folks want multigrain
Grain bills in their liquor.

So once we figure out
The recipe,

We're going to make
A tremendous amount of money.

Popcorn never used same recipe
Every time.

You know what I mean?
I know that there's corn

And there's barley
And there's rye.

We're just going to have to
Experiment till we get to this.

We can sell it for more
Than what we've been

Selling regular
Old corn liquor for.

Everybody in the country still
Wants popcorn sutton's liquor.

Mark:
You know, there's never going to
Be any more of popcorn's liquor,

So, you know,
I think there would be

A tremendous market for it.

I think we can nail it.
You better get out of that.

Your eyes is going to be
Crossed here in a little bit.

♪♪

♪♪

There ain't much left here,
Is it, buddy?

Unh-unh.

Them weeds are starting
To grow back.

Yeah.

Narrator: one county west
In the great smokey mountains,

Mike and daniel are back at
The site they used last year.

It sits on a stream

That holds the cleanest mountain
Water they've ever used.

The water's great.
It never runs dry.

But we got walked in on
By a feller,

And, obviously,
We can't use this spot no more.

I'm going to make my mississippi
Pinkeye purple hull liquor.

Narrator:
After relocating to tennessee

From his home state
Of mississippi,

Mike took the mountain
Moonshine scene by storm.

In a few short years,

He's managed to make a name
For himself

And capture
A sizeable market share

With an innovative lineup
Of liquors.

Getting a good job, especially
In this part of the country,

I mean, it's tough.
So this is our livelihood.

This is what we do for a living.

This season, I'm planning to
Make a hell of a lot more liquor

Than I ever did and make
Over $100,000 this year.

You know, mike,
On up in the mountains

Above the waterfall
Up here,

It'd be hard on people
To get up there.

Yeah, it would.

I'm wanting to build something
Totally different this year.

We're going to have a massive
Operation in the woods,

Something permanent that
We can be on all season long.

But in order
For that to happen,

It needs to be
Virtually impossible

For anybody else
To ever get to or see it.

That's some rough-ass terrain
Up them waterfall faces.

You know that,
Don't you?

But, obviously,
We've got to get in a place

That it's even hard
For us.

-more remote.
-pretty much, yeah.

We'll climb up them faces.
We'll go up in there and look.

I'm ready to find
A spot.

Well, there's
Our old water.

Barrel's still
Sitting there.

Well, that's as far up the falls
As I've ever been.

Let's pack-mule it.
Let's go up there and look.

[ grunts ] man.

I guess we give
The real definition

Of a down hillbilly,
Now, don't we?

It's pretty damn treacherous,
What we're climbing right now.

-damn. I'm about too short.
-[ chuckles ]

Mike: [ grunts ]

Daniel: it's pretty rough
Up through here.

Mike:
But there's no water like this
Water that we've ever found.

So we're going to go way up
Above the old site

Along the same water source.

Boy, that's slick
As all get out.

It's so steep.
It's so slick.

It's almost like
You got to crawl

Through a muddy hell
To get to where you're going.

Phew! Damn.

Put your
Climbing gear on

And put it in
Four-wheel drive, right?

Water's a little deeper
Right here, bubba.

Mike: let's walk through
This holler

And see if we can't find
The right place.

Daniel: check this *bleep* out.
Look how flat, how beautiful.

-oh, it's pretty ain't it?
-yeah, man.

We turned the bend.
There it was --

A beautiful, flat spot
Like heaven.

You'd never think
It'd open up like this

In the middle
Of no damn where.

I know. Looks like a good
Place to make liquor.

You've got the laurel
All the way around us.

And look at the canopy. I mean,
All those leaves have not

Even come in yet,
And it's still shady.

-this is beautiful, dude.
-I love it.

My only concern
Is the access, boy.

We've got to drag
A pot up here,

And we got to drag lumber
Up here.

-we got to build.
-uh-huh.

Mike:
It's super treacherous.

We've got to haul in sugar,
Corn, fruit,

Whatever we're going
To be mashing in this year.

Daniel: I've got
A real good idea on that.

In the real bad spots, you know,
We can build a set of steps.

We'll use cables or something
We can hold to.

We can pretty much build
What we want to,

But first and foremost --

We've got to make sure
We can get water.

We've got to have
Water.

You know, we've got
To have it higher

To be able
To gravity-feed it down.

Right.

Narrator: to avoid using a pump,
Mike and daniel

Will use
A gravity-fed system.

That's the way the first people
Ever got pressure out of water.

It had to start way high
On a creek

And neck it all the way
Down to their house.

-oh, man, look up here.
-ooh, yeah.

Mike: that's something like what
We're looking for right there.

Daniel:
That's definitely higher.

-some of that, by god.
-[ chuckles ]

The same good mountain water
Like the year before

And cold as ice
Because we're so high up.

Man, it'll cool the worm
Real good,

And it'll make
Some dang good mash.

I mean, if you're up
For the challenge, I am.

Well, I'm up
For making the liquor.

Narrator: coming up...

-you just stay right here.
-alright.

I haven't talked to him
In a long time.

Narrator:
...In virginia, shiners take
A big risk on a backwoods deal.

Thought maybe you might
Be interested

To let us come
Through here.

Henry: called a buddy of mine.
He's got a farm down here.

He made liquor down here
Years ago.

You just stay in the vehicle.
Ken and I'll go talk to him.

Narrator: in the foothills
Of the blue ridge mountains,

Henry and kenny or practicing
The art of the backwoods deal.

Tickle:
I made moonshine illegally
And legally.

The legal way, yeah,
There's less trouble,

But the illegal way, sure is
A whole lot faster money.

Henry: there's pat now.
You just stay right here.

-alright.
-I haven't talked to him

In a long time.
He's a good boy.

What's up, man?
How you been doing?

-good.
-hot today, isn't it?

I was looking for place
To set up a little still place.

Yeah?

Thought maybe you might
Be interested to

Let us come
Through here.

Well, I don't have a problem
With it.

Franklin county, virginia.

This is the moonshine
Capital of the world.

Even the people
That are not making moonshine

Can make money
Off moonshine.

If he'll allow us
To come across his land,

It's the best-case scenario.

He's interested.

Let's see if we can't find us
A place to run some moonshine.

We've got a farmer
That's letting us

Come in off of his property.

He acts as a buffer.
He's a lookout.

Any time you come through
A man's farm,

The chances of you getting
Caught is very slim.

Yeah.
The canopy looks great.

Real good cover.
What do we got on this water?

I believe that is
Some of the clearest water

I've ever seen in my life.

Coming out a spring,
Or what is it?

It's all springs.

I'll tell you what,
It's nice and cold.

You see where
The sun's hitting it?

It's almost like
There's not even nothing there.

If you don't have good water,
You've got nothing.

No sense in even setting up.

Tickle: you can darn near set up
Right here on the creek bank.

Henry:
That's what I'm thinking.

We checked everything out.
Looking great.

I'm liking this site
Right here.

We've got the farmer
That's going to let us

Come right across
His land.

Tickle: great water.
I like the lay of the land.

I really think this still site
Is going to be the one that

We're going to wind up making
A whole lot of moonshine on.

I think about the only thing
We're missing here's

Is a darn still
Sitting right here.

♪♪

♪♪

I got to put my back brace on.

Believe I done went
And wrecked my new truck.

Freaking broke my back.

Narrator: one state south
In polk county, north carolina,

At the beginning
Of another shine season,

History has a cruel way
Of repeating for josh.

Josh: ha-ha!

Narrator:
Part reckless renegade,
Part inventor,

Josh descends from famed
Brandy maker amos owens

And has had skin in the
Moonshine game for generations.

Josh: we'll go ahead and mash
These dog-gone cherries up.

We're in
The appalachian mountains,

And I realized that
There's no place like home.

This is where I belong.

I'm going to go back
To my roots,

Do things the way the old timers
Would've done it.

This is where real mountain
Men's mountain men were from.

My great-great-great-grandpa
Once owned all this property,

But you know how it is.

Through the generations,
It just goes through hands,

And before you know it, there's
No telling who's living here.

I was told not to do anything
For like another six weeks,

But I need to be
Making moonshine.

I got more important fish to fry
Than this stupid ass back brace.

Tons of deer tracks in here.
Tons of deer tracks.

And when you're in the middle
Of hunting country,

All it would take is game
Warden coming in here.

You know what I mean?

Stupid, little things like
That can get you caught.

This is a pretty good spot
In here.

It's super thick.

[ spits ]

So are the cobwebs.

[ spits ]

Golly, these are big, old
Oak trees right here.

Plenty of leaves and foliage
On the trees.

There's great air cover.

We've got good water
At the creek.

Plenty of it.

It's off the beaten path.

Kind of down in a hole here.

There's a good spot
In between these big trees.

We might could make a bunker
In this damn hill right here.

A bunker's different
Than a lot of other still sites,

'cause you're actually

Encapsulated in the side
Of the mountain.

Dig that out real easy.

We're going to dig a hole,
Build a frame,

Put our still site
In the side of the mountain.

It's going to be totally
Camouflaged, hid from the air.

I'm feeling great
About this plan.

[ horse grunts ]

♪♪

Mark: wow. I've lived here
My whole life

And never knowed
That was there.

Digger:
I know everywhere water squirts
Out of these limestone bluffs.

It's fine water,
Ain't it?

Cold
As an eskimo's butt.

Narrator:
For two tennessee shiners,
Locating a great water source

Is only is useful
As its distance

From the general public.

You just brought me down here
To show me this,

To tease me, didn't you?

All we got to do is get us
One of them

Blaze orange
And yellow vests,

And they'll think we're working
For the street department.

[ chuckles ]

To me, the biggest challenge
In our times now

To try to make liquor
In the woods, is finding a spot.

Mark: boy, it's damn pretty
Back here, ain't it?

Digger: yeah.

We're going to look at an old
Place we been around years

And years ago
Called taylor branch.

There was really
Great water there,

But, you know,
That was a long time ago.

[ horn honks ]

Wrong button.

[ grunts ]

Look right here,
Baby man.

What are you thinking
About this?

Got the bank behind us,
Mountain starting.

Yeah.

-ain't unlevel.
-mnh-mnh.

Mark: got plenty of cover
Overhead.

Yep.
Far enough from a creek.

We don't hear
Too much of a fuss.

Right. I'll tell you what
We ain't checked, though.

Let's meander down there
And look at the creek.

Alright.

Oh, yeah,
That's fine water there, puss.

Yeah, it's loaded with snails.
That's good water.

Look there
At that big'n.

He needs a license plate,
He's so big.

That's what shows
You good water.

Snails like that need cleaner
Water than the trap do.

Do you like it?

Hell yeah.
I like it real good.

This site offers
What we're looking for.

The terrain,
It's basically flat and level.

The water, it's very clear,
Tastes good.

You know, it looks like
We might've located our site.

We'll bring us
A little crawdad trap up here,

And we'll have redneck
Lobster bisque.

[ chuckles ]
*bleep*

[ vehicle approaching ]hey.

*bleep*
Of nazareth.

I'm a son of a bitch.

Hey. How are y'all?

Are you believing that?

I had no idea there was even
A road over there.

Must just put it in.

You know, back years ago,
There was no road back in here.

If they came in here
And get on the creek,

They got on their feet
And went up the creek bank.

I didn't like this place
Anyhow.

Narrator: coming up...

Josh: there ain't a damn thing
With wheels, gears,

Tracks, or tires
That I can't run.

Narrator: ...In north carolina,
Nothing beats breaking ground

To forget
About a broken back.

Josh: every time I do a project,
I really do go balls deep.

Hot dog,
I do love big-boys toys.

Digger: I know
What the ingredients is.

We just got to get them
Nailed down to how much.

Narrator:
In cocke county, tennessee,

While the search is on
For a new backwoods still site,

Mark and digger begin
The even more difficult process

Of reverse engineering
Popcorn's multi-grain whiskey,

One sip at a time.

You know, it seems really funny
That the top product

That people are wanting now,
Popcorn was making decades ago.

You know this, this jar liquor
Is just so good.

And with popcorn sutton's
Legacy,

We stand to make a lot of money
In today's market.

So, I figure we make
Three barrels of mash,

10 pound of corn
In each one of them.

Okay.

And then, of course, 25 pounds
Of sugar through every barrel.

The corn and the sugar
Is going to stay constant

Through all of it.

Popcorn sutton never had
An exact recipe.

Of course, that's the way it is
With backwoods moonshining.

Nothing's ever the same.
It's handcrafted, and it varies.

On barrel number one,

We're going to put
Five pound of malted barley

And to keep that rye down to
Two, two-and-a-half pound.

Then on to batch number two,
Let's just reverse these.

Let's go with
Two-and-a-half pound of barley.

Okay.
Five pounds of the rye.

And on mash number three,
I say

We go the full
Three-pound barley

And a full three pound
Of rye.

I buy that.

Well, let's make some mash.

Narrator: all moonshine
Starts with the mash,

A mix of grain,
Water, sugar, and yeast,

Which is allowed to ferment
For several days.

During fermentation,
The yeast turns the sugar

And the mash into alcohol
And carbon dioxide.

Once the fermentation
Process is complete,

The mash will be around
12% alcohol by volume,

At which point it'll
Be distilled into liquor.

Mashing in as the first step
In the process

That could turn $10 worth
Of corn into a $300

Illegal-liquor payday.

Let's crank this
Mammy scratcher up,

Then add a little
Water in.

Do you want to?
-alright.

♪♪

We need to start
Measuring grain right quick.

This one's going to get up
To temperature soon.

Mark: popcorn always bragged
That he made a lot

Of different kinds of liquor --

The fighting kind,
Loving kind, crime kind.

I think according to what
Kind of mood that he was in

Is the way he made his mash.

[ cane thudding ]

Sounded like captain hook
Coming up the steps.

What'd you do,
Go back to sleep?

[ both laugh ]

-that's my boy.
-well...

We've been weighing
And studying and...

How are going to know
How to make it taste right

If we don't keep track
Of what we put in it?

Mark:
If we're going to do this right
Over and over again,

We have to know
What goes in it.

Now,
What's that weigh?

Now, you know
That if you nail this,

We ain't got no clue
How much you've got in there.

All it's doing is just throwing
A hitch in our get along.

Only thing that we can
Hope for is it ain't right.

Yonder they be.

That's 100 gallon
Of mash.

♪♪

Daniel:
You getting tired yet?

Mike:
I'm just tired of walking back
And forth right now.

Cardiovascular exercise.

Narrator:
One county west in the
Great smokies, mike and daniel

Are loading in for their biggest
Engineering challenge yet.

What do you think

We start straightening
This trail up just a little bit?

Well, anytime you can make it
Easier on yourself,

You'd be a fool
Not to.

In order to carry in
A large volume of ingredients

As well as carry out
Hundreds of gallons of shine,

They'll need to build
A series of steps

And bridges rising 600 feet
Over a half mile of distance

To the flat, protected area

Ideal for
A deep-woods still site.

Mike:
Once we get built in, the payoff
Is going to be tremendous.

I believe we'll make more liquor
And more money this year

Than anybody ever has.

Hey, this so level, we can
Walk down through here drunk.

I'm telling you.

Mike, I think
This will be enough.

You know I was actually thinking
Let's take one of those boards

And stand it up,
Make a good flat, level spot

Before we can walk here to keep
Somebody from getting hurt.

The further we go up,
The steeper it gets.

So, we're going to put
A makeshift retaining wall,

Pull the dirt down,
Making it flat.

We need to notch a board
For that pot.

Notch a board
For the pot.

Last year, we put in
A 350-gallon water reservoir,

And it got our water pipe
Sitting right dead

In the damn way where we need
To build this walkway.

So, we take our 2x12
And notch it out.

What do you think there,
Babe?

We can lay it
Right over that pipe

Where our board
Will be nice and level.

Don't you hit
My damn hand.

Why? It won't hurt
Just a minute.

We can pull the dirt
Into the board

And cover the pipe,
As well.

Damn,
That looks a lot better.

Oh, yeah.

It makes it nice and flat where
We can get up to the next tier.

Rather than building
Steps up over this,

I think it'd be good
To have a walk bridge

To walk across
That thing.

I think it'd be better
To walk flat right up there

As it will to try
To climb them over it.

I'd say
It can be done.

We decided we're going to
Go across the ravine...

It's 20 foot
To right here.

...Try to make
A walk bridge.

I'm thinking that that right
There is a straight tree.

It looks like
It's about 40 feet.

Use it for foot logs?

And then the boards
We've got down there.

-deck it out.
-yeah.

We love our trees,

But I love my knees and my back
And my ass a lot more.

I do, too.

Timber!

Whoo-hoo!

Right where we wanted it
To fall, babe.

Now that we got our tree
Down where we want it,

We got to delimb it...

[ grunts ]

...Cut it in our sections,

And we got to run it over
To get it laid

To where we want it
To build this bridge.

[ grunts,
Speaks indistinctly ]

Whew!

[ grunts ]

There she is.

Our ultimate goal is to have
This big distillery

Out in the woods, you know?

But in order for that to happen,
We've got to go through hell

And high water to get there.
But you know what?

It's going to be worth it in
The end when we get it finished.

One more stout, baby.

[ grunts ]

♪♪

Josh:
There ain't a damn thing with
Wheels, gears, tracks, or tires

Or an engine that I can't run.
I can just do it.

Narrator: three counties east
In north carolina,

Josh brings out the big guns
To break ground

On a new bunker-style
Still site.

Josh: I had to decide
To drive it up the creek.

I'm already going to make
A big enough eyesore out there

Working in the middle
Of the woods.

I don't need a road bed
Going to it.

Ah-ee!

Not bad for someone that don't
Run one everyday or never.

Now that I said that,

I'll probably turn
This son of a bitch over.

[ chuckles ]

Decided I'm building
A bunker-style site.

We're going to dig a hole,
Build a frame,

And it's going to be totally
Camouflaged, hid from the air.

Hot dog,
I love big-boys toys.

Due to the stable temperatures
And concealment

Offered by
A below-ground still site,

The vast network of caves

And abandoned mining tunnels
In the great smoky mountains

Have long provided a haven
For moonshiners

Dating back to the civil war

And josh is following
In that tradition

With a subterranean still site
Of his own.

I'm no stranger to building
An underground still site.

Built one.
It flooded out and molded.

Well, we learned
All the things not to do.

This year, I'm going to make
My masterpiece.

It's going to be great.

♪♪

It's getting real soft in here.

This ain't good.

This is what they call
Sugar dirt.

It's this more mica.
It's just so much of that.

Look at that.

That looked like a rock,
And the last thing I want to do

Is to be in there
Making moonshine

And then, wham,
Just collapse on me.

[ engine starts ]damn.

I can run a track hoe,
But all that jarring around

It's really bad on me.[ grunts ]

There's just no way
I keep on doing this

Right now
With my back the way it is.

I'm going to take
A little time off,

Give my back
Some time to heal.

If I don't,
I'm liable to be in a wheelchair

The rest of my life.

[ grunting ]narrator: coming up....

There's a little
Something in there.

...Raising the spirits
Of seasons past

In the moonshine capital
Of virginia.

Tickle: this right here is what
Moonshining is about --

Tradition passed down
From generation to generation.

-here we are, man.
-yes, sir.

Narrator:
In franklin county, virginia,

Locating a new still site
With the law brothers

Often means
Taking a step into the past.

So much liquor's been made
In this county, it's amazing.

You can go up any holler
You want to,

And you'll come up
On and old still site.

Hey, this is
An old still site here.

Henry:
Lot of history right here.

-yeah.
-must be from the early 1900s.

Early 1900s.
Yeah.

Look at some of these stills,
Man.

Come down here
And check this out.

Henry:
Look where they cut it.

It was cut.
You can see the slices in it.

Where the law has come in
And actually cut it.

There's a drain. Water boxes.
Mason jars.

Tickle: completely rotted
In the ground.

This right here,
To a moonshiner,

Is like graceland
To an elvis fan.

Everybody wants to talk about
The tradition of moonshining.

This is
The physical evidence.

Looky yonder.
Still got the top on it.

There's a little
Something in there.

They left you
A little taste.

This one has still got
Some liquor in it.

Ooh, henry,
He got a good glass full.

We run across these jars
Down here.

Half-gallon mason jars.
Rusted lids on the top.

-that's got a good bead on it.
-man, sure does.

Tickle: got to shaking it.

Some of it looks like
It's holding a bead.

Kenny: I belive
That's your real deal.

-that's shine.
-could be pee.

Could be pee.

It could be shine.
It could be water.

Hell, it could be pee.
You never know.

I tell you one way
To find out.

Can't get the top
Off of this.

Ah, uh-oh.
There we go.

Little bead on it didn't it.
Turn it up. Turn it up.

We weren't sure what was in it,
And I'd be dogged

If henry didn't stick
His finger in it and taste it.

[ lips smacking ]

[ coughing, spitting ]

Its not liquor.

[ laughs ]

That's a brave man right now,

'cause you never know
What it was.

I believe we could use
Some of these barrels here.

Get a few of these,
Patch them up.

You want to get
These things loaded up?

Yeah.

-saving that money.
-hell, this one looks good.

These food-grade plastic
Barrels, they're not cheap.

Any little bit of money
We can save

Is more money
In our pocket later on.

Yeah, that one right
Yonder's got a hole.

You can see where the law
Came in and took a pick ax...

So we'll run a bolt through that
To seal it off.

They don't want you to be
Able to use stuff anymore

But found out ways
To patch stuff.

I kind of like using
Those barrels.

That, to me, is a moonshiner
Giving the middle finger

Right to the law man going,

"You know what?

You might have slowed me down
Just a touch

But you ain't stopped me."

I just can't get over
The history that's right here.

This right here is what
Moonshining is about --

Tradition passed down
From generation to generation.

I can look at that rotten pot
In the ground

And tell what it did,
What it was used for,

How it really served to support
A family during tough times.

That's why moonshiners did
What they did to begin with.

Then later on, it turned into
A love of moonshine.

Henry: good deal, man.

That saved us
Several hundred dollars.

Tickle:
You ain't even kidding.

♪♪

♪♪

Barrel number one's
Good and clear.

Mark:
That one's deader than last
Years calendar, baby man.

Lets see what old
J.B. Looks like.

Oh, yeah, there ain't an ounce
Of cap left on that.

That's good enough
To drink all by itself.

Well let's set us up two pots,
Make two rinds,

Then we'll see
Where we're at.

Narrator:
In cocke county tennessee,
Mark and digger

Are firing up
Four back-to-back runs

In an attempt
To reverse-engineer

A popcorn sutton
Multigrain recipe

That was more than
A decade ahead of its time.

Digger:
There's one of these stills
Over here farted.

[ laughing ]
I bet it did.

Or you did one and then
Run off without it.

Get you to raise that cap up
Just a little bit.

Mark:
These are half barrels of mash,
Which is 25 gallons.

We're going to use
Two smalls stills,

Just enough to distill
This small amount.

We don't need to make
A whole big run of something

That's an experiment.

Looking good.

I'm going to get my mash
In here, puss.

After you're going to get yours,
I'm going to get mine.

Digger: on the first run,
I've got the one

That's got more barley,
And mark's got the one

That's got equal amounts
Of rye and barley.

Lets light them us,
Puss.

Light them up.

What I don't like
Is the waiting time.

Nah, I ain't crazy about it,
But its part of the game.

I've actually got a little bit
Of moisture right here

At the end of my worm,
Gathering up.

You ought to see a doctor
About that.

[ chuckles ]

I'm going to get ready here,
Baby man.

Me, too,
Because mine's hottie mchot.

Phew!
Reckon it won't be long now.

Yeah, I got a little liquor
Over here, puss.

It's what you looking for.

Pretty, little stream.

There we go. Hot dog.

I'm just going to
Catch them heads.

Yeah.

Narrator: the first few ounces
To come out of the still

Contain a colorless and odorless
Alcohol called methanol,

Which, if consumed,
Can cause illness or death.

I about got me
A jug full.

Lets see how much I can keep
From spilling here.

I ain't never
Not spilled none.

We've spilled
Enough liquor

To make every alcoholic
In the world cry.

Mark and digger's
First test run

Yields two-and-a-half gallons
Each of the high barley

And the balanced barley
Rye moonshine.

Well, we got one,
And we got three.

Now, we got to do two
And j.B.

Digger is running j.B.'s mash
In his second run,

And I'm running the extended
Amount of rye grain.

Digger:
Yeah, I believe that rye's

Going to be a little too
Powerful, but time will tell.

Rye is a very strong grain.

I think its going to just run
The barley flavor

Plum out of town.

I don't care
Which one of them is right.

I prefer it not be
J.B.'s.

Yeah, that's going to leave us
Wondering, if something happens.

Narrator: mark and digger's
Second run of the day

Produces two and half gallons
Each of the rye heavy liquor

And j.B.'s mystery blend.

Digger: hard part's over.

It ain't
If none of these is right.

Mark: you know, there's always a
Chance that none of these match

Popcorn's recipe that we found
That we're trying to recreate,

But we're going
To start sampling them,

See what happens,
And keep our fingers crossed.

Mash one.

Now, this is the one
With a whole lot of barley.

♪♪

Damn fine liquor.

It's close,
But it ain't right on it.

I can't really pick up
Very much of the rye.

This one is five pounds
Of rye,

Two-and-a-half pounds
Of barley.

I get leather.

[ laughs ]

Yeah. Across your ass.

Rye. Strong rye.

That'd make a good
Bloody mary, though.

The way
The market's going now,

People are going back
To grain liquor.

This is equal amounts
Of rye and barley.

But its not just corn,

It's blending
Some other grains with it.

If we can deconstruct this
Liquor and reverse-engineer it,

Because of popcorn's
Legend status,

We're going to make
The money off of it.

That's pretty close.

That's really, really good,
Puss.

Yeah, but there's a little more
Rye in that one right there.

Alright,
Let try the raider's here.

We're hoping that j.B.'s
Is not the one

Because we can't recreate it

'cause we don't know
Exactly what he's put in it.

♪♪

Hey, looky here.
Looky here.

Turtle shell.

You know what the native
Americans would do

With that, don't you?
-what's that?

They would make
Rattles out of it.

Cover it over like this
And put little rocks in it,

Make a little rattling
Sound for the baby,

Ceremonial dances,
And stuff.

You know what I'm going
To do with it?

Make a cup,
Something to drink water.

Unh-unh. This here's what
I'm going to do with it...

The average man
Will pick that up.

Hell, I did, right?

And I'm going to set it
Over here in this trail.

We'll sit it right there,

And if that thing's moved,
We know somebody's been here.

Turtle ain't in it. It ain't
Getting up and moving itself.

It won't walk by itself.

♪♪

♪♪

Hello.

What in the damn hell,
Son?

Narrator:
In sevier county, tennessee,

Mike finds his partner
In a compromising position.

Mike: I walk in the door,
And lo and behold,

I see him hanging upside down

From some kind of apparatus
I ain't never seen before.

You were supposed to meet me
This morning at the still site.

Well, I had to keep my spine
In line where its hurting me.

Well, what in the damn world
Is wrong with you?

We was fooling around
With them old logs and stuff.

My back's not been
Right since.

You look like
A damn vampire,

Damn bat or something.
-[ chuckles ]

I know you're in
A lot of pain,

But a damn phone call would've
Been good this morning.

As a moonshiner,
There's no sick days.

There ain't no calling in sick.
We don't get paid

Till we start making liquor
And getting it out.

Well, I hate that you're
Out of commission and all.

I mean, how long's
It going to be

Before you can come back
To work, son?

We got a lot
We've got to get done

And I know
Your hurting, obviously.

I don't know man.
Oh!

I can tell
That he's frustrated.

And I'm frustrated
Because god knows

I'd rather be out there
Than I would in the house.

You need to get healed up,
Buddy,

And, I mean,
I understand that 100%,

But, you know, we've got
A lot of work to do.

We got to make liquor
This year, bubba.

Mike:
You know, I have a goal

Of grossing at least $100,000
In cash.

This could be a devastating blow
To my season.

I think that we need
To call somebody in,

But I ain't kidding you,
Man.

There ain't but two people
In this whole world

That I'd trust knowing
Where that still site's at,

And that's us.

You don't have
A bunch of buddies

That you can trust
To come to a still site,

But I've got to keep
Moving forward,

So I'm going to have
To get somebody in here

To help me get the work
Finished.

You need to get yourself
Healed up

So you can come in there
And help me make some liquor.

♪♪

Alright, let's try
The raider's here.

♪♪

Ah, damn.

That's like the damn
"Young and the restless."

It'd bring tears
Your eyes.

There's no way we can say that
This liquor's not good liquor,

But it's hot liquor...

Let's put onions in it.

Maybe.

...And hot liquor's not what
We're looking for right here.

Well, we know
Raider's out.

We know this one's out.

Too much rye.
So we got three and one.

We could blend them
And see where we stand there.

Okay.

The number-one mash,

It's got a lot of barley in it
And not enough rye.

The number-three mash, it's got
Too much rye, not enough barley.

So, you know,
It only stands to reason,

We blend these two together,
It's closer to what we want.

See what you think.

[ speaks indistinctly ]

♪♪

♪♪

Wow.

By george,
I think we've got it.

Wow. Surely to gosh.

Couldn't have been that easy,
But it was.

Mark: we mixed mash one
And mash three together

And it equaled out
Very, very nicely.

I believe that's it.

When we'd start making

"The popcorn sutton
By mark and digger" liquor,

We stand to make a lot
Of money in today's market.

Jot down what this is,
The combining of these two.

These are just half barrels,
So we just add them together

And this will give us
The proper ratio for one barrel.

Alright, in one barrel,
20 pound of corn,

8 pound of barley,

5.5 pounds of rye
And 50 pounds of sugar.

50 pounds of sugar. That's good.
But I'm happy with it.

As it stands right now
With these two separate liquors

Mixing together, it's the exact
Flavor we're looking for,

But we don't know
What it's going to be

When it's made into mash
And then run from there.

Mark: this recipe has got to be
Followed to the damn "T."

Popcorn always told us
You can make 50 runs identical,

But you don't always get
The same results.

It's just the nature
Of the beast.

I think that'll work.

Missed.

Somebody might be
Getting over served.

♪♪

Hey, tim,
How's it going?

Yeah, man.
What you doing?

Not a whole lot.

Been doing a little work,
But --

Yeah, that's what
I've been doing, too.

Narrator: in
Culpepper county, virginia,

Moonshine's prodigal son
Stops in on a lifelong friend.

Look, I got something
I need to talk to you about.

Yeah, and?

I-I-I-I had to come clean
And tell you.

Eh, you know,
I've been --

I've been running
Out in the woods

With henry and kenny a lot,
Making illegal shine with them.

Yeah.

That's dangerous.
-yeah.

And, hell, you just got
Out of jail not too long ago.

You know what'll happen.

Well, you know, tim,

I've been thinking
About it and stuff.

I can really make my mark
In the illegal world.

But in the legal world,
I just feel like

I'd just be another guy
Working at a distillery,

9:00 to 5:00,
Time to make the doughnuts.

Well, I mean, I feel like
That sometimes,

But I'm just missing
You being around.

I can make money here
In the legal side.

I can make a whole lot more
Right off on the illegal side.

And you done been both places.
You know that.

I know, I know, I know.
But what if you do get caught?

The time lost -- you can't
Make up that time lost.

No I-I can't. I mean,
But do you see my side?

I do see your side.

I look at you doing something
That you love doing.

Yeah.

Been in my blood and, you know,
My whole life, I've been in it.

It's addictive,
And it's almost like a drug.

You kind of get
A high off of it,

And, hey, I get it
And all that.

But on the other side,
I don't get it,

Because you got
So much more

And to look forward to
And so much more in life.

Tim, if you need me
And you call me, I'll be there.

Just like I know
You'll be there if I need you.

Yeah, I'll come
Visit you in jail.

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, the moo cows.

[ horn honks lightly ]oop.

Oh-ho-ho, attaboy.
[ clapping ]

Come on, now, son.

Its front foot
Must be hurting

'cause its trying to get up
On that other one's back.

Go help him, mark.
[ chuckles ]

One state southwest,
Mark and digger

Are on the hunt
For a secure still site

Where they can make
Large-scale runs of their mentor

Popcorn sutton's long
Lost multi-grain whiskey recipe.

I might have to put it
Four-wheel get it.

We don't want to
Dig us a trench, do we?

Mark: people are lining up

And requesting more and more
Multi-grain whiskeys.

So popcorn was
A little bit ahead of his time,

And we stand to make
An incredible amount of money

If things go the way
We want them to.

Boy, I like the dad-jim
Secluded, though.

Farmer friend of ours,
He got some property

And he said
We was welcome to it.

We know for a fact
It's secure location.

So we're going to look
And see.

You know, we don't want
Anything for nothing.

This land belongs to people,

And they need to be
Compensated some way,

And, usually, we will trade them
Some refreshments

For the use of their property.

Let's check it out.

Okay.

Yeah, right up yonder

Would be a great spot
If there's water.

Boy, it's nice here, though.
I love this spot.

It's cool right here,
Too.

It's really a super place.
It's not unmanageably steep.

A lot of room to spread out
If we need to.

It's really a nice place.

He's feeding his cattle
Way too good.

Them cow turds
Are staying together.

I know. Usually,
They're just in a patty.

A patty, you know, they just
Splatter every which way.

Damn, here's a big'n.

A man would eat on that
For a week, wouldn't he?

[ chuckles ]
Don't let me be down,

Picking my teeth here
Or digging in my nose.

You probably will
Anyhow.

You know, initially,
This site looks great,

But, still,
We haven't established

The proper water supply yet.

That little branch there
Is dry.

Yep.

I think he said there's one
On -- on over yonder.

We just crossed
This little ridge,

Walked down a little ways,

And there is a nice,
Nice branch of water.

Wow.

That's the finest
Little spring right there.

♪♪

Boy, it's good.

The water is nice and cool,
Tastes very, very sweet.

You know, it's good water.

Appears to be exactly
What we're looking for.

I like it, puss.
-I love it.

Damn fine water, good cover.
We're in business.

Primo, primo.

♪♪

♪♪

Daniel hurt his back,
And I don't know how long

He's going to be out and I feel
Like I'm falling behind,

But if I can get
Another good man on board,

I can get back on schedule.

Narrator: one county west,
After a back injury

Sidelined his partner,

Mike is in desperate need
Of some experienced help.

I'm going to go down here
To this little barn

And meet a buddy of mine, jerry.

My plan for moonshining this
Season is to make at least

$100,000 and build more
Of a permanent site.

So I've decided I was going to
Call jerry benson in to help me.

I usually wouldn't
Pull in somebody else,

But I know this guy
And I trust him.

Hopefully he'll be on board
To help me.

If not, I am dead in the water.

-hey, jerry.
-what's going on, buddy?

Oh, man, in a damn bind.

I'm glad you're over here
To make me.

Oh, mercy.
What ya got going on?

Well, a lot of stuff.

Daniel has hurt
His back awful bad.

I don't know when he'll be
Back on board with me.

I know you've

Run liquor in the past.

It's been a long time.

And you know the codes
Of moonshining.

Absolutely.

Of not saying nothing,
And that's,

That's the biggest reason
I got you standing in this barn

Right now.
I'm needing some help.

We've got a lot of carpentry
Work to be done,

Staircases, bridges.

We're building a house
To run this liquor in?

[ both laugh ]
No.

It's just the terrain
To get to the steel site

That I've found, it's real
Treacherous getting to it.

We're going to have
To build staircases

Up a sheer cliff mountain.

Oh, man.It's going to be a lot.

And if I tried to do
All this by myself,

I mean, I'd never
Make it before I fall.

Well, you're down a man,
You're down a man.

And when you know that you can't
Do something on your own,

You've got to
Call on some damn body.

[ sighs ]you know, I don't want to

Pressure you
Into helping me.

I mean,
You make the decision.

I know the considerations
And stuff like that

That comes along
With all this.

Jerry's turned to be
A law abiding citizen,

But once you're a moonshiner,
You always a moonshiner.

I feel like he'll come
On our way.

It's been a long time
And kind of got out of that.

You know, started a family,
Started working,

You know, all the actual
Legal parts of it.

I'll have to do some long, hard
Thinking about that.

It's been a long time.

I understand, buddy.
I really do.

But I need the help,

And I mean, that's
All there is to it.

Do the thinking, and I'll let
You make your decision.

That's fair enough,
Ain't it?

Fair enough,
All you can ask.

Jerry: you know, there's
Probably a little hesitation

In the back of my mind.
I mean, you get caught,

I mean, you're going to jail.
There's just no questions asked.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm making alcohol the same way
Now that I did years ago

With my dad growing up.

I'm just in
A legal distillery now.

But I just want to go back
And taste some of this good

Franklin county shine anyway.

Yeah.

Narrator: in southwestern
Virginia, tickle is taking tim

Through the hills
Of franklin county,

Known since prohibition as the
Moonshine capital of the world.

You know, since
You've been legal,

Just about everybody that
I tell about your

Legal moonshine to, they say
"Yeah but it ain't

The same as in the woods,
Is it?"

I know!
They always say that

Yeah, that's the first thing
Everybody always says.

Tickle: you know,
Tim he's legal now,

He's got a big operation
Going on,

And it's easy to lose touch
With your roots

When you get that busy.

Good to go back and touch bases
With where you started from.

Well, this part of the world
Here is where it all comes from.

Yeah.

I believe if I get him back
In the woods

Just for a little bit, it'll
Remind him where he came from.

You get back in the woods
With some old fellas

Doing it small,
Like it was originally done.

Yeah.That breed of people is

Quickly dying off
In this world.

Can't beat tradition
If nobody caries it on.

Do I want tim to give up
His legal business?

Absolutely not.

I just want to remind him,

Here's where you came from,
And this is my draw to it.

Maybe that could help
Both of us out.

Y'all the whitlock brothers?

Yeah.
How you doing?

Tickle.
Berkley.

-hey.
-perry.

-and berkley.
-yeah. I was told y'all was

Going to maybe stop by.

What y'all got going on here?
What kind of shop do you got?

Like a little garage
Or something going on?

Tire shop.
Tire shop.

Everybody don't
Drink moonshine,

But about everybody
Has a tire or two.

Yeah, yeah everybody
Needs a tire.

Moonshiners even got
To have tires.

That's right.

Perry and berkley whitlock,
They're typical moonshiners.

By day, they're working
At the tire shop.

Super heroes have this alter ego
And this whole other life.

Moonshiners are the same way.

We just looking at this history
And the heritage

And how you got started,
Where you came from.

Maybe it's in your family
Or whatever.

We moonshiners, too, but when
I was back in the woods,

I was just working,
Trying to make a dollar,

Doing what my dad
Told me to do, and that's it.

Well, that's all
There was to do.

That's all we knew, too.

You had to
Feed your family.

It's a way of life
For you?

Everybody thinks
It's an easy job,

But it's really not.

You know, a little bit
Of work to it.

Dangerous work.

Tickle: a whole lot easier
To work a regular job

Than it is to
Make moonshine.

Speaking of still places,
Y'all got one set up

Somewhere around here?

We got a little
Bitty one

We could maybe show y'all.

Y'all got it set up now?

We got it ready to match in.Okay.

We got it leveled down
And all.

Y'all fellas
Lead the way.

I'm always ready
To make moonshine.

All right.

Narrator: coming up...

How's it feel to be coordinated,
There, grace?

...The real work begins on
Reviving popcorn's

Legacy liquor.

Digger: normally we're not
Exact, but with this recipe,

We don't want to mess up.

♪♪

See that creek down there?
See that?

That's nice right there.

I mean, that's clear.
I can see the bottom.

Yes, that right there
Would be some good water

To make some moonshine.

That's why these hills
Are full of moonshine stills.

Narrator: in franklin county,
Virginia, tim and tickle follow

Moonshiners perry
And berkley whitlock

Back to the woods
To rediscover their roots.

Well, we're here, fellas!

Tim: me and tickle are out here
Meeting the whitlock brothers.

They brought us in here up
In the mountains

And finally got us to there
Into the distill site.

Yeah, I got it.

You know, I believe
One of the reasons

Tim's come out here is because
You just can't take the woods

Out of an old moonshiner.

As the old saying goes,

"Boy don't forget
Where you came from."

-thank you.
-mm-hmm.

Tim: you know, I have
An illegal background

In moonshining
And now went commercial.

Come and flick it
On, y'all.

But I don't want
To lose that contact,

I don't want
To lose the heritage.

There you go.

You know,
That's a small pot,

But I'll tell you what, you get
More love in a small batch.

Tim: first time I ever ran
A still, my dad took me

To the still site.

I can remember
That big old still.

We had three or four of us.
We'd get behind it and push it.

And we got down there.
I started thinking about it,

And I said, "How in the hell
Are we going to get it

Out of here?"

[ laughter ]I said, "We on a one way trip."

Either it gets caught or you
Burn the bottom out of it.

-yep.
-well, I guess we better

Mash this in right here.Okay, go.

Tickle: I guess it always feel
Good to go back into the woods,

Come out here
With perry and berkley.

It's almost like
We're old friends,

That's the thing
About moonshine,

You know, it's a lot
Of tradition in it.

I got that
Tattooed on my back.

Okay, that's right.

That's the thing
You just can't stop.

You might quit for a little bit,
But you're missing it,

You want to get back to it.

Tim: it's nice to connect
The good old guys.

I understand
How it can attract you

And pull you back
Into the woods, I can see that.

So y'all got caught
When you was younger?

Yeah, they come running in
From over like over here.

They hollered,
"Berkley don't run."

There was about
Eight of them coming in.

How much did they bust you with?
How much had you run?

Had like six or seven cases
In proofing barrel.

Yeah, yeah.
You had evidence.

Anyways, they estimated
How much liquor we'd made.

-estimated?
-estimated.

-well.
-I had 800 gallons.

800 gallons.
What was the estimate?

267,000 in tax dollar loss.

Mm.

I ended up with a flat year.
'97. Turned 25 in jail.

I was sitting in there
When dale earnhardt won

The daytona 500.

That's the memory, huh?Yeah.

It's darn near inevitable
If you stay in the woods,

Eventually you're going to
Wind up in jail.

They wanted amos,
Who was wanted the most.

Me and him got
The most time.

I got mine for not talking.

-yeah.
-the whitlock brothers,

It's almost like
The kennedy's.

You know, the kennedy's
Have some bad luck.

Well, the whitlocks had a lot of
Bad luck, too, in moonshining.

But these guys
Are still in the woods,

Still producing moonshine,
Still carrying on a heritage.

-how's that mash looking?
-it looks good.

I believe it about ready.

Tickle: perry and berkley,
They're carrying on

The tradition.

You know, I don't see
If there's a thing

In the world wrong with that.

What do you rag reckon, five,
Six days about this temperature?

-yeah.
-let's get out of here.

-yeah, yeah.
-we'll see y'all fellas

In about a week.

We'll be here.

♪♪

Jerry: yeah, I see what
You're talking about

As far as this terrain.

Mike: it's straight up down
Right down through there.

Yeah, you sure don't want to
Make no mistakes up here.

So be damn careful as we're
We're working together.

Daniel's already hurt.

Can't afford for you
To get hurt either.

Narrator: one state southwest
In tennessee,

Mike and a hired hand
Forge ahead on

The massive build project.

I'll be glad to get
These footboards on.

[ chainsaw motor revs ]

I'm not really sure about
The whole running liquor part,

But this building project,
I mean, it's not illegal to make

No stairs in the woods,
And some extra

Money always comes in handy.

Mike: all right, mother nature
Has offered up

One of the best places
That we could find,

But we've got to
Make it accessible

And make it safe enough for us
To get our stuff up here.

Well, these are the footboards
That go on out main beams.

So we can have a good level
Bridge to walk across.

What we're doing here,
We're spacing our boards

With a carpenter pencil.

You don't want them
Perfectly together

Because that way water
Can run through.

[ chainsaw motor revs ]

Whoa *bleep*

You've got to stay
In the middle now.

Uh-oh, board down.

Dang it.
I tell you what, man.

It's straight down
To the bottom, to the bedrock.

One wrong move, a man's
Going to the hospital

Or he's going to the grave.

Jerry: man, look at that.
Solid as a rock.

Whoo-hoo!

You gonna go for a ride?Yeah, boy!

Whoo! Used to ride bulls.
I forgot about that.

I'm no damn
Bull rider no more.

My grandpa always said
That's when you get hurt,

When you horseplay.

We're taking every safety
Precaution that we can with

Each step that we've taken.

-how's it feel?
-I like it.

But ultimately, there's nothing
You can do in these mountains

To keep yourself 100% safe.

-how about them shingles now?
-we got to get 'em.

-look at that.
-perfect.

-man, that feels better already.
-this lumber when it gets wet,

It gets really slick.

You know, shingles got
Little rocks, grit,

That get good tread.

That way, a man don't slip
And bust his rear end.

You know hold
When daniel old got hurt?

You know, he might be playing
Damn hooky on me.

Maybe waiting till all
This hard work's done

Where he can get up there
At the still site and say,

"Oh, man, look what
We've got accomplished."

[ laughter ]

But we got our damn shingles on,
Let's start a handrail.

-oh, yeah, good idea.
-just a little something

To hold on to.

Basically what we're doing
Is installing

Some fence posts out of rebar.

Run a rope through them
And drive them in the ground,

And you have something
To hold on to.

There we go. That makes it
A lot little better, doesn't it?

Oh, this makes me
Feel better.

Alright, we're all done
For the day.

We've got so much to do,

Jerry's really
Putting out the work.

He's carrying more than
Two men's loads for me out here.

I couldn't have done this
Without you, man.

Let's start
Our next project.

Come on.

♪♪

♪♪

Oh, the moo cows.

They're nosey little bastards.

[ cows mooing ]

[ imitates mooing ]

Narrator: one county east,
Mark and digger arrive at their

New still site to scale up
Production on

The triple grain liquor
Made famous by

Tennessee moonshiner
Popcorn sutton.

Man that gets in the front,
He's got open all the gates.

We've got to go
Through the main gate

And then two electric fences
To get up here to it.

The principle behind this is
I'm in front, I'll open the gap,

I'll drive on through
And give mark enough room

To pull through.

Then he closes the gap.

Hurry, them cows is a coming.

*bleep* damn it.

You let the cows out.

Damn. One thing, the man
That owns this property said,

"Don't let the cattle out."

When that string went down,
That bar went down --

I didn't know it let the whole
Damn fence down.

Mark: before I could get through
And get the gap closed back,

They realized it,
And damn here they went

Right through over the fence.

We got to get them
Back in here, puss.

What about trying to herd
Them back down this away.

Rough as this task of getting
These damn cows back up,

We ain't got no choice,
We got to.

If we don't, we're done for,
We're going to get evicted.

[ whistles ] come on!

Come on, girls and boys.

Come on.
I got a treat for you.

We've gone from moonshiners
To being damn cowboys.

Come on, let's go.

We ain't never going to
Get them off this green grass.

You know, usually you can
Get behind cattle,

And they'll go
Straight to a gap.

-come here, girls.
-that's not working right now.

These cattle are
On good lush grass,

They don't want to leave it.

Come on, girls.

Let's see how this works out.

We got to get the cows.

Beating the day. You forgot your
Roses there, dalai lama.

Usually they'll come
Just to see what it is.

They ain't never seen a real
Cow whisperer before.

Let's go, girls.
Come on.

Damn it.

[ cows mooing ]

We're never going to get them
Out of them woods.

[ cow moos ]

♪♪

Mark:
We got to get the cows.

Damn it.

We're never going to get them
Out of them woods.

The one thing that's not
Mentioned in

The moonshiners handbooks,
Rounding up damn cattle.

I get to thinking, I said,

"Well, these cattle been
Fed out of feed sacks."

[ whistles ]

If you want to get a cow
To come to you,

You got to have
Some cow chow.

Come on, time to eat.

Well, I ain't never seen
A bunch of damn cows

That wouldn't eat before.

Well, they can't see you.
Keep rattling that bag.

[ bag rattling ]

I don't know what
To do about them.

Come on. There we go.

Oh, that first bitch,
She figured out what it is.

[ bag rattling ]

All it takes is one
To come on home.

Yeah, make them
Follow you.

Come on. [ whistles ]
Come on. Come on.

[ whistles ]

Damn digger is
The pied piper.

I'm the damn
Heifer whisperer.

[ chuckles ]

Come on.
You get them way on down here.

Digger found a feed bag
And started shaking it,

And they come.

Digger almost got them back
Through the gate,

But the cows are still where
They're not supposed to be.

We need to get them back
Where they belong.

It's hard,
I'm telling you,

It's hard to get them off
Lush green pasture.

Coming back
Home into scrub *bleep*

The guys that's kind enough
To let us be here,

He has his cows in designated
Areas for a reason.

He just mowed this field of hay,
And it's fresh and green,

And he's wanting it to start
Coming back for a second cut.

And so he don't want
The cows in on it.

Come on.

Come on. [ whistles ]

Come on.

We needed to get them all
To come through the gate

Before I could get through
And get the gap closed back.

The cows are lurking around.

We got to round up
These critters.

We got to put them back
Where they belong.

I'm going to have to
Bait them in little bit.

Hell, we don't know
What we're doing.

It's a cow.
It ain't liquor.

Come on.

Come on, look at that.

Attagirl.

Slip up around and close
The gap here in a second.

You know, there's one thing
I can say, I'm a lot of things,

But a cowboy ain't one of them.

Well, let's make some mash.

Hell, yeah.

♪♪

♪♪

You ready to get
Cutting on some logs now?

-yeah.
-think we'll start right here.

Just making us
A path up the hill.

Narrator: one county west,
Mike and jerry are fighting

An uphill battle building
An access route

To their still site.

Mike: there's basically one way
To get to our still site,

And that's to
The right of the creek,

Straight up the mountain, and
We've got old fallen dead logs.

We've got to cut
A pretty clean path

To start building
Our staircases.

Whoo-hoo!

-that joker's solid.
-they still green and that, man.

What are you thinking?
-we can nail our stringers into

That halfway up through here.

There's two major damn
Micro points.

We'll tie it to it.

All right.

It rolled right over.

Ride this son of a bitch
Like a damn slide.

Come on, boys.

Well, then, I guess
The next thing we need to do

Is go get some
Materials, buddy.

Let's do it, man.

We're going to carry
Enough material in to do

One section of steps.

Whew.
It's that damn one incline

Right there that gets me.

Let's go up here
To our two trees

That we got
On the ground.

Go ahead
And get our pins set.

That'll give us an anchor point
To go up there with.

The first thing we got to do
Is get our holes drilled

In the logs
To put our stakes in.

That's going to be
Our foundation

Of this whole set of steps.

-plumb to the ground.
-this is our anchor point.

We've got to get these laid
In here, get them squared up.

Then we can start our stairs,
One step at a time.

Let's go horse
That stringer up here.

Man, I tell you what,
On flat ass ground,

It'd go together in
15, 20 minutes.

But here, you're steadily
Sliding, slipping,

Trying to place a foot.

It's just so awkward
To get everything in position.

But me and jerry,
We're getting it done.

We got our first stringer
Laid in.

Now, drag the other stringer
Up here,

Anchor it in, start putting
Our foot boards down.

We'll have a set of stairs
Built and ready to go.

-don't ruin your bit.
-I can't help it.

If you screw that bit up,
We're going to have to

Walk back out here
And get another one.

Son of a bitch.That's good for right now.

It's good to work with jerry
Because he don't get frustrated.

Me, I just want
To get it done.

I can't get to the fricking
Third hole because it's a log.

Jerry: you know,
Mike's trying to fight.

He wants to get three screws
In the one side,

And in some sense,
It's kind of comical.

He's fighting
Over there with it.

I mean, it's a screw,
You know?

*bleep*
That third hole, man.

Fixin' to get stupid
In a minute, I'm telling you.

When you get frustrated
And you're fighting

Something so hard
And you think you're winning,

You're actually fighting
A losing damn battle,

Ain't gonna happen.

Ain't gonna able
To put the two in it.

I'm just trying to overkill it.

In the long run,
It will be just damn fine.

[ grunts ]

We're making progress now.

We're trying to get
All these steps in.

We get our steps in, we can do
A little more brace work,

And this section's done.

We're good. We're level.

[ drills whirring ]

Sturdy, ain't it?

That sucker don't move,
Does it?

Hell, no.

Watch this last step.
It's a bitch.

Well, that's going
To soon change.

More than enough done today.
We done damn good, buddy.

I'm excited to see
The rest of it.

♪♪

♪♪

Mark: well, see if we can get
Our hose in the stream

Over yonder
And get that flowing.

Yeah, let's
Get that flowing.

I'll put the hose into here.

All right.
Damn it.

He's an agile cat.

That's my little
Ninja buddy.

Narrator: one county east,
In a quest for bigger profits,

Mark and digger are kicking off
Their first large scale

Run of the season --

A triple grain whiskey
Once made by popcorn sutton.

Come on, son.

That's about a poor stream
Of water, ain't it.

It's like jb
Trying to piss.

We've had a lot of success
In perfecting this mash recipe

For popcorn sutton's
Legacy liquor.

I'm going to
Get this stuff in here

So we can get
To cooking.

Narrator: to recreate one of
Popcorn's best batches

Of liquor, mark and digger
Ran four experimental mashes

And successfully reverse
Engineered the recipe.

By george, I think we've got it.

-there we go.
-oh, yeah.

Mark: this will be
Our first mash in at the farm.

It's a new location, and we're
Really excited about it.

I think this is going to be
An outstanding seller for us.

Digger: we got to get
Busy and weighing.

What about some sugars?

There's 25 pounds.

You know, one barrel of mash
Always calls

For 50 pounds of sugar.

25 pounds in each one
Of these buckets we brought.

People like anything
They can get

That's associated
With popcorn sutton.

Most people know that
We were very close to him.

So I think they will be eager
To buy this liquor recipe

That's actually his,
But digger and I produced.

Have you done measured
That corn meal out?

No, we've got to measure it out
For each barrel.

20 pound.Yep.

How's it feel to be coordinated,
There, grace?

All right, meal...
20.

10 and 10 is how we're
Going to do this, I guess.

Digger: we measured the grain
On a small scale

To get as close
To the taste as we could,

So the flavor profile's good.

We don't want to vary
From that any at all.

Normally, we're not exact,

But with this recipe,
We don't want to mess it up,

So we're being exact
With our measurements.

Damn. I'll tell you now,
That's right on the damn money.

The grain bill that goes into
This mash is 20 pound of corn.

*bleep* splashed up
On me and scald myself.

5 1/2 pounds of malted rye,

And then there's eight pounds
Of good rolled barley.

-eight pounds.
-now we go back to putting it

In there by hand.

Mark: popcorn would
Have a hissy fit

If he'd seen you were
Doing that right there.

He'd probably disown
Us, puss.

Oh, there ain't no doubt
If popcorn had

Any more fight left in him,

He's kicking all the dirt
Off his grave right now

Just the fact we're using
A set of scales.

We've got to measure and weigh
This grain diligently.

We need to be a stirring
While it goes.

Looks like a lot of grain,
Don't it?

Yep.
Smells good, though.

A slice to
The granary, ain't it?

Yep.

The only thing that
We're worried about

Is keeping that flavor
Profile the same

From that bottle we tasted

To keeping it consistent
To this point on a bigger scale.

Well, puss, we've got this
Legacy corn liquor mashed in.

Now, this right here...

[ slurps ]
...That mash is right on.

I'll come back in here
Later on tonight

And try my best to keep
The cattle out again

And pitch this yeast
And get the *bleep* to work.

I believe we've done all
The damage we can do here, puss.

Narrator: coming up...

I say it's about time
To fire this thing up.

Now, that's a nice little
Burner right there.

Narrator: ...Two long time
Partners light up

A back wood still.

Tim: yeah, she getting
Hot in there.

-ooh, yeah.
-oh, yeah.

♪♪

Tim:
All right, let's go, tick.

I see some movement
Down there.

Yeah. Yeah,
They already down here.

Hey, fellas.
How's that mash looking?

Oh, she ready.

She's ready to roll, huh?

Narrator: old habits die hard in
Virginia as tim and tickle

Join two outlaw shiners
To run a batch of corn shine.

-what do you think of that?
-oh, yeah.

Mm-hmm.
I'll tell you what.

That's good stuff there.

I say it's about time
To fire this thing up,

What do you think?

All right, bud.

Tim: now, that's a nice
Little burner right there.

Tell you what,
For a pot that size,

That's a perfect burner.

You'd almost think
It was made for it.

You'd almost think it was,
Wouldn't you?

When we first met these guys
Down at the tire shop,

They brought us in here,
Up in the mountains,

And we mashed in,
And now we're back.

The alcohol's starting
To come up now.

We're kind of excited about it.
We're getting ready to run it.

We're going to see
What this little thing can do.

They done capped the still off.

The still is gonna start
Building that pressure.

And berkeley, he's putting
Some paste around there,

And that's going to seal up.

And when that vapor starts
To come off that mash,

It's going to start
To collect in here,

And once it collects,
It's going to come down

The arm, down to the doubler,

All the way down to the bottom,
And then it distills again.

That's why they call it
A doubler.

Then when it hits
This condenser over here,

It's going to hit cold water,
And as it keeps going on down,

It gets cooler, cooler,
Cooler, cooler,

And that vapor
Will turn back to liquid.

And that liquid
Is going to be moonshine.

These are our roots.
The old ways. They're good ways.

This is why
I want to be in the woods.

Yeah, she getting
Hot in there.

-ooh, yeah.
-oh, yeah.

She's coming on out of there.

Would y'all want to teach
Y'all's kids about this

To pass it on
To the next generation?

It's a tough decision,
Ain't it?

You want them to know,

But then you don't
Want them to do it.

-right.
-yeah.

I think that's it.

I'd hate to see one of my kids
Going to jail.

Well, that's why
I went legal,

To show my son
How to do it.

Because I didn't want him
To go to jail.

I want him to know about
The real deal and pass it on.

Commercial today,
They're not really talking

About the roots
Of where all this came from.

Oh, yeah,
She's coming right now.

I don't want to lose
The heritage.

I don't want to lose
Where I came from, really.

In the very beginning,
You're getting

Some of those acetone
And ethanol coming out of there

That those are the things
What we call the heads.

Those are things
That we don't drink.

Once you get to
The good clean stuff...

We gonna drink?

Just being back in the woods,
Just the smell of it...

Let's swap them jars out
And see what we got.

...You get to feel that cap
Getting hot,

And then it comes out that worm,
It's special really.

It's just something about it.

Ah! Ain't bad,
Pretty good little bite.

It's nice to just go back
And connect

To the good old guys
Back in the woods,

Making a living, like I did
And where I come from.

It might be
A little warm, but...

Yeah, that'll put
Heat in you.

I think if we don't preserve
This some kind of way

After so many more years
And a few generations,

We're going to forget all about
Our history

And our background and our
Heritage of moonshining.

If we just let this thing die,

They could be the last
Of the mohicans here.

-that'll warm you up.
-ah!

♪♪

♪♪

Pretty over in here,
Ain't it?

Yeah. Good farm land.

Narrator: one state southwest
In tennessee, mark and digger

Cross county lines
To stop in on a rival shiner.

We're doing it for
The right reason,

And that's
All that matters.

Digger came to me,
And he had some information

From a friend of a friend,
That daniel,

My ex-partner had been hurt,
Not been able to work.

He hadn't been able
To make any liquor.

So we just decided,
With no hesitation,

That we need to help him
If we can.

You know, really and truly,
Daniel did the right thing

When he stepped up
The plate

And helped mike pay off
His damn debt to us.

Narrator: last season...

What's good for the goose
Is good for the gander.

...Mike found himself
Deep in debt to mark and digger.

We want $7,500 for our still
That you blowed up.

That ain't no offer.
This is a damn order.

Narrator: but his friend daniel
Stepped up to the plate

And helped mike pay it off.

$2,700 is what
We owe you.

You boys just done
The honorable thing by us.

Can't ask a man
To do more than his word.

Mnh-mnh.

I put that behind me,
That little faux pas

That we had
With them, that's --

That's water
Under the bridge.

That's water
Under the bridge.

This it?

Brown house up here
With the green roof?

You know, daniel,
We consider him a friend.

Yep, there's his truck.

I've been in shoes before,

And I'm going to do everything
I can to help the boy.

Oh, he's a hobbling,
Though, ain't he?

Don't shoot, daniel.

I ain't going to shoot
Nobody wearing overalls.

If you shoot, start with him
If you don't care.

The last boys
I expected to see here.

We heard you was
A little stove up, buddy.

I'm telling you what I am.
I'm lost.

We heard you was

[ speaks indistinctly ]
Crippled.

Daggone old log was makin'
A foot log out of to walk on.

It got the best of me.

Heard something
In my lower back pop.

When you hear something sound
Like velcro separating

And you taste blood,
You know something went wrong.

It ain't no good, boys.
I'm telling you it ain't.

Don't make it.
Don't lie.

-hell, it'll get worse.
-yeah.

We got something back here
We want you to look at.

Yeah, we heard you
Might be

A little down
On your luck right now.

We knowed you ain't working.
So come out.

Come out of here
And look at this.

Okay.

Going from what I was doing

To letting my back heal up,
It ain't paying no bills.

I'm not making
Any liquor right now

So I'm not making any money.

-he get madder than --
-them son of a guns

Is rough
Up here, boy.

What in the hell?
Are you kidding me?

♪♪

Uh-oh. Ooh.

My damn boot's
Stuck in the mud.

Damn.

*bleep*

-[ laughs ]
-step on the gas line?

All fun and games until your
Help falls over into the fire.

You're trying to show us
What not to do there, berkeley?

You ever set one
Of these things on fire?

Berkley: I blowed a cap off
While one was running.

That mash was in the air like
A mushroom.

In the building, too.

Freak accidents.
I mean, you never know.

Yeah, tickle had the cops
Try and arrest him,

And he went over a hundred miles
An hour, hit the tree.

Yes.

Jumped out the truck

And left it in reverse running
And ran over himself.

It fractured my skull.

They actually had
To put screws in there.

Doctor told me
I had to be awake for it.

If you start drooling,
I know I drilled too deep.

[ laughter ]

Frankenstein!

They went in too deep.

I missed two days of work
Over that.

♪♪

So, if you want to stay here
On this flat.

On the flat?

You see anything flat?[ laughs ]

Narrator:
In sevier county, tennessee,

Mike and hired hand jerry battle
Rugged terrain to construct

A safe route to
The new still site.

Tie it off to that post
Right there.

I've got this big goal
This season of making $100,000,

But I'm in the middle
Of my construction.

I've got so far to go before

I can even get set up
And get to running.

I just got to put one foot
In front of the other

And keep moving forward.

We got our middle section
Of our staircase in.

We've got to start
On the bottom side,

But those strings
Are going to be twice

As long as
The middle section is.

[ chainsaw motor runs ]

Boy, that's going
To be a monster.

We've got to cut
A 2x10 in half

To scab it together to create
One long actual beam.

I'm scabbing it, and she's done.

Now we got to pick
This bastard up

And get it drug into place.

[ grunts ]

Be careful, jerry.

The rocks are slimy.
It's slick.

We'll never get nobody
To the hospital in time

To save their life if a man
Busted his head just right.

[ grunts ]

Oh! Ah!

Get a screw in it.

We'll have to get
Some steps in here, boy.

Oh! *bleep*

Dang, we getting muddy.

We have to put treads in.

We're working our way
To the top.

Go to the chopper!

Oh, perfect. It's in there like
A hair in a biscuit.

Won't go no damn where.

One thing I really
Like about mike,

He tries to make a good time
No matter what we're doing.

Son of a pop, pop, pop, pop,
Pop, pow.

Beautiful.

Jerry and myself been
Busting our rear end

Putting these last set of stairs
In, and we've worked hard.

Lot of sweat, blood, and tears
Has went into this project.

All right.

It's been treacherous
The whole journey through,

But it's got to be near perfect
For me to make my goal.

That'll do it.
I'm on top of the world, son.

Now we'll just got
To get some handrails in.

If a man goes over right there,
He's damn killed.

We're working up a steep cliff,

And on the left hand side
Of the staircase

Is pretty much
Just straight down to rock.

I'll tell you what, old j-bud,

These hand rails is going to
Come in damn handy.

We've got such
A good staircase now,

We're just as well
To put handrails on it,

Make it that much
More safer for us.

Last one, old buddy.
Camouflage time, and we're done.

You know, since I've been
A little bitty baby,

I've always loved
Playing with fire.

I've got a torch
That can burn that wood in

And blend it
Into our surroundings.

And that's permanent camouflage,
Once you burn it in.

I think that looks good,
Don't you?

Jerry: what a difference
It made, man.

I appreciate
Your damn help, son.

But you ain't
Finished yet.

I trust old jerry.
I'm going to take him up there

And let him see
The actual still site.

Here we are, jerry. Look how
Pretty and flat this is, buddy.

Oh, my gosh.

See why I wanted to put it
In all that hard work.

And plenty of overhead
Cover, too.

Absolutely.
You know, buddy,

You've done an awful lot
Of damn work up here for us.

And obviously I know
You've tinkered around

A little bit with liquor.

What do you think about teaming
Up with us for this year?

That's a lot to think
About. I mean --

It is.

It's kind of
A risky business.

Oh, yeah.
I know you got family.

With jerry, he's got
A lot of thinking to do

When it comes to him
In his home life.

But I can see it through his
Eyes as his wheels are turning.

But you just keep it
Under your hat.

You just think about it, buddy.All right, man.

All right.
Will do.

♪♪

Mark: we got something out here
We want you to look at.

-he'll get madder than --
-them son of guns

Is rough up here, boy.

We brought you
A little bit of liquor.

What in the hell?

Sell, give away,
Do whatever you want to,

Kind of tide you over.

No kidding. That ought to pay
The chiropractor bills.

It's decent liquor.

That's good liquor
Is what that is, boys.

We got four boxes here
We brought for you

To do with as you see fit.

And if I sell this at
$300 a case,

That's $1,200, boys,
You're giving me right here.

That's all right.
It's what mountain people do.

We help each other.

You don't understand.
I appreciate it

From the bottom
Of my heart.

You know, when you get
To feeling better

And back on your feet,

Well, maybe you can pay
It forward to somebody else.

We'll stack this up
Wherever you want it.

There ain't no maybe.
I will.

You know, it don't really
Cost anything to be kind.

You never know.

Next week, maybe me
And digger stove up.

Let's go in here.
We'll put it on the table.

We may need daniel
To help us a little bit.

Honestly now, if you don't get
Straightened out here

In a week or two...

-you let us know.
-...You let us know.

Daniel: you know, mike, he's not
Come by and brought me

Any liquor to sell
Or money.

I'm not at all surprised that
Mike cockrell hasn't

Checked on daniel.

When I told him that
I'd help him

In any way I could,
I meant that.

Digger: mike ain't from here.
Don't understand our ways.

I mean, that's the way
Folks like him are.

They're selfish
And self-centered.

Daniel: I said I don't want
No hard feelings between us,

But I'd say y'all showing up
Right here,

There ain't going to be none.

We're good. I don't want
No more of this crap.

I'm just saying

If there's anything else
We can do, you let us know.

After I see how much mark
And digger thought of me,

If they ever need me,
You can bet I'll be there.

The last people in the world
That I'd have thought

Would've showed up at my house,
But I'm glad they came.

-he's a good boy.
-yep.

Narrator:
Next time on "Moonshiners"...

Tickle: oh, hell.
It's the crown.

We run some shine up
In this thing, didn't we?

Tim:
We run a whole lot.

...Tim and tickle revive
The tools of the outlaw trade.

This place,
Though, is history.

It really is.

Aah!

Narrator:
Mark and huck double down

On high dollar distillation.

Mark: she's a rolling
Ain't she, huck?

Huck: [ chuckles ]
We got water now, baby.

Moonshine god, please
Don't let that still leak.

And a master still maker faces
The ultimate pressure test.

Mark: I'm worried about it
Holding together.

[ rumbling ]