Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 9, Episode 14 - Hemp Shine - full transcript

♪♪

Narrator: on this episode
Of "Moonshiners"...

I'll be damned.

If we could extract
That cbd oil

And put it
In our moonshine,

We'll have something
Nobody else has.

...In virginia, three veteran
Outlaws have high hopes

For a budding industry.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

I'm all about
Making that money.

-in north carolina...
-aah!



...One shiner's season
Bursts apart at the seams.

Colt: I come down here
To see this today,

And now we don't have
No moonshine ora client.

I don't want to lose them.

I don't know
What else to say, though.

And in tennessee...

Mike: this is the last of
The apple, baby.

That's the hottest product
I got.

Mike: this season's been rough
On me and jerry

Because there's somebody
Stepping on our toes.

Narrator:
...With a mystery bootlegger

Threatening his livelihood,

Mike's response is about
To get incendiary.

I'll put them
Out of commission



If I find out who it is.

I'll burn
Their damn house down

'cause I like damn fire.

Man: this is how
We make the moonshine!

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

Well, I tell you what
We've been thinking.

Kenny and I have been
Discussing a few things.

I wanted to run it by you,
Actually.

Well, what's that?

I'll be damned.Isn't that something?

Narrator:
In franklin county, virginia,

With their peach-brandy
Production on track

To hit their
2,000-gallon season goal,

Tickle's partners
Henry and kenny have an idea

For a whole new kind
Of moonshine.

Tickle: he pulls this great big
Old bud right out of his coat,

And I tell you what--

First thing
Runs through my mind is,

"Hey, let's twist that thing up
And smoke it."

This is not marijuana.
This is hemp.

-right.
-this is legal?

It's legal.
It has no thc in it.

Like a 0.03%.
-yeah.

What I've been hearing --
They use ethanol to extract

The cbd oil
From this hemp plant.

So it's kind of the new
Up-and-coming thing, isn't it?

That's what we sort of been
Looking into.

Narrator: cbd, or cannabidiol,

Is a chemical
Found in the hemp plant.

It's believed to treat a number
Of mental and physical ailments,

Including anxiety
And inflammation.

People are consuming the oil
In any number of ways,

From tinctures and teas
To gummy bears.

Henry: now everybody's using it
For health purposes and all.

That stuff helps you sleep.
It's good for your joints.

Yeah, man, if we could
Put it in our moonshine,

You know, we'll have something
Nobody else has.

Might maybe a new thing,
For us to make some money, man.

A moonshine
That's also good for you?

I don't believe we could
Make enough of it

To keep our customers happy.

Is that enough weed
Right yonder for us to-

No, no. We just
Got a sample from a guy.

The farmer down here --
He's got plenty of it.

I'd like to see that.

If we're gonna even
Try to experiment with this

And see what we can do,

We're gonna need more
Than this one little bud.

-let's get on with it.
-let's get on with it.

So today we're gonna go see
This farmer friend

That henry's got.

We're gonna see if we can get
Quite a bit more of this hemp.

Henry: he should be able to
Fix this right up.

All these greenhouses
Are ready to...

All right.

-smells good.
-yes, it does.

Mmm!
Yeah, look at yonder.

Kenny: uh-huh.
Smells real good.

Anybody home?

How you doing?

Tickle: just a couple of years
Ago, this would have been like

Walking up into
One of our still sites --

Something you would
Have never done,

Never been able to see.

Nobody would've
Showed you this stuff.

Tickle: so how many different
Strands do you have here?

We're growing about
12 different ones,

And because of hemp
Being so new in virginia,

We're kind of playing
With different varieties

To see what does
The best here,

And we got to stay under our
Virginia code of 0.3% on thc.

Henry: I'll tell you what --
I need a few buds

To do a little
Cbd extractions.

We can go down
To the barn now.

Narrator: while hemp, the
Non-psychoactive cannabis plant,

Has been used for thousands
Of years in textiles and rope,

It wasn't until the late 1800s

That its cultivation
In the u.S. Took off.

This early american cash crop

Provided durable fibers
For nets,

Canvas, twine,
Construction, and paper.

But in 1937,
It was erroneously grouped

With the psychoactive cannabis
Plant marijuana and outlawed.

It would take another
81 years for hemp

To be legalized
For cultivation once again.

We raised everything
100% organic.

There's no sprays.
There's nothing but nature.

Right here's
Where it's at, fellas.

We come up on this
Little tobacco farm,

And when he opens the door,
The smell,

I mean,
Just took my breath.

Whoo!
Goodness.

-whoa.
-nice smell, isn't it?

Yes, it is.

It was unbelievable.
I mean, run a chill up my spine.

And see it hanging
In that barn like that --

Looks like marijuana.

But, of course,
He's assuring us it isn't.

This should have maybe
12% cbd in it.

Tickle: pretty, pretty, pretty.
Yes, it is.

Man, this stuff should've been
Legal a long time ago,

As pretty as this is.

-is this something you produce?
-it is.

This is a 3,000-milligram
Full spectrum.

Henry: now, how much would
That right there cost

If you had to purchase it?

$75.
Put it under your tongue.

Hold it
For about five seconds.

-that?
-yeah, that's good.

It's like the highest-end
Cbd product.

-I feel like superman, baby!
-yeah.

Get back, jack!

I really believe we came
To the right guy.

This farmer, tim,
Is the perfect guy

To start our project off with.

That should be enough to get you
A little test trial there,

And if this run don't work,
We've got a lot more.

[ laughter ]

♪♪

♪♪

Man, I cannot not break this
Son of a bitch off there,

But it busted.

That don't make no
*bleep* sense.

God, that pisses me the...Off.

Narrator:
Seven counties to the southwest,

After a series
Of equipment failures

Brought josh's shine production
To a standstill,

The biggest sale of his season
Is on the line.

This is some straight-up
Bull *bleep* right here.

Should not even be
*bleep* dealing with.

Dam's about to bust
Over here now.

What a damn mess.

We sprung a leak
In the damn worm barrel.

Aah!

So then crawl down in there,
Fix it when it busts.

Son of a bitch.
Can't *bleep* win.

Right now we got a crack
In our damn worm barrel.

So, my plan's gutting it
All the way across

And get all the bad stuff out

And then sticking it back
Down on this hole

And silicone-ing
The crap out of it.

This is a major setback.

I got deadlines
Where I got to have moonshine,

And I cannot be screwing
With this worm.

Colt's my partner, and we struck
A huge deal with his band,

The moonshine bandits.

So the only thing
There is to do now

Is to fix the worm barrel,
Keep making shine,

Meet the deadline.

*bleep* damn.

♪♪

Damn.

And it said, "Bkewwww!"

Blew all to pieces, and I didn't
Even have a chance to move.

It's like a bomb went off.

Ain't a whole lot we can do now.

I got a large order to fill,
And now my worm barrel's blew up

And there's no way
I'm gonna be able to do that.

I'm already not
Delivering it on time,

But if I don't get it there
And I don't deliver it,

The deal's gonna be over.

It just ain't right.

♪♪

♪♪

We should get that fixed.

Yeah, my ex-wife done that.

We found out quick
We wasn't made for each other.

She's my cousin.

Your cousin?

Yeah, we had something
Last night.

-really?
-I'm *bleep*...

We wasn't no bud, though.

[ laughs ]

Narrator: three counties to
The northwest in tennessee,

Mike and jerry are meeting
Their bootlegger

To collect cash,
Clear out their inventory,

And lay the groundwork
For a late-season sale.

It's the last of
The apple run, bubba.

I can't believe we already
Got rid of all that.

Thank god
For the bootlegger.

-I'll settle at 40%.
-you're killing us, son.

Narrator: all season, mike has
Struggled to make sales,

Forcing him to enlist
A bootlegger

Who has clients far and wide,

But bootlegging long-distance
Comes at a steep cost.

40%?
I mean, god almighty.

Me and jerry are going out
To meet kevin today,

Our bootlegger, try and get rid
Of the last of the 75 gallons

Of apple brandy
That we've got leftover.

We got to tell him,
"We don't have any more apple.

We've got wheat whiskey
We're thinking about running.

Can you sell it?"

Mike: so we got you some more
Stuff loaded up here,

If we can have
A little bit of green

On the last run.

Heck yeah.

If it weren't for
Our bootlegger, kevin,

We wouldn't be moving
Any liquor at all.

Let's get you
Loaded up, bud.

Somebody out there's
Stepping on our toes,

Selling liquor at our back door,
And we don't know who it is.

-what have you got?
-between 55 and 58 gallons.

Ain't none of our business
Who you sell it to.

Unbeknownst to mike,
His former partner daniel

Made a deal
With mark and digger

To sell their popular
Triple-grain shine

In mike's territory.

There's the $6,000.

I sold it all
In sevier county.

I'm hurting mike's sales
A hell of a lot.

Mike: I hate to be the bearer
Of bad damn news, kevin.

This is the last
Of the apple, baby.

Season's over.
Ain't no more fruit available.

Kevin: well, that's
The hottest product I got.

I mean, you know, every
Good thing comes to an end.

So, we're thinking about
Doing, actually, a wheat run.

I don't know nothing
About wheat.

It's good.
It's subtle, smooth.

I'll get a jar
Out of the truck

And let you taste it
Right now.

Mike: kevin seems disappointed
Because, you know,

The apple's going over well
With all his customers.

But wheat is the new thing
Coming up.

I'm gonna keep on trying
To introduce something new,

So I'm gonna let kevin
Taste this wheat

And see how he likes it.

-what you think about that?
-that's pretty good.

It's good on the palette.

It's got the best
Of both worlds, man.

It's got the sweet taste to it,

But yet it's not
That pungent corn flavor.

It's good-drinking
Whiskey, ain't it?

Yeah, that's pretty good.
I didn't expect that.

I might be able
To do something with that.

Jerry: what if we go and hit you
With a big load?

Think you'll be able
To handle a big load?

Mike: like, 300-gallon big load,
At one time.

Mike: we've got to make our goal
For this season, man.

And our season's getting
Towards the end quick.

I mean, you tell us now --
You think you can push it?

You think you can move it?

After tasting what you
Give me right here,

I shouldn't have
No problem with that.

Damn. That kind of
Makes me feel special.

Let's go make us
Some money.

Let's see what
We can do.

Exactly right,
We'll see you, buddy.

You know, I've got to get down
To the bottom

Of who's selling around here

'cause there's no way in hell
That me and jerry can sell

300 gallons of wheat ourselves
In our hometown right now.

Narrator: coming up...

The bandits don't want
To deal with us now.

What do you mean?

We didn't show up.
We didn't come through.

...Josh has one last card
To play.

God!

Now we don't have
No moonshine ora client.

♪♪

Yeah, there's an empty or two
We're gonna have to fix.

-good lord. What happened?
-your deadline happened.

Narrator:
With a 60-gallon sale
Hanging in the balance,

Things are going from bad
To worse

For the piedmont plateau's
Most misfortunate moonshiner.

I was gonna take it apart
And cut it

And just shorten it,

And fricking it just exploded.
Pshew!

Josh: I'm under a tremendous
Amount of pressure

Because I'm under a time crunch.

The bandits are expecting me

To be able to damn
Bring the moonshine,

Make the sale, and now
My worm barrel's blew up,

And there's no way I'm gonna
Be able to do that.

-this is horrible, dude.
-I know.

After all that work.

The bandits --
They're big clientele.

They have people
Waiting on moonshine,

And it's a lot of money
Riding on this.

Here's your problem now.What?

The bandits don't want
To deal with us now.

What do you mean?

We didn't show up.
We didn't come through

Like we said
We were gonna come through.

Now we have people that was
Gonna meet us on the tour,

And we ain't got
No moonshine to give them.

So what are we
Supposed to do now?

God!

Well, you can be mad
About it all you want,

But I come down here
To see this today,

And now we don't have
No moonshine ora client.

Josh: it's important to me to
Damn keep a good relationship

With the bandits
'cause I'm a man of my word,

And because they could be
A good customer.

How about give them
A little bit of moonshine,

To *bleep* make up for it
Or something?

We don't have no moonshine!

-I've got some moonshine.
-where?

It don't matter about that.
It doesn't matter about that.

Got a stash.

Josh: I wasn't intending on
Giving it away.

It's only a stash because
I needed it for hard times.

But if it's gonna damn
Make everybody happy

And save the deal,

Then you got to take care
Of people like that.

-how much you got?
-15 gallons or something.

-good lord.
-10 or 15 gallons or something.

You want to give them
That moonshine,

Let's go get it,
And let's go over there

And give it to them now and see
If we can get this deal back.

And at least let's mend
This problem we got

Because I need the money,
And you need the money.

-all right.
-let's go.

♪♪

♪♪

All right, guys, got some of
The stuff laid out already.

I'm gonna show y'all
The still here

Like you've probably
Never seen before.

Damn.
That's a still?

Narrator: one state north in
Franklin county, virginia,

Three outlaw shiners
Move out of the woods

And into the laboratory.

We trying to come up
With a cbd-infused moonshine.

There's several different ways
To extract cbd oil,

And the one that
We're interested in

Is the ethanol extraction.

Alcohol, ethanol --
It's the same thing.

Only thing we've got to do
Is increase the purity

To make it ethanol.

It's got to be about
95% to 100% pure alcohol.

This is what
Does the trick.

This is the
Infractionating column.

It'll cause our moonshine
To go from 50% alcohol

Up to 200 proof.

Narrator: fractionated
Distilling replaces

The cap and thump keg

With a column
That sits on top of the pot.

The column can be made of glass,
Copper, or steel

And is filled with material that
Increases total surface area,

Like multiple chambers
And copper mesh.

As the alcohol vapor
Rises out of the pod

And into the column,

It condenses on one of the many
Surfaces contained inside.

The condensed liquid then drops
Back down to the lower parts

Of the column to be vaporized
And distilled again.

As this process
Of distillation repeats,

More and more water
Is shed into the pot.

Eventually,
Only the purest alcohol vapors

Make it to the top
Of the column,

Where they exit
To the condenser,

Essentially completing multiple
Distillations in one run.

This method can result in liquor
As high as 192 proof.

Here we go.
Grab that funnel over there.

We're gonna take
This wheat-base moonshine.

Henry: what I'm doing now
Is I'm taking

My 100-proof wheat whiskey
That I've got,

And that's 50% alcohol,

And that's what
We're trying to do --

Extracting this ethanol.

When we gonna bring
Frankenstein's monster in here

And hook him up to this thing
And juice him back up?

[ laughs ]
Yeah.

This is all experimental,
So...

Ethanol is normally
Highly explosive in a vapor form

And highly flammable
In a liquid form,

So we've got to be very careful
Being in an enclosed area

Because one little mistake,

It could end all of
Our seasons permanently.

Oh, look, look.
Lookie here.

Your water's already starting
To condense back down.

I see what
You was talking about.

-yep.
-yeah.

-oh, see this thing here.
-yeah.

-it's working.
-yes! There.

Tickle: it's going
Right on around.

It's condensing it
Right there.

-yes, sir, it is.
-that quick.

-yep.
-that quick.

We're looking good now.

Henry: we're in a good position
Here now.

We make some of the best brandy
In the country,

And now if we could infuse
Our brandy

With the cbd oil,
We'll make a lot of money.

Look at here.
Look at her.

Look at her running now.

Henry: yeah, that's pouring it
Out now.

Nowwe can get excited.Oh, yeah.

Us moonshiners -- we always make
A good high-proof moonshine,

But this pure ethanol
Right here --

This is way above anything
Most any moonshiner

Has ever messed with.

I say we see what the purity is
And what we need to do.

Tickle: you want to see
What we got?

Yeah, because, well, we need to
Be up around 95% at least.

Oh, hell yeah.

95% alcohol.

I tell you what --

It don't get
A whole lot purer than that.

Henry: as we've made
The moonshine through the years,

I've seen it change so much,
And if we didn't change with it

As time passed,
We'd be left behind.

I never thought
It would happen, brother.

You know, right now,
We're trying to get a jump

On every other moonshiner

By coming up with this
Cbd-infused moonshine.

And if this works,
Then we've hit the motherlode.

♪♪

♪♪

Oh! This is all I got now
To grind it with,

So this is gonna
Have to damn work.

I've done some grinding
With it before.

Is it a hand crank,
Or you gonna...?

It's a hand crank,

But I put a little shaft
Right here

And, "Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah."

-how'd that go again?
-"Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah."

Oh, that'll work, then.

Narrator: one state to
The southwest of tennessee...

Fill it up,

And let's look at it
After it grinds

This hopper full,
All right?

...Mike and jerry are back
To the grind as they forge ahead

With a plan to run 300 gallons
Of wheat-based whiskey.

Mike: well, now that
Kevin's agreed to move this

300 gallons of wheat for us,
We got to get up there

And get it mashed in,
No matter what it takes.

That's gonna make
Some damn good stuff, paw-paw.

Kevin, he's moving
Beaucouddles of gallons

Of alcohol for us,
And that's one reason

Why we're having to work
Into the winter months.

So me and jerry knows
That we can get this done.

We don't believe in the word
"Can't" 'cause can't fell off

The bed 3,000 years ago
And killed himself.

That will work,
And it's gonna be good,

And it's gonna sell.

Damn!

Next damn deal
Is go get her mashed in.

It's always nerve wracking
To try to step out on the limb

And do something new, especially
At the end of the season.

Cold weather's coming.
Leaves are changing.

The nights are getting colder.

We've got to get this stuff
Up there, get it mashed in,

And get some money
In our pocket,

Or we're gonna be up the creek
Without a paddle.

Mike: we'll get the rest
Of our ingredients

While this is warming up.
You got your knife?

-I do.
-I'll be damned.

You're a moonshiner
After all, ain't you?

Jerry: I'm trying.

This season's been rough on me
And jerry right here locally,

And it's simply because there's
Somebody stepping on our toes.

We're paying kevin nearly half
Of our profits here.

We've got to dump a big load
On him this time,

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

I'll put them
Out of commission

If I find out somebody's
Stepping on my damn toes.

I'll burn
Their damn house down.

You know why?

'cause I like damn fire.

Holy *bleep*!

What the hell's going on there?
Pumping liquid?

Pumping liquid, son.

Mike:
Everything's looking good.

We got our yeast pitched.
We're mashed in.

But I can't help but think
That this is the most liquor

That me and jerry has ever run

Or ever got rid of
At one damn time.

You know, we're taking
A gamble on this.

Mike: it's snowing!

Yeah, I hope this is
The only snow we get in here.

Yeah, me and you both.

Narrator: coming up...

Yeah, I can see it
Changing color already.

Henry: boy,you can smell
That stuff.

Narrator: ...Cooking up
Something new is a joint effort.

Be careful
Where you sit that.

One of them kids of yours
Come by and think that's pesto,

Put it on some pasta.

That's true.
That's true.

-mmm, mmm.
-looks good.

Tickle: real nice.

That's some pretty stuff,
Ain't it?

Narrator:
In franklin county, virginia

Tickle, henry, and kenny
Are turning over a new leaf

As they take the first step
Towards infusing

Cbd into their moonshine.

You want to see
How much we need?

Yeah, I say we won't
Go over an ounce.

Tickle:
Right here we're actually
Kind of being scientists.

We're doing an experiment.

We've got to measure
Everything out.

That way, if we are successful,

We can replicate it
On a larger scale.

Let's see what
She weighs, man.

Let me try and get down
To an ounce.

Yeah.

Keep up with how much
An ounce makes.

-exactly.
-how much it puts off.

-yeah.
-all right.

That's an ounce
Is what we're looking for.

That's there.

I'm gonna put it on this
Little baking sheet here

And spread it out.

Yeah,
Save me a little bit.

I'm gonna make some brownies
Out of it, all right?

It'll be like eating
A bale of straw.

It don't ever hurt to give it
A try, right?

How do you know
Unless you try?

I'll take your word
For it, man.

Yeah.

All right, this is gonna
Tell the tale here.

We're gonna bake about
45 minutes at 220 degrees,

And that should activate
The compounds in it.

Tickle:
By baking this hemp in the oven,

It's gonna prepare the hemp
To release the cbd out of it.

Basically what we're doing
Is we're heating it up

So the juices start flowing.

All right,
You got the ethanol?

-ethanol.
-all right.

You're just gonna put
The hemp over in there

And then soak it?

What we figured up was
For four ounces of ethanol

For every one ounce
Of hemp.

This cbd-infused moonshine --
This is a wave of the future.

And if we can get this
And infuse with our moonshine,

I think moonshine can move
To the next level.

This is what I'm gonna call
The moonshine of the future.

Henry: all right, this is what
We ran yesterday -- ethanol.

-190 proof, huh?
-yep.

Tickle: you've got to
Completely saturate it.

Yeah, whoop her on up
There, henry.

You're supposed to agitate it
A little bit.

Yeah, it starts
Breaking everything loose.

Loosening, yeah.

Yeah, I can see it
Changing color already.

Boy, you can smell
That stuff.

Ugh. Pew!
It's too strong, man.

It's definitely strong.

So this ethanol is supposed
To extract the cbd oil?

Pull it right on out.

Let's see what it looks like.
We'll see how it absorbed it.

It's got a little bit
Of color to it.

-it's got a little tint to it.
-but it's not quite there yet.

We've got to let it sit
For at least 24 hours.

And what that's gonna do is,
This ethanol is gonna act

Like a solvent to extract
The cbd out of this hemp.

Now, look, look.
Be careful where you sit that.

One of them kids of yours
Come by and think that's pesto,

Put it on some pasta
Tonight.

That's true.
That's true.

Yeah, you want to get it
On to the shop?

Yeah, I'm gonna do that.

Yeah, let's take it on
In the shop.

♪♪

♪♪

Jerry: well, you ready to get
Out here and freeze our ass off?

Mike:
Well, no, not really,

But, you know,
We got to get her done.

I'd have never thought
In a million years

We would be doing this kind of
Stuff in the dag-gum snow.

Me neither, buddy.

Narrator: nine counties to
The southwest in tennessee,

A sudden cold front has mike
And jerry backed into a corner.

Here in the mountains,
It could be 70 degrees one day

And snow on the ground the next,
And here it is.

It's upon us.
Today it's cold, it's snowy,

And we've got to get
These mash barrels warmed up

So we can get
Something mashed in

And keep it above temperature
So we can get it worked off.

If we don't get this place
Winterized, our season's over.

We have no mash,

We have no alcohol
To give to our bootlegger.

Ooh!My feet's worse than my hands.

Mine, too.
[ laughs ]

My feet's
Always damn cold.

Don't make me have to
Spray you down with water.

Hell no.
I'd rather be on fire

Right now than soaking-ass
Wet and cold.

Before we get started,
Let's look at this damn mash.

All right.

Right there -- there's your
Prime damn example

Of cold-ass weather.

-it's flat as a footer.
-flat as a filler.

Enough chit-chatting
And looking.

Let's get her done.

If yeast gets too hot,
You kill it.

If it gets too cold,
It just goes to sleep,

And you've got to bring
That temperature back up

To 65 degrees or so,

And it starts
Right back to working.

We got
Something started.

-aah!
-there's a root right there.

-yeah.
-[ laughs ]

Mike: with what few materials
That we've got,

We're gonna winterize
These mash barrels.

That way we can put
A little space heater under it

'cause we got
Electricity to go on.

It could snow
All it wants to then.

We just have to man it
And get it warmed up

So we can run some liquor.

All right,
Let's get this skirt hung.

What do you think
About that?

I don't know if this is the left
Side or the right side of it.

Just don't get it all filthy
And damn dirty.

Oh, yeah.

Mike:
You know, with the structure,

We actually used
A bunch of 2x4s

And some good, thick canvas,
And that'll work.

It keeps the cold out.
It keeps the wind out.

And the way
We got it fixed up,

We can open and close it
As we need it.

Whoo-fah!

Let's see if you can catch
These nails.

I couldn't even see them.

You know, our time
Is running out on us.

As we can see,
We're already into winter.

We've got our bootlegger
Coming back,

So we're gonna have to keep
Right on working through

To where we get
Our alcohol produced

And get it in the pot
And get our product turned out

So that we can meet
Our season goal.

What we're doing here is we
Actually rolled it up backwards.

And what it's gonna do is
It's gonna give us a counter,

Or a weight,
Where when we pull it tight,

It'll keep tension on that
All the time for us

'cause if this thing
Gets blowed back,

Lets all of our heat out,

We didn't really
Accomplish nothing.

-so what did that take us?
-no time.

No time.
I'll plug the heater in,

And we'll get the hell
Out of here

And go get warm ourselves.I heard that idea.

You know, I'm real damn
Confident that, you know,

We're gonna meet
Our goal this season.

There's no doubt about it.

There's no give-up in me,
No quit.

There's snow on the ground,

And we can go up there
And run liquor.

The yeast will start
Back to work.

Hey, that even looks neat.
I like it.

♪♪

♪♪

Colt: what made you want to
Hide this stuff here?

Josh: who's gonna come
In here to look for it?

It looks haunted.

Narrator:
In polk county, north carolina,

After failing to deliver
His biggest sale of the season,

Josh is tapping an emergency
Stash to salvage the deal.

-you got it?
-yeah.

Colt's saying the bandits
Are out of the equation,

So we're gonna go
Deliver some shine,

Try to work out the deal.

We don't want to lose them
As customers.

We're gonna go in here
And fricking damn

We're gonna give them some
*bleep* moonshine

To make them happy
And tell them we want to

Make a *bleep* deal with them
And damn --

I mean, I like that idea,

But I think that I should
Go in there and talk to them

Because I've been
In the band with them.

You know, I mean,
I know these guys.

I made the deal with them.

It's my business.
I should make it right.

I just don't do business
Through somebody else.

That don't make no sense.

It ain't through nobody else.
I'm part of it.

-I understand that.
-I'm part of it.

I understand that.

I'm not trying to make you
Sit in the car, dude,

But I think I should go in there
And talk to them.

Whatever. Just trying
To get it done.

This is it right here.

I'm gonna run up in here
And make this happen.

I'll be right back.

♪♪

Josh:
I sure hope this works out.

I'm not used to somebody else
Handling my business,

But they're his friends
More than they are mine.

Right now everything's
Riding on this, you know?

I gave them some stash,
And if that's not enough

To buy some time,

Then there's not much else
I can do.

I'll be right back.

Josh:
I sure hope this works out.

I'm not used to somebody else
Handling my business,

But they're his friends
More than they are mine.

Narrator:
In polk county, north carolina,

Josh is making a last-ditch
Attempt to salvage a huge deal.

Josh: right now,
Everything's riding on

Colt being able
To work this out.

He's inside with
The damn stash moonshine.

I don't see how
They could say no.

If they say no, then I just lost
A bunch more money.

I'm getting
Pretty used to that, though.

What'd they say?

You want the good news
Or the bad news?

The bad news.

There ain't no bad news.

That got us 12 more days.
It worked out.

Why do you scare me
Like that?

He loved the moonshine, too.
That was a great idea.

Thank gosh.
Good job.

I might go home
And drink a beer.

I can't believe
It worked out, dude.

Josh: so right now, the most
Important thing for me to do

Is make some more moonshine
And fill my orders.

I've only got one option,

And that's to work around
The clock until I get it done.

You pulled one out your ass
On that one.

I'm damn good at
Barely getting by, brother.

And that's what you good at --
Barely getting by.

♪♪

♪♪

Henry: all right, guys,
It's been 24 hours.

Tickle: yeah.
Well, I'll tell you what --

That stuff looks like
It's pretty rich with the cbd.

I mean, it's green
As a frog's butt.

Yeah.

Narrator:
In franklin county, virginia,

24 hours after mixing
The hemp and ethanol together,

Tickle, henry, and kenny
Return to see

If their cbd experiment
Was successful.

All right, you gonna
Go ahead and strain her?

Yeah, I've got
The cheesecloth here.

Tickle: we're to the point now
That we need to get the ethanol

That should be laden with cbd
Off of the actual hemp itself.

Yeah, that's dark green.

Your money's green.
I love you.

[ laughter ]

Henry: so now all we got to do
Is take it out here

To the lean-to,
Cook it down until we've

Till we just got nothing
But the pure cbd compound.

I think we'll set up
Back here

So we get a air flow
Coming through.

I still think it's a whole
Lot safer outside.

Tickle: even though we're
Outside in the open air,

We still have to take
A few more precautions

Because this stuff
Is so volatile

That if any flame
Was to even be anywhere near it,

It could cause
This whole building to explode.

Henry: this is a two-pot system.
We got water in here.

When it boils, that boiling
Water will boil this.

-boil it up.
-will heat that up.

So you're not putting
A flame right to it.

No connection to
The direct heat source.

Yeah, right.

This is all new
To us here.

Kenny: we don't know what
We're gonna produce.

It may not produce a thing.

We may just be home
With nothing, man.

It might.

Henry: when I fool
With something like this,

I know the dangers of it.

When you're talking something
That's 50% alcohol

Compared to something
That's 100% alcohol,

Let me tell you one thing --
You better be scared

'cause I've seen
Too many people.

I've been burnt before.
Kenny's been burnt before.

And this right here
Is something beyond

That we've ever
Dealt with before.

I'm extremely nervous
About it.

Yeah, you know how
Us moonshiners says.

If it ain't a little hint
Of danger to it,

I don't know
If I want to do it.

When you go into the woods
And you get in that car,

Load of liquor,
You're taking a gamble.

Well, this is a gamble,

Just like the gamble
We've always taken.

If this works,

We introducing
Something new...

That's right.

...To generations and
Generations of moonshiners.

If this pans out,
We'll be off and running.

I believe what we got
On the edge

Of that bowl
Right yonder...

-I see cbd oil.
-I see cbd. Yes, I do.

She's starting to
Thicken on up there.

-she is.
-looks like that black gold.

Well, she's darn near thick
As molasses now, darn near.

That looks nice, man.

I believe we're about there.
What do you think?

I think we are, too.

Henry: this is what
We've been waiting for.

Beautiful. It looks like tar
When you look in it,

But when you get the angle
Just right, it's green --

I mean a thick,
Deep, dark green.

And we've hit the motherlode.

-what do we do with it next?
-take her inside, man.

We'll scrape it up
And see what we got.

All right.
I smell money.

At least it looks like
We've done...

-looks good, dude.
-I think it looks real good.

All right. See what
We got going on here.

I'll tell you what --
Yeah, that's big.

Tickle: now that we've burned
The ethanol off

Of this cbd compound,
We've got this black tar,

Goopy-looking substance stuck
To the bottom of a bowl.

Looks like
You've done that before.

And that's my experience
Making cookies, I reckon --

Scraping the bowl.You don't cook.

Yeah, let's get this.

Sticky is it, too, boy,
I tell you what.

Go on. She sure is goopy,
Isn't she?

Henry:
That's like tar, isn't it?

Henry:
After we've cooked it down,

We've got about
Two grams of pure cbd.

It's enough to make
At least a couple gallons

Of the cbd-infused moonshine.

Look how thick that is, man.
I'm almost afraid to...

Ah, go ahead.
Give it a shot.

She taste like money?

It's getting me
All aroused here.

If that's getting you
Aroused,

I'm moving to the other side
Of the table.

It tastes just like
The stuff smells.

Well, think that's about
The last bit of it right there.

I can't wait to see what
It's like when it's cut down

And actually give it a try.

Tickle:
We've got this raw, pure cbd.

This stuff right here
Is so pure and so strong

That we've got to cut this stuff

With something that
Is soluble for your body.

I guess it's what you call
Concentrate, right?

-that's pure cbd, baby.
-yeah.

I had ordered some hemp-seed oil

'cause you have to break it down
With something.

We decided we started with hemp.
Let's stay with hemp.

All right y'all,
Let's get some brandy.

-peach brandy there.
-oh, yeah.

-see what we got.
-let's try it.

Henry: not yet. Let's see
What it's gonna do.

Let's see if
That'll dissolve.

Is it gonna incorporate
Into it?

-don't look like it to me.
-it looks like it's mixing.

I see a few little flakes
In there.

-I don't know.
-yeah, I don't think so.

Changed the color of it,
Didn't it?

I'm still seeing
Little particles

Floating all around in it.

I don't like that.

It just sits on top
Like little-bitty frog turds.

Like some kind of fungus.

-yeah, that's...
-yeah, you can't sell that.

I want nothing to do
With it.

I mean, who the hell's
Gonna buy that?

♪♪

♪♪

Colt: has anybody ever told you
You got a resting bitch face?

A what?

Like, your face always looks
Like you're mad.

Look what I work with.

Who? Me?

It's like I'm working
With a little kid.

No, it's like I'm working
With a old, grumpy-ass man.

Who picks up after you
When I ain't around?

That's what
I want to know.

Nobody.

You leave everything
Everywhere.

Like, wherever you eat,
There's the dishes,

There's the crumbs,
There's the wrappers.

Well, what are
You getting at here?

I'm just saying, like,

I've wondered
How you got this far.

I mean, you the one shot
Your dryer in your house.

So what?

Narrator: tickle and the laws
Are sailing ahead

With 1,660 gallons.

Competition
From unknown quarters

Has mike and jerry's supply
Of 670 gallons

Far outstripping demand.

And at 65 gallons, the one thing
Further underground

Than josh's still site
Is his output.

♪♪

Don't drop our
Little still, now.

We got to hurry up
And get this thing set up,

Hooked up, and run.

Narrator: in tennessee, as the
Window closes on their season,

Mike and jerry
Are making a final push

With a 300-gallon order.

Mike: oh, yeah!

Looks our damn heating source
Worked this time.

Jerry: yeah. We want to
Start pumping this over,

We'll get this little pot
Set up right quick.

I'd say we get that other pot
To where we need it

And then just pump it all over
At one damn time,

And then fire it up,
And let's rock 'n' roll with it.

Let's do it.

The mash has worked off.
It's good, bitter beer.

And we've brought in
A second pot to hook up,

And we'll fire them all up
At the same time,

And they'll both run through
The same condenser

And just get more liquor
Out of this run

As opposed to the first pot.

Mike: we're setting up
Our second pot.

Got to cut
All your paces.

I'm gonna put another valve
So we can just let the steam off

And walk away instead of
Having to break the cap off.

We'll just go neck over,
Tie into the worm,

And be good to go.

You want to leave it
Up or down?

Yeah, let's leave it up.

Here. Hold that.
Let me go ahead

And get this soldered in
Right here.

Mike:
Our plan for this wheat run

Is just to do a good,
Plain-and-simple wheat whiskey.

We're just gonna run it
Straight over

Through the crossover tube,

Then we're gonna hook
This small pipe up

And just run
A straight pipe over

'cause you got
A nice high hat.

We want all the flavor that
We can get out of this wheat

So our consumers will like it
And want some more.

Damn. It's starting to get
A little dark now, ain't it?

Yeah. Let's get us
Some lights on over here.

All right.

Ready to start
Getting them pasted up?

Yeah, let's do it.

Mike: daylight is falling fast
Every day,

So me and jerry --
We got to stay on top of things.

It puts a little bit of crunch
On us, you know,

To get things done.

Hey, mike,
I'll tell you what --

This tank's freezing up on us
Pretty bad.

Let's grab that pot
We got,

We'll set this thing down
In some water.

Mike:
Try to thaw it out?

Yep, thaw it out
A little bit.

We got a big order to fill.
Ain't no baby load, you know?

We got to get what we got down,

Get re-mashed in,

And potentially
Run this off again, you know,

So we can meet our goal.

You know, the old timers
Used to do this, right here,

Especially when they
Didn't have a regulator.

They had to put a damn fire
Under the pot.

Oh, yeah, under the pot.

Oh, *bleep*!
There we go!

I'm gonna go over here
And get a bucket ready.

-all right.
-we'll catch them heads.

This is the moment
We've been waiting for, baby.

Why don't you hand me
One of them buckets there?

That's wheaty wheat.
That's hot.

-ready?
-all right!

Mike:
I'll tell you what --

With the weather acting
The way it is,

It feels damn good to get some
Good alcohol run out of here

Because we're
Running out of time.

With what me and jerry
Put together,

It's something simple, small,
But yet it works.

And it's really working out
To be sufficient for us.

That's 160 or better,
Right there.

So we run this mash
A couple more times,

We'll have everything
We need to give to him.

Yes, sir, we will.

My god, we done damn good
For ourself tonight, though,

You're damn right,
We have.

♪♪

♪♪

I'm still seeing
Little particles

Floating all around in it.

I don't like that.

Like some kind of fungus.

-yeah, that's...
-yeah, you can't sell that.

I want nothing to do
With it.

Henry: we've got a reputation
To uphold,

And I'll be damned if
We're gonna screw it up

With this stuff.

We want to make money.
We're looking to evolve.

But we're not going to ruin our
Reputation with our brandies.

That could be the hemp-seed oil
That we used to dilute it --

Dilute that 100% cbd oil.

Maybe we need to
Change that.

Yeah, that oil
Has just ruined it.

I'm thinking,
Let's go with pure cbd

Straight into
The moonshine.

So you're talking about the goop
We scraped up off of the pan?

-yeah.
-just go in with that?

We'll put a little bit
Of our shine with it.

Well, that's what
Experimenting's about, right?

You know, a lot of thought
Has went into this.

A lot of time
Has went into this.

This is the first time
This has ever been done.

That's why they call it
Trial and error.

Back to the drawing board.Well, there you go.

I believe that's about
All you need --

A drop or two.

Let this soak for a while.
We will not give up.

I don't know how much this stuff
Is gonna actually soak it up.

That looks like
It's incorporating better.

-there's no oil floating around.
-unh-unh.

And it is looking good.
It's looking very promising.

We may have been
Just overthinking

This whole thing
From the very beginning.

You know,
We know what alcohol does.

It breaks
A lot of stuff down.

And it seems to be breaking
The cbd compound down.

The simplest thing was
Right there in front of us

The whole time.

Just take the moonshine.
We got the pure cbd oil.

Mix it with it,
And lo and behold,

It mixes beautifully.

Well, I'll tell you --

You know what's gonna
Tell the tale now.

-a little taste.
-a taste.

One thing that we're wanting
To be very careful with

Is not to change the flavor
Of the peach brandy too much.

This has been a proven seller
For decades,

And we don't want to
Mess that up.

-what do you think?
-smells good.

Kenny:
And looks good, too.

Oh, that's amazing.
That's it, right there.

-I still smell the peach.
-that's it.

Yeah.

Tickle: it hasn't changed
Our flavor very much.

It changed it just enough
So you know you're getting cbd.

You know you're getting
A great peach brandy.

Just look how clear that is
Compared to peach brandy.

Finally got it
After all this trial and error.

And that's what's great
About the small scale

That we did at on.

We were able to do it and not
Cost us a whole lot of money,

And till we finally
Got it right.

We know now
It will infuse.

Yeah, but we need to
Go big now.

That's gonna be a job, too.

That thing about that column,

That fractional
Distillation column --

That little thing that
We used is made out of glass.

I mean, there's no way we can
Build something out of glass.

-we can't do that.
-no.

We got to scale it up.

We gonna have to come up
With something huge.

So basically what
You're saying is,

Mountain we thought we was
Climbing was just a foothill.

Yeah, seems like it.

Tickle: it's gonna be
A whole lot of work,

But this is a big step
For moonshine

Because if moonshine doesn't
Move forward with the times,

It is doomed to die
With the past.

Let's get on with it.

Ain't got nothing to do
But try it out.

-I think we'll be able to do it.
-yeah. Yeah, it worked.

Narrator:
Next time on "Moonshiners"...

What in the world's
That whiskey?

That is a multigrain.

...Mike and jerry
Make a startling discovery.

There ain't but one set
Of folks that I know

That's making this stuff,
Brother,

And I think you know
Who I'm talking about.

I mean, how the hell is this
In our territory?

There the old fart is.

By god, I want you
To lookie here.

Narrator: mark and digger
Visit a living legend.

What you got back here,
Big boy?

I may have something
Y'all boys might want.

That means more to me than if
You'd hand me a million dollars.

Tim: so you got to eat
That other burger.

-yep.
-I'm gonna wrap mine up.

I'm gonna wrap it up
And put it in my pocket.

Keep my pocket warm
For a little bit.

[ laughs ]
Yeah.

Narrator: and tim and tickle
Have a groundbreaking idea.

We may have come up
With something here.

You know, maybe we come up
With a pocket burger.

Oh, that's a mess, boy.
I know it's a mess.