Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 9, Episode 5 - Wedding Cake Shine - full transcript

This is, by far,
Some of the smoothest,

Best-tasting peach brandy
I've ever had in my life.

Okay.
Hold on. Airplane.

That one got us.That got us at the end.

Yeah.
That one got it.

What?
He's circling.

That ain't good.

Something's not right there.

On this episode
Of "Moonshiners"...

This still has got to come
Out of here,

And it's got to
Come out right now.



...In central virginia,

An aerial interruption turns
Into an existential threat.

I ain't been that long
Got out of jail.

The last thing in the world
I need

Is to get busted
And sent right back.

You don't think one
Of them things

Won't knock
Your teeth out.

I'd say one of them make you
Wake up and apologize.

I'm telling you.

After six weeks
Of back recovery...

Ugh.
Let's rock 'n' roll.

...Josh returns to the woods

To finish a job
A decade in the making.

Hell to the yeah.



And in eastern tennessee...

You want it to taste
Like a wedding cake.

Yeah, right.

We can make it taste
Like a wedding cake.

...While producing
A matrimonial moonshine,

Mark and digger face
Their biggest challenge ever --

Not eating the mash ingredients.

You want any of this
Before it goes?

Quit eating
All the damn cake.

This is how
We make the moonshine!

Hey. Hey.
Y'all hear that?

-yeah. Yes.
-it don't sound good.

I can see him
Right over yonder.

He cocked it right up
On this side.

So you're sure he was cocked
This way and not the other way?

Yes.He's cocked this way.

Then he's looking right
In at us.

In the hills
Of franklin county, virginia,

Tickle, henry and kenny
Are on high alert

After eyes in the sky
Look down on their site.

That's too *bleep*
Damn low.

Listen.

Yeah.
It's down low.

It's circling.

He's circling,
And that ain't good.

You're gonna have
To get that thing out.

Why don't you go down and start
Disassembling everything?

We'll go get the truck.
And get ready to load up.

Alright. Alright.Damn.

Airplane just flew over
The still site, dropped down,

Just glided for a little bit.

Well, as soon as he was away
From the still site,

He come back around
And circled.

I'm concerned that this airplane
Is the law.

They're gonna come back
Down here,

And they're going
To raid this site.

Straighten it up.
Straighten it up.

I ain't been that long got out
Of jail, and I tell you what.

The last place I want to go
Back to is back to jail.

Hold. Hold.
That's good.

That's good.
We can tote her there.

You want to set up
On the side?

Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.

I been hanging out
With henry and kenny,

Finding still sites,
Building stills, making mash.

Let me get some of it out.
Let me get some of it out.

Yeah.*bleep* dump it. *bleep*

And it makes me
Feel good to help,

But I also got to keep this
In the back of my mind.

I can't let it override the fear

That I have in me
Of getting caught.

Let's just keep your eyes open.
I mean, you know?

Yes, sir.

Once we throw that fire
Under that still,

That mash would've been worth
$7,000 or $8,000 at least.

What'd y'all do
With the thumper?

I got it over here.

Take it on up in the woods
And hide it.

Alright.

We gonna dump all that mash
Out of the barrel

So that the only thing
Left is the equipment.

Virginia law states
That simply having mash

At an illegal still site

Is a class-six felony punishable
By up to five years in prison.

You just got one or two
Pieces of distilling equipment.

It's just a misdemeanor.

You face a year in prison,
But when you get it all together

With a still and the mash,
Now you facing a felony.

Straight.
Alright.

Dump that mash?
-I done dumped it all.

Do you think we should
Jug this out?

Yes, sir.
Why the hell wouldn't we?

Let it go
Down a little bit.

Tell you what,
Let's go up in the woods.

All this stuff,
It's not cheap.

If we can pack this stuff up and
Get it out of this still site,

We can save henry and kenny
Quite a few hundred dollars.

Alright.
That's enough.

Might be charged
With manufactured.

I believe we're good.

Long as we get this pot
Out of here.

Yes.
*bleep* out of here.

Let's go.

I got
My eyes peeled, though.

♪♪

♪♪

Look at you.

I been practicing.

Tater, what's she wanting?

Do you know?

Well, you know,
That wedding is coming up.

I kind of figure
It's to borrow money.

The fact
She wants you here, too,

That means she's gonna borrow
Some money off of you, too.

-hey, guys.
-hey, tay.

Hey, taylor.

Across the state line,

It's wedding season
In tennessee,

And digger's family
Will soon be gifted

The myriad joys
Of wedding planning.

My son, beau, will be getting
Married soon,

And his bride-to-be
Wants to meet with us.

I need your guys' help.

How much you need?

The first thing comes out
Of a parent's mind is,

"Well, it's more money."

I don't need no money.

Oh.
Well, that's a plus.

I want you guys to make
A moonshine

For mine and beau's
Wedding toast.

Hmm.
Hmm.

No, it's something a little
More special than money.

Tater wants to have
A special liquor.

Let me ask you something.

Is this
A surprise for beau?

Does he know?Yes.

So we don't need to tell him.So we don't need to tell him.

Don't tell beau.

Yeah. We can
Make you some liquor.

You want a rye liquor

That's got
A little spice to it?

No.

A good, hearty corn liquor?No.

I want it to be something
Completely different

Than what you guys
Have done.

Ugh.

If it's a good drink of liquor,
Beau is onboard,

But you've got his bride-to-be
You've got to satisfy.

Do you have any idea
What you want it to taste like?

Something sweet.

You want it to taste
Like a wedding cake.

Yeah, right.

Well, we can make it taste
Like a wedding cake.

Come on now.Of course we can.

She sounds a little bit
Skeptical to me.

If we can make it taste
Like wedding cake,

You'll be okay
With that?

Do you really think
You can do that?

Yeah.
I mean, it's doable.

I'm with him.

He's the mash man.

If he says wedding-cake liquor,
Then we'll try it.

Wedding-cake liquor it is.

Okay.
Alright.

Bye, guys.

How you gonna
Make liquor

Taste like wedding cake?

Oh, that's easy,

Gonna make it
Out of wedding cakes.

Gonna what?

Make the liquor out
Of wedding cakes.

Oh, you're full of crap.

No.

Everything that you need
To make liquor is in a cake.

Got flour,
Which is your grain.

It's got sugar, which is
Your alcohol booster.

All it needs is cooked up
And some yeast put in it,

And it'll take off.

I think this is a good thing
That she wants to surprise

Beau a little bit.

She wants to make it
Special to him,

And to me, that speaks volumes,
So we're gonna do our level

Best to make this the best
Possible liquor we can make.

Let's go buy
Some wedding cakes.

Okay.
Here we go.

♪♪

♪♪

Hell to the yeah!

Blackberries.

Look at them.
Hot damn, boy.

Those are some
Good blackberries.

They'll make good pie, make good
Moonshine and a good snack.

Four counties away
In north carolina,

After recovering
From a broken back,

Josh is clawing out
The footprint

For a new still site
On a secluded hilltop.

Can't see if I'm digging
Dirt or what.

I broke my back this year,
And it's been a major setback.

After all this time
That I've lost,

I've been in a financial strain

That I don't even know
How to put into words right now.

Not only do I got
All these medical bills,

Everything else
Stacking up on me

Because I ain't
Bringing in money.

I'm behind the eight ball.

It's just a game of damn
Catch-up now.

This year, I'm hoping
To up my production

And build more
Of a permanent spot.

I want to build something where
I can make shine season

After season
Without getting run off.

It's gonna be underground.

We're gonna dig a hole,
Build a frame.

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

I really wanted to build this
At the bottom of the hill.

I thought it was the perfect
Site until we dug the hole.

Ah, man.

Josh's first attempt
To dig a bunker

Was along the creek bed,

But the presence of unstable
Soil, called sugar dirt...

This ain't good.

...Forced him to move
His plans to higher ground.

Digging in the wrong spot.

The top of the hill is a lot
Better, good, solid dirt.

I'm ready to get this thing
Dug out and made

Because I'm ready
To make some moonshine.

Right now, I'm trying to decide
How much I'm gonna mark off,

Whether I'm gonna do
20 by 20 or 20 by 25.

It's important to get
A good layout

Because you want to have
A pretty good tight foundation.

You don't want to have to do any
More digging than you got to.

I'm the guy that don't really
Ever have the plan,

The measurement.

Well, I ain't exactly sure
How I'm gonna lay it out,

But if the mash barrels
Were in the front,

They'd stop about right here.

I'm thinking the still will go
In that corner right there.

It's all starting
To come together.

Josh will excavate

A bunker-style
Still site from a hilltop.

Open on one side,
A timber-framed roof sheathed

With corrugated steel
And covered with topsoil

Will provide ample cover

For the full-scale moonshine
Operation working below.

Look at that turtle.

We obviously dug this little guy
Up out of his home,

And I definitely
Don't want to kill him,

So I'm gonna turn him
Loose over here.

I feel like everybody
Should get a second chance.

When I first started digging
At the top of the hill,

I was really unsure of myself,

But after getting further
Back into it

And it started
To take shape,

I could totally see
The still sitting in this corner

And the mash barrel
Sitting over here.

I realized that this will be
A good-sized site,

But there's no way
I'm gonna be able

To build this all by myself.

I'm gonna have to have
Some help.

If I get in trouble
At least a little bit,

I'm gone for a while.

After a close call from above,

A life behind bars

Becomes a reality
All too easy to imagine.

It's darn near inevitable.

If you stay in the woods,

Eventually you're gonna wind
Up in jail.

I need to figure out exactly
What's best for me.

♪♪

In franklin county, virginia,

48 hours after a low-flying
Plane forced them to flee,

Tickle, henry and kenny return
To their still site

Looking for signs
Of law enforcement.

I don't see nothing.

See what it looks
Like on down here.

Yeah.

As we're going into this
Still site,

We got to be just as quiet
And attentive

To every little detail
As possible.

Everything looks good so far.

I don't see a thing.

We had a pretty good scare
The other day.

Y'all hear that?

-yeah. Yes.
-it don't sound good.

It shook us up a little bit.
We don't want to lose this site.

It's the perfect site to make
Liquor, and it's peach season.

I don't have time to look
For a new still site.

There's a few footprints
And stuff here,

But I think they look
A whole lot like ours

From when we was trying
To get this pot out of here.

Let me see the bottom
Of your shoes.

You reckon it's him?

Yeah, that looks like it.

What we got to find
Is a distinctive one

Like in this mud
Down here.

I believe this right here

Is your boot track here.Yeah.

It looks a lot
Like your print.

Yeah, because we was
Tearing all this off.

Because we know we didn't
Go any further than this.

If the police have been
Down here,

They might not want to come in
Right yet and reveal their hand.

If they're watching this place,
They're gonna be back from it

A little bit looking for it.

Looking up here,
Uphill from the still site

Because this would be
The perfect vantage point

To watch this still site.

There's spiderwebs on this hill,

And this spiderweb
Has been here for a while.

It's not broken.

Looks like everything is
Looking pretty good up top here.

I didn't find any foot tracks.

Ken didn't find any.

Well, I went up and scouted
Along that ridge.

I mean, it looks just as clean
As can be up there.

I made a big, big circle,
Scanned.

I feel good about it.
All looked good.

We can starting mashing in.

As far as I can tell,
Everything looks

Exactly the way we left it,
So we're gonna mash in.

But after the scare
We had the other day,

I don't know if I want to be
Here when it's time to run it.

Once that fire is lit under it,

That's when you're
Making moonshine,

And that right there is
When they come running

Into your still site.

-right now, we'll leave.
-yeah.

But once we bring
That equipment in here,

It's gonna be
A whole different ball game.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's when it's felony
Central right there.

If I get in trouble
At least a little bit,

I'm gone for a while.

I had to do it
Two or three times.

Six years parole, had to go
Right straight back.

Six years.
Yeah. Yeah.

It's a scary feeling,
But I tell you what,

The legal side,
There's money there,

And it's steady.

Yeah.But it's not the...

Not that hit.It's not that hit.

To a moonshiner making
Moonshine in the woods,

It is the same thing skydiving
Is to an adrenaline junkie,

The thrill of knowing
You're doing something illegal,

The thrill of making sure
You don't get caught.

And it's almost a two-edged
Sword right there.

I know you can do it.

The rush is what
I'm looking for.

But the rush is also
What I'm scared of.

Yeah, the excitement.

It's darn near inevitable.

If you stay in the woods,

Eventually you're gonna wind
Up in jail.

I need to figure out exactly
What's best for me.

-it's ready.
-looks good.

Tickle gonna have to
Make up his mind

What he's gonna do.
Do you want to take this gamble?

I hope he's ready to roll
With us

Because I got customers
Waiting on their brandy,

And we were so far behind.

We need another man.

I'll tell you one thing, man.
We sure can use your help.

We got so many peaches to hit
That goal that we wanted.

I know.

I see there's a pile of money
To be made right here.

If we can get that
2,000 gallons,

We'll cut you in on a third.Cut me in on a third?

Just like my old man
Used to do with us, a third.

Henry hits me
With this proposition.

It's not one I was expecting.

One-third of 2,000 gallons
Peach brandy.

I'll tell you what, by the time
This is ready to run,

I'll let you know.
Alright.

You got seven days
To think about it.

One-third of 2,000 gallons
Of brandy,

That's a whole lot of money,

But it's also
A whole lot of risk.

With peach brandy
Fetching up to $150 a gallon,

Tickle's cut could be $100,000.

I'm gonna head up back
Towards my van.

-alright, man.
-alright.

-see you, tickle.
-good to see you, man.

We need somebody
That's experienced,

Somebody that
Don't mind working.

Tickle works his butt off.

He doesn't mind working,
So we made him an offer today,

So we just gonna have to wait
And see what he does.

You want cake bad,
Ain't you?

I love cake.

One state southwest
In cocke county, tennessee,

Mark and digger say "I do"

To a special one-off
Run of wedding-cake moonshine.

Boy. Smells good
In here, don't it?

Smells like we're in
The right spot.

I've got a boy fixing
To get married,

And they want a special liquor
For their reception toast.

So got to thinking,
"Well, what hadn't been done?"

I don't know that anybody
Has ever made liquor

Out of wedding cake.

How do, ma'am?
-howdy.

We're looking
For wedding cake.

We don't want it for us.

Oh, no.It ain't for us.

Okay.
For what date?

Today's?

Well, I didn't know
That you had to order

A wedding cake in advance.

We're just looking for around
8 pounds of cake.

Pounds.
Yeah.

Okay.

I've got some yesterday's news
In the back.

Okay.

Oh, we're all about
Yesterday's news.

We ain't had nothing
Fresh in our lives.

As long as they're good
And sweet.

Look here at these
Little fellas.

Those are cake balls.We'll take some of them.

Alright.You got cupcakes?

Yes, sir.
I do.

Oh, yeah.
We've done the math,

And we need about
8 pounds of cake.

Here's what I have left
From yesterday.

Oh.
You don't have to separate it.

You can just put it
All in a box.

Oh, okay.

Let me taste them
Little crumbs right there.

Okay.
Please do.

It won't hurt me, will it?
No.

Oh, there's mine
Right over there.

Mm.
Oh, yeah.

That's 8 pound of cake.

Bye. Thank you.
Bye-bye.

Well, now comes the point
We have to mash in

And turn it into
Some fine liquor.

I'll probably pass out
In a diabetic coma here

In a minute.

♪♪

♪♪

Come on, you bastard.

Golly, boy, that thing is jumpy.

Damn, I hate it
When it does that.

Three counties south
Of north carolina,

After recovering
From a broken back,

Josh finds himself in need
Of an able second set of hands

To build his underground
Still site.

Lot of *bleep* dirt, man,
A lot of dirt!

What are you doing?

What the hell
You got going on?

What's happening, d?

That's a damn
Big-ass hole.

This is such a big job.

Just one guy is really
Not enough,

So I ended up
Calling my buddy, derek,

To come over
And give me a hand.

What the hell
You got going on?

I heard the end of the world
Was coming,

And I'm building
A damn doomsday bunker.

I ain't kidding you.

Well, if that's what
You're gonna do...

You want to help me?

I'll help you.

Derek is family.
He's like my little brother.

I've known him since
He was born,

But he don't need to have
Any idea what I'm doing

Because, you know,
Loose lips sink ships.

Come on.
Let's come over here.

Phew!

Basically, what
I want to do, derek,

Is I want to get
All these rocks,

All the rocks out of here,

And then I want to start
Throwing as much dirt

Out of the hole as I can.

Yeah.

And then what we're gonna do
After we get that done

Is we're gonna bring
A couple telephone poles,

Set a couple poles
Longways in here...

Okay.

...Because we're gonna have
To have some bracing.

Keep an eye out
What I'm doing

Because
I'm dangerous as hell.

Derek is a good helper
Because, well, he's young,

And he's like a bull ox.

He can move stuff around.

I think I'll be able to help you
Out a little bit.

I do got a strong back.

I know
You broke your back.

Well, this is a lot
Of backbreaking work, too.

I know this is
Between me and you.

Don't tell nobody.

Oh, yeah.
I ain't gonna tell nobody.

Let's get
This dirt dug out.

Alright.

Let's dig. Can I dig?
I'm gonna dig like hell.

Hell to the yeah!

It's the big show, baby!

It's on like donkey kong
Now, boys!

The whole side of that bank
Is wanting to cave up.

You can see it eroding away
Out from under me.

It's about to go woo, woo.
See?

When it pushes out,
That's where she's about to go.

Better put your seat belt on.
You'd have took a dive.

Huh? Yeah.

I wouldn't want to tumble off
In there

In this thing,
Probably kill me.

This is a 10,000-pound
Excavator.

I mean, you definitely
Don't want that

Falling on top of you.

That's scary.

Derek,
We about got her licked.

It was a little hairy at times,
But we still got it done.

That's pretty good.

Yeah, I think so.

I'm happy with it.

It come out a lot better than
I thought it was going to.

You must knew
What you was doing then.

Yeah, right.
I'm good with it.

Let's go get some
Telephone poles.

Let's rock 'n' roll.
Heck yeah.

You better watch out, boys.

I'm dangerous.

...Josh's engineering
Know-how takes center stage.

Hell to the yeah!

♪♪

This will either put them
In love deep,

Or it'll put a rut on them,

And they'll never speak
To each other again.

We may be throwing
A whammy on them, puss.

In cocke county,
Tennessee, mark and digger

Are mixing up the ingredients
For a happy marriage.

Old digger, he's come up
With this notion

For beau and tater's wedding.

He's wanting to make
A matrimonial moonshine,

And he's decided we'd make the
Mash taste like wedding cake.

We ain't gonna use
That big still.

We're gonna bring a little
One in here to make this one

Because we ain't making
Enough mash.

What kind of liquor
It will make,

If any, we have no idea,

But, you know, we got
Some really good cakes.

People pays money to see
Dancing water like that,

Looks just like that big pond
Out there

In las vegas, don't it?

I don't know.
I ain't never been.

Here.

Hold this, and I'll
Light that furnace.

Oh!

*bleep* damn.

You gonna melt that sugar

Before you put the cake
In it?

No.
We just put it all together.

This is gonna be the craziest
Damn liquor we've ever made.

We found some
Just really sweet,

Really good,
Good cupcakes, cake, whatnot.

You want any of this
Before it goes?

Quit eating
All the damn cake.

And, you know, we probably
Gained about 8 pounds apiece

In our just sniffing
And sampling and tasting.

There.
Thank you.

If you get anymore,

You're gonna have to
Get it out of there.

Whoo!

I want to watch you
Stir it up.

Looks like a clown puked,
Don't it?

Oh, sumbitch.

Taste that.

Mother of pearl.

That is delicious!

That's the best-tasting mash
I've ever tasted in my life.

Well, let's just put it
In a jar like it is.

Put a little liquor
In there with it.

Add some liquor in it.

It can be the finest-tasting
Mash in the world,

But honestly until you put it
In the still and cook it up,

You know,
There's no way of knowing

If it will be
Good liquor or not.

We can't leave this mash.

The bears can't get
In them totes,

But he'll pick that up
And dump it out lickety-split.

Let's put it back in the truck
And take it with us.

You know, I can't think
Of anything else

That'd be a clear recipe
For disaster

Than to leave
This mash in here.

If there's a bear
Within 20 miles of here,

He'll be here in a few hours.

You ain't the damn mash guru
For nothing.

I don't know
So much about that,

But that mash yonder takes
The cake, no pun intended.

♪♪

♪♪

You don't think
One of them things

Won't knock your teeth out.

I'd say one of them make you
Wake up and apologize.

I'm telling you.

Across the state line
On the piedmont plateau,

With hired help,

Josh is moving into place
The massive support beams

For the roof
Of his underground still site.

How much do I owe you?
You said $400, right?

Yeah, $400 will cover it.

That's exactly what
I brought with me.

Found this guy and gave us
A hell of a deal

On the telephone poles.

They said you did some time
At jurassic park.

What, are you commenting
On my hat?

You see that scar
Between my eyes there?

That was the last guy
That commented on me.

Now that the hole is dug,
The next step

Is to put
The telephone poles in place.

One thing about this bunker

Is there's gonna be
Dirt over our heads.

Dirt is really heavy,

And so the roof
Has to be really strong.

That thing can fall at any time!

Telephone poles, they've
Been treated in creosote,

So not only are they really
Strong, but they last forever.

I've never tried to pick up
A pole with a track hoe before.

*bleep*
This is such a big job.

Just one guy
Is really not enough.

Well, damn.
I just suck, don't I?

-yeah.
-yeah.

So I ended up calling
Derek's little brother,

Will, to come over
And give me a hand.

Chain it up.
Watch yourself.

You gonna have to find
Something to put under them.

I don't want no arms and legs
Under there if we can help it.

That's scary.

See?
-oh, my god.

I about got a vacation.

They just fell.

Thank god nobody was under it.

Hell, I need a hard hat
For this job.

That's right.

A lot of things
Can go wrong here.

Somebody could get hurt,
Break something.

Anything can happen.

Watch yourself.

Damn, that scared the *bleep*
Out of me.

Now what?

We're gonna put the edge
Of this against the blade,

And you're gonna pull back.

So I'm gonna knock
My teeth out?

Yeah.
You put your window down.

Oh, that's gonna help.

The telephone poles
Are gonna basically

Be my entire structure.

Good to me.
Good to me.

Let's rock 'n' roll.

They're gonna be the ceiling,

And they're gonna be my
Joists that hold everything up.

He better not get too
Crazy swinging that bitch.

Hell to the yeah!

Watch it!
Watch it!

-*bleep*
-heck yeah!

-whoo!
-better watch out, boys!

I'm dangerous!

I get a little bit wild
On the equipment sometimes,

But that's because
I love doing it so much.

He's gonna get real scared
When he gets close to that hole.

Unchain me!

It's a little nerve-racking
Sometimes

When you're fooling
With all that weight.

Oh, hell nah.

You know, people could get hit
In the head or smashed, killed.

Don't you come off there,
You son of a bitch.

It's always an element
Of danger there.

Ah!
I did break my back,

And everything
Is stacked against me.

Am I frustrated?

Hell yeah, I'm frustrated,
But I'm frustrated every year,

But the payoff is, we're going
To have a killer still site

That's gonna be there
Forever and ever.

Come on.
Come this way.

I probably take some chances
Sometimes

I probably shouldn't have,
But it's...

Whew.

...Big boys' toys, you know?

I'm gonna swing you around,
Wilbur.

Drop the anchor!

Ah!

Alright.
Put me down.

How about that for
Your amusement park?

It's really hard to justify
Building this bunker

And renting a track hoe.

Good on this end.

Throw your end in, derek.

I have to make a lot
Of moonshine to make it back.

But with just a little bit
Of winterizing,

We can make this work
All winter long.

Think it'll be worth it.

Right now, what I'm trying to do
Is just get

All these logs squared up
So we can put our roof on here.

Stop it right there.

Crack some dirt under it.

Right there, leave it.

That's good, ain't it?
-that's pretty square.

I can't believe it.
I'm happy.

Now that all these
Telephone poles are in place,

It's really starting to take
Shape, and it's coming together.

Well, what we're gonna do
Is put a little dirt

In between them
And build it up.

To build my bunker,
I'm gonna frame it all in.

I'm gonna put metal over it.

Kind of fix the grade
Around it a little bit

So everything is tapered down
At a angle a little bit.

Even with the grades,
So you can't notice it.

Yep.

Gonna be plants
And freaking grass

And *bleep*
Growing all over it.

You could be standing right on
Top of this thing

And never even know it's there.

-think it looks pretty good.
-yeah.

Perfect.

I don't know what it'll taste
Like, but I know one thing.

I guarantee
It'll get them drunk.

Mark and digger
Lift the veil

On their first-ever
Wedding-cake moonshine.

If this is anything
Like that raw mash,

It's gonna be
Something else.

Oh, that mash
Tasted wonderful.

In the hills
Of cocke county, tennessee,

At the request of his
Daughter-in-law-to-be,

Digger has asked mark
To join him

In a run of matrimonial
Moonshine made from cake.

And there it goes.

Gravity will take care
Of the rest.

-hmm.
-oh.

Damn if it don't look
Special, don't it?

It does.
It's potent.

I can smell it all the way
Up here.

You know, this is something
We've never done before.

We've never done anything
With cake.

It's kind of off-the-wall
Idea, ain't it?

It's a roll of the dice.
We don't know.

It's ready to run.

I say let's put us
A little liquor still together.

We're gonna use one of
The little squatty-potty stills

As we call them.

This is a small run,
So we're dragging

One of our little stills
Out here and running it.

Yonder it comes!

You know, we've made moonshine
Out of everything but not cakes.

You know, this is
A new ball game for us.

We know it'll make liquor,

But we ain't got no idea
What it'll be like.

It's your turn
To blow up.

This one, I don't think,
Will blow us up.

You know, we always tease
Each other and say,

"Whose time is it to blow up?"

I said, "Well, it's mine.

There ain't no way this one
Will gonna hurt me."

You could actually
Do it all yourself.

I'm gonna go over here
In the safe spot,

So you won't blame me
If any of this goes wrong.

Thought you said
It wouldn't do that.

Boy, I was wrong.
Look at that.

These propane burners,

They'll blow out on you
Every once in a while.

Got to exercise caution.

These things will hurt you.

Well, look at that
Spackle there.

Are my eyebrows gone?

What eyebrows?

I think that I was
Opening the valve

The wrong direction,

And I was filling it underneath
The still full of gas,

And when I lit it,
Kablooey.

Well, we couldn't call
It a brazilian,

What we call it?
A hillbillian.

Hillbillian damn bikini wax.
Here.

I no longer have any hair
On this arm,

And I think all but a couple
Of my eyelashes are gone.

Now it's burning right.

I can't see so good out
Of this eye no more.

Huh.

How many fingers am I
Holding up?

Is you sad?
I ain't sad.

Your eyes are tearing up.

I ain't sad.
I'm just cooked.

If you could see what I'd see,
You'd be sad.

Liquor,
Matrimonial...

Moonshine.
...Moonshine.

I don't know what it'll taste
Like, but I know one thing.

I guarantee it'll
Get them drunk.

Oh, yeah.

Now if some liquor
Would just show up.

Just a waiting game,
Ain't it?

Yep, right there.

Yeah, it's running slow

But no more liquor
Than we're gonna make.

I think that's perfect.

We're gonna run it
As slow as we possibly can.

I mean, it just has to drip out.

The slower you run it, the less
It burns your guzzle out

And the better liquor it is.

♪♪

♪♪

Hell yeah,
It's good liquor.

Just a little bit
Of a nutty flavor there,

Some of them nuts
That was in that one cake.

I'd drink that
All day long.

It tastes just like cake.

It's unreal.

There at the front,
There's coconuts,

And at the very back,
There's just a little finish

With some of the walnuts
That were in one of those cakes.

It's not too sweet, but...

Eh, we'll syrup it up.

There's 7 3/4.

That's nearly 2 gallon.

Yep.

Honestly,
I can't believe it.

We made moonshine out of cake.

It's a novelty, but it's still
A really,

Really great run of liquor.

I hope tater and beau like it,
But I love the small runs.

I wish that's all I had to ever
Do the rest of my life.

She's probably gonna mix it
In 3 gallons of punch.

Well, that'd be sad.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Nothing like a day of fishing
To clear your mind

And give a man time
To think about stuff.

One state to the northeast

After a close call
With a surveillance plane,

Tickle wrestles
With the decision

To accept henry's risky offer

Or walk the straight
And narrow.

I'll be damned.

The littlest tree out here,
I get hung up in it.

Right here, all these big trees,
And I'm getting hung on stuff

That's, like, 3 inches tall
Right here at the bank.

A metaphor for life, isn't it?

You think you have all these
Big problems around you,

And that little thing right
There is what tripped you up.

That's how this could go for me.

You know, henry,
He's offering me a partnership

If we can make
2,000 gallons of moonshine,

But it's a airplane
Flying over our still site

And scaring the crap
Out of all of us.

That's what's got me so worried.

We went back and looked
And didn't see any signs

Of where the law has been down
To our still site,

But we're good at hiding
From the law,

And the law is good
At hiding from us, too.

If you're a good moonshiner,

Everybody knows exactly
What you're doing.

You know what?
I just got out of jail.

I know what it's like
To be in there

And be deprived from
Your family and your friends,

And I don't want to go back.

I go back in front of a judge,
And I know good and well

They gonna burn me a new one
And burn it hard,

But, hell,
If I could hold a regular job,

I'd have never got into
Moonshining, you know?

It's what I do.
It's what I know.

But like tim has told me,
Sometimes what you know,

It's not always
The best thing for you.

I look at you doing
Something that you love doing.

Yeah.

Been in my blood,

And, you know,
My whole life I been in it.

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

You kind of get
A high off of it.

Mm-hmm.

And, hey, I get it
And all of that,

But you got so much more
To look forward to

And so much more in life.

This 2,000 gallons right here,
This is a lot of money.

This right here could get me
Back on the map,

But if the law runs in on us,
I'm not even back to square one.

I'm back to square zero,
But, man,

It almost kill me to admit

That I ain't got what it takes
To be a moonshiner.

We don't know yet

If tickle wants to help us run
Or not.

...A veteran shiner must decide

If he's all in
Or ready to walk away.

We got a lot
Of mash right here.

We got a lot of money
In that mash.

We need to know
What you gonna do.

♪♪

I know one thing.

We make much of this damn
Wedding liquor,

We'll weigh 637 pounds.

I get any on me?

No, you ain't got...

I feel like I got
Some of it on me.

No, you ain't.

You ever seen a train wreck
In a tunnel?

Boy, I'm telling you,

It looks like a train wreck
Of baby *bleep*

Damn, that's making...
That's hurting my teeth.

They're so sweet.

With their wedding-cake run,

Mark and digger walk a few more
Gallons down the aisle

Towards their 2,000-gallon goal.

Tickle and the laws
Are toasting 85 gallons

While, for josh, it's speak now

Or forever hold your peace
With last place.

Things look pretty
Good, I thought.

Didn't you?

So far,
It's looking good.

Nothing's been moved,
No tracks.

In central virginia,
Without a decision from tickle,

Henry and kenny
Make one final security sweep

Before declaring
Their still site safe to run.

You had a good idea
The other day

Where they might come
Out of that thicket.

Yep.

That's where the jump man
Is gonna come.

Truck could be sitting
Right there.

They'll sneak right down
Through there.

I hate to say it.

A lot of times, we've hired
A third man to give us

A better chance to get away.Yeah.

And tickle, you know,

He's been eating a lot
Since he's in jail.

A little bit plump.

A little bit plump.

We don't know yet if tickle
Wants to help us run or not,

But I can't wait long,

Got customers
Waiting on their brandy.

The mash is ready to go.

We can't put it off anymore.

If tickle don't want to help us,

Then I'm gonna move on
With somebody else.

How does it look?

I scouted out good now.

It looked good to me.
I feel good about it.

Listen.

*bleep*
Damn, tickle,

Scare the hell
Out of somebody, man.

That is rolling up
On the still here.

Dang.

I knew I saw a figure moving up
There, and I didn't...

I couldn't tell.

When I came in here, they was
Worried about who was coming in.

That tells me that
They're worried about

The security of this place,

And I can't lie to you.
I am, too.

So you think we alright
Down here?

I made a big,
Big circle scan.

I say we're ready.

But now talk to me.

We got a lot
Of mash right here.

We got a lot of money
In that mash.

We need to know
What you gonna do.

Henry, he has made me
A really good offer,

But you know what?

I'm kind of tired of being
In jail.

I know if I stay in this
Illegal way,

That's where I'm eventually
Gonna wind up at.

What's your final decision?
This is it.

We need to know now
If you gonna be here.

This is where
I'm at right now.

I'm right here.

-so you're gonna be with us?
-this is where I'll be.

You can count on it.Alright.

Let's get all
The *bleep* together.

Once we get the still in,

It goes from being
A misdemeanor to a felony.

Easy. Easy.
Easy.

Does that scare me
A little bit?

Of course it does.

If it didn't, that would be
A bad thing.

Keep your eyes open,
Tickle.

Alright.
Yeah.

Every now and again, always look
Up and just do a quick scan.

I don't know if you've ever
Heard the expression,

"You could cut the tension
With a knife."

Just walk that.

You see up on that ridge.

Do a big, wide sweep.

It's so thick down here
On this still site,

I believe you could actually
Reach out and grab

A handful of it.

Got big daddy now.

She's real now.
Yeah.

So we're not in misdemeanor
Mode anymore.

Yeah.

I'm fired up.

I'm nervous as hell.

Right now is when
We're most vulnerable.

Our heads are down,
Cleaning buckets, fixing worms.

They could sneak in on us
So easy right now,

So we got kenny out there
Doing a little bit of scouting,

Make sure we don't get raided

Which is a moonshiner's
Life, man.

That's the way it goes.

Things are really
Getting serious.

I made a big old circle.

I didn't see nothing.

That's also when
That rush hits you.

-turn them on.
-alright.

If you're really doing it,
All the hard work,

It's just now
Starting to pay off.

Let's get that mash
In there.

Any time you go
Into a still site,

I don't know what it is,

But you always have
That little fear factor.

I remember when I first started
Making liquor,

I'd go in, lay down on
The still and go to sleep.

After you get run one time,
You don't do that anymore.

It can get to your nerves,

But you've got to get
The job done.

You gonna light this baby?

Alright.

There we go.

We're getting everything
Heated up right now.

We've got a branch worm
Connected to a thumper.

Won't be no time we'll have
Liquor running

Out of this thing.

We really like
Our submarine-type stills,

And the reason why is
We're able to stir the mash,

And because we got
All of our mash in there,

All our grain in there,
The flavor is unbelievable.

See all that methanol
Coming out of there?

By leaving the cap off the way
We do,

We get rid of most of the
Methanol long before we cap it.

It boils at a much lower
Temperature,

Makes the liquor high quality,

And that's rolling
Out of there, man.

Yeah.

It's ready to throw
The cap on it.

You know, there's men
That do certain things.

There's men that have a job,
And that's what they do.

There's also men
That are moonshiners.

It's not a job.
It's a way of life.

It's a lifestyle, and
Moonshining, that's what I do.

This thing is already
Getting hot.

It's already hot
As hell over to here.

I love this old cap because
She's been around a long time.

There's scars on her.

It's leaking in a few places,
But she's still alive.

She's still on the streets
Free making moonshine.

It reminds me of us.

There she goes.

She's coming
On there good now.

Yes, she is.

-is it good and clear, kenny?
-yes.

-it's cold, too.
-and cool, too.

Doing the job, huh?

It's strong.

It's a nice, steady flow
To it, too, isn't it?

Tastes right good, too.

The branch worm
Is working beautifully.

I couldn't ask for any better.

You want to mix them up?

Keep them good and cool,
And that's the main concern,

So it won't be real fiery,
So it's doing a great job.

The smell of this
Is unbelievable.

You just can't beat it.
This is real exciting.

This is what
I've been waiting for.

At the same time,
I'm very anxious, you know?

We ain't got it out yet.

Liquor is coming out of
The worm about 160 proof.

Oh, I'm happy with that.

Proof is gonna drop
As you run.

As we mix it all together,

We wind up with a final proof
Of about 105.

Don't do it.
Don't do it.

We got to run again tomorrow.
-I can smell it from here.

That's crazy stuff.

Well, me too.

Me too.

We did good today.

We ended up with, like,
35, almost 36 gallons.

Get this covered up.

We still got a long way to go.

Come on, bessie.

Whoa, whoa, whoa,
Whoa, whoa.

Oh *bleep*

We got lucky that time,
Very lucky.

Let's get it the hell
Out of here, man.

Next time on "Moonshiners"...

You think you'll have
Any trouble moving this?

Well,
I'll be honest with you.

You know, I'm hurting mike's
Sales a hell of a lot.

When you say you've got

Popcorn sutton legacy liquor,
People want it.

In cocke county, revenge is
A drink best served cold.

After doing me
Wrong like that,

I believe pretty dang well
That if I keep this up,

I could starve him out,
And that suits me just fine.

So I'm spinning it
Like this right here.

Is it creating
Some type of power?

Yes. Lick your fingers
And hold the wire.

You do it!

A science experiment
In sevier county

Yields shocking results.

Oh!
Damn!

-josh, you hear that?
-huh?

What was that racket?

You can see that there's
A drone right there.

And in north carolina,

State-of-the-art surveillance
Meets old-school firepower.

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications