Moonshiners (2011–…): Season 9, Episode 6 - Drone vs. Shotgun - full transcript

You hear that?

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

-sounds like bees.
-it's a drone.

See?
There's a drone right there.

Narrator: ...In south carolina,
High technology meets hot lead.

You ready to buy
Some damn liquor or what?

I ain't going to be able
To take all of it.

Who you getting your damn liquor
From, son?

I can't tell you that,
Dave.

Narrator:
In sevier county, tennessee,

A mystery bootlegger
Invades mike's turf.



If my customers all of a sudden
Are getting it

From some-damn-body else,
There's a snake some-damn-where.

Narrator:
And across the county line...

I'll tell you
What we've got.

Probably between
55 and 58 gallons.

You think you'll have any
Trouble with moving this?

Narrator: ...Mark and digger's
Investment on a former rival

Brings more than simple
Financial gain.

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

If I keep this up,
I can starve him out.

♪♪

Man: this is how we make
The moonshine!

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

♪♪



I'm going to sit down and drink
A beer, wait on old daniel.

You got any cold beer
Over there, man, digger?

I sure do.

Narrator:
In cocke county, tennessee,

Moonshine legends mark
And digger await a former rival

Who's agreed to bootleg
Their shine

In the neighboring
Sevier county.

-hell, look at you in there...
-hello there.

...Sitting there indulging
In a dang cold beverage.

-libating it.
-you want one?

I'd like to have one.

Today, I come up here to the bar
To meet mark and digger,

Do business with them

And give them their part
Of the profits

From the 60 gallons
That they entrusted me with.

Thank you.

This is a big opportunity
For me,

And I really appreciate
The hell out of the guys.

I tell you what, boys.
It's some good-tasting liquor.

I mean, I even drunk
Some up myself.

I went and tasted it.

The hell you mean,
You drunk some of it yourself?

A man has got to make sure he
Ain't selling water, don't he?

Yeah. Well, don't sell nobody
Nothing you wouldn't drink.

No, but anyway...
Them there's the 6,000.

You moved that amount of liquor
In 17 days?

Damn, daniel.

You guys is nice enough
To help me out.

I come to you guys because
My partner screwed me.

I guess the status
Of my partnership with mike

Right now is, uh,
We don't have one anymore.

What in the damn hell, son?

Narrator: after daniel suffered
A serious back injury...

Be careful, jerry.

Narrator:
...His former partner mike

Enlisted the help
Of another moonshiner

To assist him in finishing
His elaborate still site.

What do you think
About teaming up?

Jerry helped you build this
Right here?

I had to bring somebody in here
To help me finish this.

It seems to me like you
Just dumped me off

And take somebody else.

You know, I thought that I had
A real good friend.

-right.
-but obviously, I didn't.

It ain't none of our business,
But just out of curiosity,

Did you sell the majority
Of it in sevier county?

I sold it all
In sevier county.

Daniel: all the customers
In sevier county

That I'm selling to,
It's the same ones

That me and mike have sold to,

But, you know,
These are customers

That I've had all my life.

Like, the only reason he had
The customers is because of me.

We wouldn't sell no liquor
In sevier county.

As far as I'm concerned, once we
Turn this liquor over to you,

It ain't no longer our liquor.

-it's mine then.
-it's your liquor.

Exactly.

Reckon you can get rid
Of a couple more barrels.

I don't think that would
Be a problem.

I am confident that I can
Sell double

The amount that I just sold,

And me having a good, endless
Supply now, I'm all for it.

We'll set up the time
And place.

We got to give us a day
Or two to get it together.

That's fine.
Tammy?

-yo!
-you got 6 grand worth of beer?

Let me see.[ laughter ]

♪♪

♪♪

I'm on the way right now
To my stash house.

I got 20 gallons stashed away
At what I call the ponderosa.

This old house is crazy.

I don't like going in here
Myself.

It's kind of moldy.

Narrator:
Along the carolina border

To complete construction
Of his bunker still site,

Moonshiner josh is making
A withdrawal

From his own personal
Safe deposit box.

*bleep* ton of cobwebs.
That's a good damn sign.

After breaking my back
And getting a little bit

Of a bad start this year,

I can't really afford
To not hit the ground running.

I need to be able to make
This bunker

As cheap as possible
And as fast as possible.

I'm no stranger to falling
On hard times,

And if it hadn't had been
For stuff that I put away,

I wouldn't be able to survive.

♪♪

This moonshine is just
Like having money

In the bank, you know?

We're going to take it down here
To the damn junkyard.

My buddy billy --
He wheels and deals.

Hopefully, we're going to be
Able to trade it

And get our roof
On our damn still site,

Get our dirt and the rubber
Threw on there,

Get our still site done.

Roofing metal -- that stuff
Is astronomical in prices.

You're talking, like,
$2,000 to $5,000

Just to dang do one little area,
And that's ridiculous.

We don't spend
Thousands of dollars

So we can damn make liquor.

It looks like exactly what we
Need if there's enough of it.

There's enough of it.
I got some more.

How many feet is that,
20 or 25?

Probably
About 25-foot long.

-you take the dumb end.
-ah!

They didn't teach me to count
Where I went to school.

That's exactly what we want.

That's exactly what we want
Right yonder.

Well, it looks like
We found our metal.

It ain't exactly top-notch,
But it don't have to be, right?

We're covering it with dirt.
It's going in the hole.

How much you want
For all of it?

Will you trade
Some moonshine for it?

Come on.

Come on, wheel and deal.

I asked billy to trade moonshine
For this metal, and he said,

"No, I don't even
Drink no more,"

But I knew better than that.

Come here. I'm going to talk
To you a minute.

All right.

So I got four
5-gallon buckets

Of good corn whiskey
In the back of my truck.

I'll trade you for all
That metal just to even up.

Good moonshine.

I normally get $100
A gallon.

That'll be 2,000 bucks.

I think me and billy both got
A good deal

Because he probably got
A little bit more liquor

Than the metal was worth,

And I saved a hell of a lot
Money by getting the metal used.

What are you doing
With all this metal?

I'm going to make me
A big old chicken barn

[ laughs ] chicken barn.

Now that we got our metal,

The next step's to build
A frame,

Put the metal on,
Put the rubber on,

Throw some dirt over it,

Cover it up, and then put
Our liquor still in.

[ horn honks ]

♪♪

I've got a washing machine.
That's all I can tell you.

Just tip it forward and see
What kind of drive its got,

And then we'll go from there.
-okay.

Narrator: across the state line
In sevier county,

Mike and his new partner,
Jerry, need a reliable way

To illuminate
Their backwoods still site,

So they can increase production
By running at night.

-set it up.
-yeah, we can.

Set this aside.

We need good lighting,
So we can work all night long,

So jerry comes up with the idea
About doing a hydrogenerator

To generate power
From the creek.

That way, we can start trying
To get some electricity going

And start making liquor
And getting it out.

All I know the son of a bitch is
Supposed to do is wash clothes.

Took us a long time
To get going this year.

We've been building
Our still site,

And we fell far behind.

We need to run around the clock

And start getting
Some liquor sold

If I'm ever going to meet
My goal for the season.

So what we're going
To do is,

We're actually going to
Rewire this little motor

Because we're going to power
This thing with water, right?

Right.

This motor is designed
To run on electricity,

So what we're going to do is,
We're going to rewire it

So that it'll actually create
Power as we're turning it.

Hey, you're the damn
Mastermind.

I see what's going on, but I
Don't quite understand it.

I'm here to help and learn.

Narrator: instead of using
Electricity to produce motion,

Jerry's plan for
A hydroelectric generator

Will use motion created
By a stream of pressurized water

To produce electricity.

The system relies on rewiring
The coil and magnet array

From an old
Washing machine motor.

As the flow of water
Spins the motor,

It'll generate
An electric current

That will be stored
In a bank of car batteries,

Ready to use for lighting
With the flip of a switch.

When somebody brings up
The word "Generator" to me,

You pull a guy
Saying to pull a rope

And plug
An extension cord in.

Hell, that's a generator to me.

If we don't get these leads
Put on there,

We won't have enough voltage
Coming out of the system at all.

Jerry's trying to walk me
Through this.

There you go.

But still, at this point
In the game,

I don't understand how
It's going to generate power.

He's saying we got to rewire it,

That we've got to have it
Free-spinning.

How does she feel?

It's a lot freer
Than it was,

But you're not gonna
Make me believe that water

From that creek
Is going to push that.

You know, I think mike is still
A little bit skeptical

It's not gonna
Work properly.

I don't wire *bleep*
Every day.

This is your project.

But we don't have time
On our hands,

So we've got
To get this done.

We got to get it in the woods,

So we can send power
To our still site.

It ain't that I don't
Have faith in you.

It's that I don't know
If I have faith in this system.

You got a drill?

Let's do our little
Light bulb test.

All right. Try that.

Eureka!

You know exactly what
You're doing with this,

But in all reality, there's not
Enough freaking water up there

To make that son of a bitch
Turn a light bulb on.

I don't understand the concept
Except it's got to be running

100 miles an hour
To turn a light bulb on

With *bleep* in the wind.

Open your ears and listen,
Okay?

-you're turning it that fast...
-mm-hmm.

...To give us 120 volts
Of power

To light this light bulb.

-right.
-we don't have to have that.

All we need is this thing
To spin a good little bit

To create
A little bit of voltage

So that we can convert it into
D.C. And store it in a battery.

So no matter what,

If I'm spinning it
Like this right here,

Is it creating
Some type of power?

Yes.

-a low voltage.
-yeah.

I think another good test
We can do...

-you hold onto it.
-you hold them two leads.

This son of a bitch
Ain't holding nothing.

-and I'll turn it real slow.
-you do it, and I'll spin it.

Lick your fingers
And hold the wires.

No, you do it.
Are you scared?

-no, I'm not scared.
-feel anything yet?

Little bit.
Turn it a little faster.

-are you really?
-yeah, yeah.

-here, hold it.
-seriously?

-seriously.
-is it bad?

-no, it's not bad.
-don't you spin it hard.

I swear to god,
I'll stick this in your ear.

You ready?

Unh-unh!
You going too fast!

Quit it!

Are you holding it?

Oh! Damn!

Yeah, I felt a little
Something right there,

And it's too damn much
For me!

Yeah, there's electricity coming
Through that son of a bitch.

By god, there's electricity
Going through it.

It come through me
Like a bolt of lightning.

-okay. Now I --
-now you believe me?

-now I get your concept.
-yeah?

Just because it ain't
Lighting the bulb

Don't mean
If won't light you up.

Light your ass up.
That's exactly right.

[ laughs ] damn!

So as long as we've got power
Running to our battery,

We can keep the battery
Charged in order

To run the lights
Around the clock.

Oh, man!

Narrator: coming up...

Josh, you hear that?

-huh?
-who's that rat?

Narrator: in north carolina,

A state-of-the-art intruder

Puts josh's new site
In jeopardy.

Well, they got to be close by,
Whoever it is.

That's sketchy, man.

♪♪

Hell, yeah.

A damn onion.

Narrator:
In polk county, north carolina,

With roofing material obtained,

Josh is looking to lock down
A new right-hand man

To help finish building
His still site

And get started
Running shine.

Right now, we're headed out
To the l.B.C.C.

To see
The piedmont boys play.

My buddy colton
Is drumming for 'em.

Normally, he drums
For the moonshine bandit.

My buddy colton --
He's been begging me

The whole time teach him
How to make moonshine.

He's super fascinated with it,
And I know I can trust him,

But I need somebody
That can help me do some labor.

Hell, I don't mind
Teaching somebody else

How to make moonshine,

Especially if they're
Going to be in my corner

And help me out.

While he's in town,
We'll go up here and hang out

And have a good time,
See how it goes down,

And if he still wants
To turn water into shine,

Then I'm gonna teach him.

Man: ho![ drums beating ]

Yeah!

[ audience cheering ]

♪ I know my liver well ♪

That's my buddy colton
Right there, y'all!

♪ if the whiskey
Don't kill me♪

♪ I know the devil will ♪

Go, man! Come get it, man.

[ cheers and applause ]

[ song ends ]

[ crowd cheering ]bring the sax up.

♪♪

How much did he charge you
To bend that?

He didn't charge me nothing.

That's good.

Narrator: in tennessee,

After pocketing $6,000
From their first run,

Mark and digger pay back a favor

To one of
Their long-time mentors.

I hope maybe we can fix up
Something for j.B.

Yeah,
We can get it fixed up.

Now in his 80s, old-timer

J.B. Rader spent decades
Making outlaw shine

With popcorn sutton.

Now he needs a custom burner

For a one-off
Run of apple moonshine.

J.B. Is taking order
For honeycrisp moonshine,

But he's going to have
Some solid apples in this run,

And after they soak up
For a while,

They sink to the bottom
Where they get to the flame,

And the flame's gonna scorch
'em on that thin bottom copper.

-you got it, tyler.
-I got her, boy.

We think that we've got
Something that'll help j.B.

If we can get it
To burn like we want it to.

Here's what I got in mind.

You know, when we tried
Several years ago...

We never could get it
Burning blue.

They're blue right there
At the first part of it.

Then they turn just
As orange as a pumpkin.

Mark: yellow flame isn't
Any good.

Take it forever to work.

We've been toying with this
Hoop burner for a while.

Now is as good a time as any
To get it going

And maybe solve
J.B.'s problems.

No, it never would burn,

And I think it couldn't
Get enough air into it.

Well, the hoop burner will work

By just wrapping
Right around that pot.

All the apples will be
About this deep at the bottom.

Well, the burner's
Going to be a minimum

Of 12 inches off the bottom.

The flames will run out
Onto the sides of the steel

And heat it from the sides
Instead of the bottom.

I think we need to just
Drill some holes in it

To start with, real small ones
Facing the still pot.

-mm-hmm.
-let me grab me a few tools.

[ whirring ]

There's going to be, like,
30 little flames

Licking the side
Of this still.

If these holes ain't
The right size for this,

We may try drilling 'em
Out a little bigger

'cause I'll tell you,
If it's got too much pressure,

I'm afraid what it'll do,
It'll just blow the flame out.

-yeah.
-blow...

-it comes out too fast.
-it's too fast.

In order for this thing
To function

Like it's supposed to,
We've got to have blue flame.

Yellow flame does not produce
Heat that the blue flame does.

Narrator: when burning gas,

A blue flame is a sign
Of complete combustion.

A yellow flame will release soot
And dangerous chemicals

Like carbon monoxide.

[ groans ]

That ain't worth a damn.

It's of utmost importance
That the flame is blue.

Can you hold that?

I'm gonna try
To muffle them ends.

You got it?

We're just kind of grasping
At straws here.

It's just strictly
Trial and error.

We ain't making a damn
Nickel's worth of differences.

We got to have more blue.

♪♪

♪♪

Well...

It's still here.
What in the world had--

I was kind of hoping
It would've disappeared.

[ laughs ]

Narrator:
In columbus, north carolina,

Ready to put a roof
Over his head,

Josh has enlisted
Long-time friend cuz

To help get
Moonshiner-in-training colt

Up to speed on the construction
Of his underground still site.

I'm want to take the bobcat
With a chain.

Get this pole straight
Like we want it,

Hook up a couple of the straps,

And I want to a come-along
And a come-along hooked to it,

And we'll reach right down

And pick up one of
These poles down here.

Let's hook this sucker up.

[ engine starts ]

I met josh at a bar one night.

I was filling in with an older
Band I used to play with.

I'm going to say this is
About 900

To 1,000-pound log
Right here we got.

That son of a bitch
Is heavy!

And josh is kind of known
Around as "Moonshiner josh,"

And I want to learn
To make moonshine.

Better jack that sucker.

Let's get her did.

Moonshine is illegal, but, no,
It really don't bother me,

And I'm excited 'cause
I've always wanted to make it.

I like the outlaw side of it.

Damn, colt.
Be careful with this

'cause this damn thing's
Barely in that buckle,

And it looks like
The damn straps

Want to cut through right there,
So be careful, okay?

All right.There's a lot of weight on that.

This is a project
That I need help on.

This year, I'm hoping
To up my production,

But I have got a late start.

That's all the more reason
For me to recruit

Cuz and colt, have them
Helping me get everything done

So we can make more liquor
And make more money.

There it is.

And then you're going to put,
What, poles up under it

To hold that up under there?
-yeah.

These telephone poles
Are in place,

And these poles
Are really big.

They're really strong.

I got to put a lot of support
Under them.

Then I'm gonna put metal on it.

Then I'm gonna put
Rubber on it, more dirt on it,

And you won't even be able
To tell it's there.

Where'd you learn all
Your building skills from,

Just taught yourself?

If you want to call it
Skills...

Well, I mean, you had
To build this somehow.

It didn't just come together.
You had to figure it out.

I just always created
*bleep*.

-yeah.
-all right.

So we're going to put
A post right there.

[ high-pitched whine ]

You hear that?

Sounds like bees.

-josh, you hear that?
-huh?

What is that racket?

[ high-pitched whining
Continues ]

Yeah, I do hear something.

Sounds like it's just right
In these trees right here.

I don't know what it is.

It's like a bunch of honeybees
Gathering.

It does.
Right through them trees

Right there,
I see something moving.

*bleep* it is.
It's a drone.

Look at it.
It's a drone.

See?
It's a drone right there.

I mean, they got to be close by,
Whoever it is.

The more people that know
About your still site,

The more the opportunity
There is to get busted.

-weird.
-yeah.

I can't even see it no more.

It just went past
The trees over there.

That's sketchy, man.

They know we're here.

They know we're building
Something.

It's just a construction site
Right now,

But if somebody knows
We're building something there,

When we go away, they're liable
To come snooping around

To see what it is we built.

You know what?
That son of a bitch comes back,

I'm gonna blow the son
Of a bitch out of the sky.

[ buzzing ]

I've put way too much work
Into this still site

To abandon it
Over some stupid drone.

It's very important to me that
This still site comes out right.

I want it to last forever.

Watch them noggins
And hands.

Ain't gonna kill me.

I ain't going to kill you.
You need to hold it.

There it is. Money, money.

Look at that bad boy
In there now.

Works for me.
Our first one is in, boys.

I know it sounds crazy
Or seems crazy.

After all these years,

I keep making all these
Elaborate still sites.

Let her down easy.

It may not be the easiest way
In the world,

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

And we're gonna make
Some of the best moonshine.

Colt: oh.

Keep going.

Keep it going.
Couple more hits.

That looks pretty good to me.

It looks good.
What you got there works.

Well, I'll tell you
What we can do.

We can go ahead and drill our
Holes and drive in our stakes.

-want to do that?
-yeah.

Now that we've got all our beams
And posts in place,

Time to drill some holes,

Drive some spikes and put
On some roofing metal.

♪ I been working
On the railroad ♪

Ooh, god!

Narrator: coming up...

Two, three, pull!
Move your hands.

Narrator: under pressure,
Mike and jerry

Get their electric generator
Into high gear.

Whoo!
I'm loving it!

♪♪

Hey, you can't touch that
Just yet.

Damn, it's hot though,
Wasn't it?

-it boiled it aplenty.
-yeah, and blacken it, though.

Narrator:
It's back to the drawing board

In cocke county, tennessee,
Where mark and digger

Are fine-tuning a hoop-burner
Prototype for their friend

J.B. Rader to modify a still
For a one-off run of

Honeycrisp apple shine.

The absolute gold of
This whole burner is,

We want small blue flame.

That's the hottest flame
That propane will give off.

If we can't get blue flames,
J.B.'s toast.

Well, I'll tell you
What to do.

Let's drill it out
A little notch bigger.

-lay it to it.
-at least it burnt.

Yup.

[ whirring ]

I'm going to step up
The whole size to 1/8th-inch

And see if that makes
Any difference,

And we'll see
What happens there.

You know, there's formulas,

I'm sure, for figuring
Air-gas ratios and mixtures,

And I'm just guessing at it,

So there's
A real happy medium there

Where our mixture
And gas mixture

And pressure
All has to come into play.

Believe we got her.

If we can get it to work,

This will solve
J.B.'s problems.

♪♪

Yeah, these bigger holes, every
Time we tried it, same thing.

They've got plenty of pressure,

But they're as orange
As a pumpkin.

They blowing theirselves out.
Damn!

I think that the pressure
Gets so big inside the pipe...

Yup.

That those little holes,
It blows it out,

Or if it lets more of it
Out through the slots...

Obviously, the last round
Of holes, it is not the answer.

I say we're pissing
In the wind.

I'll tell you what to do.
Let's cut us some slots.

With our big steels, the black
Iron pipe burners that we use,

We cut slots in those,
And they work well.

Get that bad boy up here,
And let's saw a hole or two

And see what we can do.

We solder up all the holes
And get them closed off

And start cutting slots.

I'm gonna try to stay
Toward the middle...

Uh-huh.

...And right between
Them other holes.

If this doesn't work,
This whole project is going

On the back burner, so to speak.

[ whirs ]

The slots work in these
Gas generators we use,

But, you know,
They're all pointing up,

And we need them
To point this way,

So maybe this will work.
Maybe it won't. I don't know.

[ whirring ]

That's all she's a-getting.

We're running out of time
To save old j.B.'s run.

If we can't get blue flames,
We're just going to have

To come up
With another way to do this.

We ready?

That's the kind of heat
We want.

We've nailed it.

Lo and behold,
We've got blue flames.

Hell, yeah.

We've got it going
Our direction.

Now we need to go get
J.B. Making some liquor.

That's the flame
We're looking for, puss.

♪♪

Where are all the spoons?
I know we got these.

They're right over here.

Play the spoons?

Yeah.

Narrator:
In sevier county, tennessee,

Mike and jerry
Are installing the final piece

To their hydroelectric generator

Before taking it
To the still site.

What we're going to do is,
We're going to use some spoons

On it to capture
Our water energy

And convert it into
A rotational energy,

So we can send power
To our still site.

All righty. Here we go.

-now, watch your eyes, jerry.
-all right, man.

Now, it's time for my expertise
'cause I'm a welder.

We got to build
The pelton wheel.

I've got that.
I've got that concept.

I can weld spoons to a pulley.

I think it's laying
Pretty damn good.

Don't you, jerry?

Yeah,
It's looking pretty good.

The concept of welding
The spoons

Onto the pelton wheel is,

We weld 'em
Just very close together,

So water can hit those spoons

And start turning it something
Like a water wheel,

And once that pressure
Goes to hitting it,

And the faster it goes,
The more power

That the lines
Are pushing out.

Now, all we got to do
Is get it up to the site,

Get it set in place,
Get it all hooked up

And flip the damn switch.

♪♪

Get that side.
Help me set this down.

-get this up.
-yeah.

Damn, this thing's heavier
Than it looks.

Mm-hmm.

Whew.

Getting this electricity
Moved in here,

That means we can run at night.
We ain't got to worry about

Changing bottles out
And lanterns.

One thing about wire,
It'll twist up and make a mess.

We've been through so much
This season

Just to get
To where we're at.

You carry the generator
This time.

-I can damn sure do it.
-let's see you.

But this is going to help us out

When it comes to time
And getting out our product.

-is the valve on your end?
-yes, sir.

Help me fit this in.

Setting up on the top
Of the mountain,

We've got two 55-gallon drums
Feeding from the creek.

We've got to unhook the pipe,
Put us a splitter in.

As soon as you get
This cup off,

I'm gonna try
To put my hand over it.

Basically, we got two feeds
Going on.

One is just gonna turn
The wheel to generate power,

And our remaining water feed
Will feed the still site

For our mashing in
And condensing our worm.

I'm gonna go ahead
And tell you.

This is going to be
Monkey bump, buddy.

-you ready?
-ready.

-one, two, three, pull!
-move your hand.

[ yells ] oh!

Oh! Whoa!

Man, we break
This damn thing apart.

We're soaking-ass wet.

Get it in.

There's so much force
And pressure

Coming from them
Reservoir tanks...

Whoo!

...They done knock a grown man
Flat off his back.

Just screw that in,
In that pvc pipe.

The whole generator system,
It's all put together.

We got our water pipe with
A fine nozzle on the end of it.

Are you on?

[ whirring ]

-it going?
-nope.

Hang on. Them damn spoons
Just bent way out of...

Spin it.

Now, it's a go, and by god,
Look at yonder go!

Whoo!

I'm loving it!

That's pretty damn exciting
Right there, son.

I like it.

Let's get our wire pulled over
Here and get us some lights on.

Jerry turns the valve on, bam.
We've got power, son.

We spinning the wheel.
That is charging our battery,

And our battery
Is feeding our inverter,

And we should have lots
At the stillhouse.

I'm tickled to death.

We just got to run some wires,
Hook our battery supply up.

We'll have power
At the still site.

♪♪

We got our generator going.

Moment of truth.
Ready to turn them on?

Let's do it.

One, two, three!

[ switch clicks ]

-there it is.
-we've got lights.

Hell, yeah, baby.

It's what we got to have
Right there.

-I can actually see in here now.
-by god.

Like walking
Into the grocery store.

Hey, man.
I appreciate you, brother,

Coming up with the idea.
-it's what teams are for.

I'm telling you.

I'm ready to run
Some liquor.

-the light's going.
-let's get her done, son.

Let's do it.

-here she comes.
-whoo-hoo!

This a game changer being able
To flip that switch on.

We've put a lot of time
And effort

Into making this still site.

It's full, baby.
Pull her up out of there.

We've got to get this fig shine
Up there,

Get it to some sellers and get
Some money in our pocket,

So we gonna have
To work around the clock.

Fire in the damn hole.

Hell, yeah! [ laughs ]

Narrator: coming up...

I was under the impression
That I was coming here

To sell you
Some damn liquor.

Best I can do.

Narrator: mike and jerry face
The harsh reality

They may no longer be
The only players

In the sevier county
Moonshine game.

One of the biggest fears
In this business

Is that customers
Can go somewhere else.

♪♪

Yeah. You got her?

I got her, boy.

I got all the faith in the world
In you, puss.

Might be ill-founded.

Narrator: in the hills
Of cocke county, tennessee,

Mark and digger
Are delivering

The tried-and-tested
Hoop burner to j.B.

And his partner, kelly,
So they can modify their still

For a run of honeycrisp
Apple shine.

-here's your new burner.
-holy crap!

Me and digger, we went
And fetched the hoop burner,

And this'll be its maiden run.

If we can help him get
A successful run

And improve the hoop burner,
You know, bully for us.

What you'll have to do --
We'll lay it up on them block.

Right.

Get her up about this high,
And you're out of this solid,

And once this
Gets to getting hot

To where it's boiling off
The sides, it's gonna roll,

And it's going to stir
Your solids up.

You know, we learned a long,
Long time ago

That the key to getting flavor
Into your whiskey is,

Whatever you use for your
Fermentation, grain or fruit,

It's got to stay in there.

The way it stands right now,
There's probably 6,

8 inches of solids
In the bottom of this pot.

The hoop burner is at 12,
14 inches above the bottom,

So there's plenty enough room
For these flames

To lick the side of the steel

And heat it up
And not scorch anything at all.

I believe we're about right,
Even spaced all the way around.

How much space you got between
You over there, three fingers?

Yeah, but now, my fingers
Ain't fat like yours.

-you go to hell.
-[ laughs ]

We're ready to cap her off
Then, fellas?

Them will.

You know,
I'm a little bit nervous,

But I ain't gonna let on
In front of them.

You ready?

Kelly, you might want
To stay back.

J.B., I'd tuck
Your whiskers in.

-yeah.
-if it does work, we're golden.

If it don't work, you know,

We're just four turds
Sitting here with burnt liquor.

-yeah, she's working.
-blue flame, baby.

That's what you want.

Jeez, there's some heat
Coming out of that bad boy.

You're damn right.

Yeah, you better paste up, gonna
Be too hot soon to do it.

God almighty.

That's singeing the hair
On my arms.

-that's what we want.
-yeah.

We want liquor coming out.

It's very, very hot.

It's putting out a lot
Of blue flame.

It's going to cook this pot
Of mash,

But, you know,
We'll see how it turns out.

Time will tell.

You reckon us standing here
Looking at it will

Make it come faster, j.B.?

Sometimes, it does.

-well, now what do you say?
-[ laughs ]

Clean picker time.

Oh, lookie there.

I'm throwing these heads out.

Is that better?

That's way too hot
To tell much about yet.

I believe it's got down there
Where you can stand it, j.B.

You do the honors.

Yeah.

What's the verdict?

That's honey-apple-crisp,
All right.

It's fine.

That is fine, fine.

Damn right.

J.B., I believe you've nailed
One of the best apple liquors

That's ever been.

-wow.
-I want to try some.

This is pretty good stuff.

I think j.B. Was spot-on keeping
The chunks of apple in the mash.

By keeping those chunks
In there,

We've got a special flavor here

That I don't think
Anybody else can match.

Kelly looked like he was
About to give a soliloquy.

He drunk that liquor,
And he looked far away.

I saw myself in a faraway place.[ laughs ]

And that's mission accomplished.

They can run the rest
Of this liquor,

And he's got enough
To satisfy his customers,

But we took enough time
Building this.

We've got daniel
Waiting on liquor.

Now we need to go get running.

Really, if you need any more
Help, call somebody else.

-oh, no.
-[ laughs ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ buzzing ]

-you ready?
-yeah, I'm ready.

What are you talking about?
I got it up in the air.

Oh! [ grunts ]

Narrator: across the state line
In polk county, north carolina,

With the help
Of cuz and colt,

Josh is laying down the roof
Of his bunker still site...

Swing, batter, swing!
[ laughs ]

You ain't playing golf!

-lobby.
-whoo!

Narrator: ...Adding insulation
And rolling out

A layer of waterproof
Rubber sheeting

Before hiding his site
Under a mountain of dirt.

I want to keep it as thin
As possible, y'all.

Yeah, about 2 inches
Everywhere.

This whole job makes me
A little bit nervous

Because every underground
Still site

I've ever had anything to do
With had a moldy,

Musty smell that ran me out.

This year, I've took
Every precaution

I could possibly think of.

Plus, it's going to be vented.

This may look like it sucks,
And it is a lot of work,

But today,
This is a awesome day

Because we're getting
Our roof covered up,

And we're almost done with it,

And we'll get started
On our still.

-josh.
-what?

[ high-pitched buzzing ]

Look at that.

[ high-pitched whirring ]

That son of a bitch is back,
Cuz.

Sure enough,
The fricking drone's back.

Oh, *bleep*.

We're not doing
Anything illegal.

We're just digging
And building right now.

There's nothing wrong
With what we're doing,

But when I do start
Making moonshine,

The last thing I want is
Somebody to know where I'm at.

It's on this side of the tree.

Moving to the left,
Barely moving to the left.

I'd already said if it comes
Back again,

I'm going to blow it
Out of the sky,

So I'm a man of my word.

[ gunshot ]

♪♪

[ hiccuping ]

Damn. I got the hiccup.

You got the hiccups
'cause you're nervous?

I don't know. I hope
I'm growing a little bit.

Oh, *bleep*!

Like kick-starting
A harley there.

-bang!
-oh!

You son of a bitch, you.

I'll come over there and slap
The taste out of your mouth.

Still got the hiccups?

You scared the hell
Out of me, son.

-*bleep*
-you still got the hiccups?

Well, I hadn't hiccuped
In the last 10 seconds.

You ass *bleep*.

Narrator:
With their final fig shine run,

Mike and jerry will have upped

Their season total
To 108 gallons.

Mark and digger have 338,
And josh is moving dirt.

The carolina shiner
Is still stuck on zero.

Josh.

That son of a bitch is back,
Cuz.

[ gunshots ]

Yeah!

-I believe he got it.
-he got her.

Yeah.

Point of no return.

You find it?

Found some pieces of it
Right here.

-you see it?
-yeah.

All right.

Good shot.

Reach and there and grab it,
Colt.

There she is, boys.
That's a fresh kill!

-that's a kid's drone.
-it is, ain't it?

-yeah.
-it is.

-whew.
-good kill.

-kid's gone.
-shot brush.

This drone is cheap as hell.

There may be somebody
Spying on me,

But it's definitely
Not no spy plane.

I don't know where this thing
Come from, boys,

But it ain't gonna
Be coming back.

Now that the drone's shot down,

Hopefully won't have
Any repercussions from that,

And we can get back to work
And go back to making liquor.

We're almost done, y'all.
It's almost there.

♪♪

I think we going to
Get in here,

Try to get some
Of this liquor sold.

Oh, boy.
I sure hope so.

A long damn time coming.

Narrator: across the state line,
After running through the night,

Mike and jerry have
A truckload of moonshine

Ready to meet up with
A few long-standing buyers.

My whole season so far has been
Slam-full of damn obstacles,

But because of the electricity,

I'm finally at the point to get
Some of this fig brandy sold,

Put a little money
In my damn pocket.

-he just...
-yeah.

That's him.
That's the guy.

How you doing?

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

I want you to take you
A horn of it first,

See how you like it.

That's our new fig shine
Right there.

That's a taste like you
Won't get anywhere else.

I know you gonna
Like that.

Good stuff.

I've got a damn truckload
Of it.

How much you need?

Well, how about you give me
15 gallons?

What are you
Talking about?

I've got a pile of liquor
In the back of my truck.

I understand that.

I was under the impression
That I was coming here

To sell you
Some damn liquor.

You know what I mean?

Best I can do.

15 would be better
Than nothing.

[ grunts ]

$100 bills,
That's what I like to see.

-holler at me.
-let's get out of here.

You know, one of the biggest
Fears in this business,

This line of work,
Is that your customers

Can go somewhere else
Very easily.

-there's somebody in there.
-that's him.

Hell, let's get out
And make this dough.

What's going on, buddy?
You doing all right?

-how's it going, man?
-doing good.

You ready to buy
Some damn liquor or what?

Yeah.

I ain't prepared to take
All of it, though.

I mean, what -- what's going on?
I mean, have you got your liquor

Some-damn-where else
Or something?

Yeah.

Who you getting your damn liquor
From, son?

Mike, we're buds and all,
But I can't tell you that, dude.

-I'm sorry.
-man, this is killing us.

I've been making
And bootlegging liquor

In this county
For a long damn time.

Usually, when I come home

From a day of bootlegging
My liquor,

My truck is empty
And my damn pocket's full.

If my customers all of a sudden
Get it from some-damn-body else,

Those are snakes
Some-damn-where.

What the hell is going on?
That's what I want to know.

This is bull *bleep*.

♪♪

-that's petered out.
-it's done.

Hell, dan will ought
To be getting here.

Narrator: across county lines,
Mark and digger

Are waiting
At their still site

To offload another shipment
To their new bootlegger.

That him a-coming?

-yeah.
-oh, yeah.

Yonder, he comes.

We're just now finishing up
Another successful round

Of the popcorn sutton
Legacy liquor.

We trust daniel to be
At the still site,

So he's going to come
Pick it up here and bootleg it.

[ truck door opens ]

There the rascal is.

-yeah.
-what's going on, fellas?

What are you doing, slim shady?

Finding my way to this place.

If they trust me good enough
To let me know

Where they're making liquor
And see their setup

And see where
They're making it,

I mean, it's obvious
That they really trust me.

I'll tell you what.

This really speaks volume
To you guys.

Most people won't invite
A man to their still site.

Back when we were younger,

Digger and myself, first time
That we ever got taken

To popcorn sutton's still site,
We knew that he trusted us.

I hope that we have
That same effect on daniel.

I'll tell you what we've got
Here, between 55 and 58 gallons.

You think you have any trouble
With moving this?

Well, I'll be honest
With you.

When you say you've got
Popcorn sutton legacy liquor,

People want it,
But I'm hurting

Mike's sales
A hell of a lot,

And, you know,
After doing me wrong like that,

I believe pretty dang well
If I keep this up,

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

There's no doubt that daniel's
Got an ax to grind with mike.

Everybody that daniel sells
A little dose of our liquor to,

That's a sale that mike
Ain't going to make.

The deal was that you wouldn't
Sell nothing in sevier county.

You ain't selling *bleep*
In sevier county.

That's my liquor.

When you leave here
With this liquor,

It ain't our liquor
No more.

-it's your liquor.
-that's right.

Loopholes have been around
For years.

We don't think that
We're doing anything wrong.

We made a commitment,
And we gave our word

That we would not be selling
Any liquor

In sevier county,
And we're not.

You get to churning
That liquor out.

We get to making some more.

All right.

Narrator:
Next time on "Moonshiners"...

We'd love to send it with you,
Daniel.

We ain't got no
Popcorn sutton legacy liquor.

Narrator:
...A black swan in tennessee

When mark and digger run dry...

Because I'm just aggravated
'cause I talked to these guys,

And they're wanting it.

There's going to be some people
Pissed off at me.

You can hear that water running.Yeah.

Being back with tickle,
Being in the woods,

I don't know of anyone else
I can do this with.

Narrator: in virginia,

Sometimes
The right way is the outlaw way.

I kind of like this spot.

Everybody you talk to,
You tell them

That you can buy moonshine
In a liquor store.

They say, "No, I want the stuff
That comes out of the woods."

-are you the man?
-yeah.

-you got liquor still on you?
-no, sir.

Narrator: and in north carolina,
An anonymous tip leads the law

Right to one moonshiner's
Front door.

Man: we need to talk,
And tell him not to film.