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00:01This time on Moonshiners.
00:03Ah, damn, .
00:05First run back in this still site,
00:07and I'm doing it as a tribute to the miners and shiners
00:09and my family.
00:11Look how pretty that is.
00:1224-karat magic right there.
00:15I'll tell you what, I think I'm seeing a difference in color.
00:18You know, our bootleggers, he's expecting
00:20to age whiskey in just a few weeks.
00:21With our flavor vodka not selling,
00:23we can't afford to lose his sale.
00:25Whoo!
00:27That's too bad, baby.
00:28This guy right here is misrepresenting everything we uphold.
00:32This ain't homemade liquor.
00:34That ain't homemade liquor.
00:35I'll tell you how you can find it.
00:37I got the right to sell liquor when I want to now.
00:39Look here, house.
00:40We know where that liquor's coming from.
00:42It's stole, and it's over.
00:45This is how we make the moonshine.
00:58How you doing buddy?
01:07Good.
01:08In Polk County, North Carolina,
01:09six years after failing to put his subterranean
01:12still site into operation,
01:14Josh enlists the help of lifelong moonshiner Henry Law,
01:18in hopes of finally getting his dream off the ground.
01:22Where's this new seal site going?
01:24You're on it.
01:24I don't see anything here.
01:25Just let me show you.
01:27I haven't used this seal site in a few years,
01:29and it's going to take some work to get it up and going.
01:31Chuck had to go back to Arkansas for some family business.
01:34I've got to have some help to get this done.
01:36I don't know who else to call but my partner, Henry.
01:38Oh, my God, man.
01:40Are you serious?
01:42We go down these steps straight off of a cliff.
01:44You look at his face.
01:46Wow.
01:46The place is perfect.
01:47Used this place a bunch.
01:49I got a 275-gallon copper pot right over there.
01:52My problem is I got this exhaust problem.
01:54I can see that up in this hole.
01:56When I put this seal site together,
01:58one of the things that we cut the corner on
01:59because we was in a hurry was the ventilation system.
02:02I was thinking about running a pipe through here.
02:04All of our exhaust will actually go out of here
02:07instead of coming in here.
02:08He had no smokestack on it.
02:10If the fumes can't escape,
02:11you could die right there in that cave.
02:13All right, so now all we got to do is
02:14get that vent up through that ground right there.
02:17Let's do it then.
02:18Let's get this job done.
02:19We got to dig down through the top of this thing,
02:21and tie in a smokestack,
02:22and then hook that steel up down underneath it
02:24and draw all the fumes out.
02:25Once we get that stack in,
02:27he'll be able to use it with no fumes.
02:31Ah, damn rats!
02:34I'm not scared of rats at all.
02:38I look like two stuck together.
02:40Damn.
02:42Nasty summer guns.
02:43But I just don't like the dirty bastards.
02:46Yeah, it's gonna work.
02:46I guess we'll go up there and cut that hole.
02:48As long as they can stay over there
02:49and they're not touching me
02:50and I ain't touching them
02:51and I ain't got to touch nothing they've touched,
02:53we're good.
02:55There she is.
02:56Easy, easy, easy.
02:57Let's just get all the mud and dirt cleaned out.
03:00I'm gonna have to poke a hole through the ceiling.
03:02That means I'm gonna have to dig dirt away,
03:03cut a hole through it,
03:05run it through, waterproof it,
03:06put it all back together,
03:07and it'll still be waterproof.
03:09It ain't the easiest of jobs in the world.
03:11All right.
03:11All right.
03:11All right.
03:11All right.
03:11All right.
03:12All right.
03:12All right.
03:12All right.
03:12All right.
03:13All right.
03:13All right.
03:14All right.
03:14We got that hole cut out.
03:15It's just perfect.
03:16Let's see what we got.
03:18So we took that piece of double pipe,
03:20stuck it down in there.
03:21We got that thick, thick tar that goes around it.
03:24We got to make sure it doesn't leak.
03:25That'll work.
03:26Stick her in there.
03:27You got to find this.
03:27There you go.
03:28Now that we got the hole cut,
03:30we got the pipe in place,
03:31now we got to install it to the furnace.
03:33We figure this goes all work in the pipe, right?
03:35Yeah, it's going to go to that lip right there.
03:37Running liquor in an underground still site with gas,
03:40it's life or death.
03:41It's very critical that we get it right.
03:43I hope it fits.
03:46Bingo, baby.
03:47I mean, we're done.
03:48It's good, good and tight.
03:49So what, we going to test it or what?
03:51It's what I'm saying.
03:51Let's test this, baby.
03:52All right.
03:55I'm dying to see how this chimney is going to work.
03:58It's going to take a minute to get going.
04:00Yeah.
04:01The only way to test it is build a small fire in there.
04:05Get you drawing those.
04:06It's starting to.
04:08Yeah, it's starting to draw.
04:09Check it out, Paige.
04:10All right.
04:10Josh likes to fire, man.
04:12Paige and I go up on top.
04:17It's working.
04:18We got smoke, baby.
04:19Yeah, man.
04:20It's doing what it's supposed to do.
04:21Thank God Henry and Paige came down to help me out.
04:23I'm super thankful.
04:24There's still a lot of work to be done.
04:26Now that we've got our chimney in place,
04:27we're going to have to get this thing concealed.
04:29Y'all be careful.
04:30All right, man.
04:31Thank y'all for coming.
04:31All right.
04:32Do you reckon that wheat and corn recipe's done?
04:44I hope it is.
04:45It's had long enough.
04:47It ought to taste good once we get her distilled.
04:50In Haywood County, North Carolina, after hearing their bootleggers say he'd paid $200 a gallon
04:59for true barrel-aged whiskey, Mike and Jerry are determined to earn his business, even though
05:05they have no aged whiskey to sell.
05:07Everybody knows how to use wood chips to give whiskey a barrel-aged taste.
05:11I mean, it is called rapid aging, but rapid aging ain't going to fool this customer.
05:15You know, we've got to come up with a process that's better than rapid aging to convince
05:19this guy that the liquor we actually run in here today has actually been aged for two
05:23years in a barrel.
05:24I'll tell you what, we got a good start.
05:26Our plan is to take some light charred wood chips and some dark charred wood chips and put
05:30them in our jar rig and run them through the liquor.
05:33Get her fired up, Gary.
05:35You've got the gas.
05:36Ready?
05:36Yep.
05:37There we go.
05:41Put some steam to it, boy.
05:46You know, running the alcohol vapors through the woods and the jar rigs will help soften
05:50the woods and extract the flavors a lot faster, perhaps, than putting it in a barrel and letting
05:54it set.
05:56There ain't no bubble action going on because of them chips and soaking it all up.
06:01It's so porous in there.
06:03I can see a little bubbles going on.
06:04You see it right here.
06:06You see it good?
06:06Oh, yeah.
06:07Oh, yes.
06:08Oh, yes.
06:09She's bubbling down on that bottom, ain't it, baby?
06:11This is getting after it.
06:13Hey, we got liquor coming out of here.
06:15I got it.
06:16I reckon.
06:17Yee-haw!
06:18Look at your hair.
06:19Look at your hair.
06:20Yeah.
06:21Oh, my goodness, Jerry.
06:25Whoo!
06:26Man, I'll tell you what.
06:27We got a chance to handle the smell anyway.
06:29It's there.
06:30Oh, my God.
06:31That's charred whiskey for a shooter, ain't it?
06:33The liquor's coming off of the worm right now.
06:35You can smell that oaky, charred flavor.
06:37It actually smells like some barbecued ribs on the grill.
06:40Heads is probably trapped in the wood chips.
06:43Well, I mean, wood would be a good filter.
06:46But she's crying, so it'll fill them jars up.
06:49We'll get some bubble action going on here in a little bit.
06:51Yeah.
06:52Break it down and give us some of that flavor.
06:54Whew!
06:55That's hot.
06:56That is hot!
06:57You know, our bootleggers, he's expecting aged whiskey.
06:59With our flavored vodka not selling,
07:00we can't afford to lose this sale.
07:02Yeah, let's get rid of them heads.
07:03Yeah, boy.
07:04Yee-haw!
07:07It smells great, but we hadn't tasted it yet.
07:09Think we're about ready?
07:11Yes.
07:12Oh, yeah.
07:13That ought to be enough.
07:14Right there it is.
07:16Whew!
07:17What do you think?
07:18It's woody.
07:19Got the woody to it, huh?
07:20Whew!
07:21That's too bad, baby.
07:22What in the hell is going on?
07:23That is straight up like pine bark or something out of that maze.
07:24That's good.
07:25Cut it off.
07:26We got to cut that off.
07:27That's nasty.
07:28Yeah.
07:29That is extremely too much wood flavor.
07:44Running alcohol vapor through wood chips is not going to work.
07:47It happens way too fast.
07:49The vapor is way too hot.
07:51It just brings out all the bad tannins and stuff of the wood.
07:54That right there won't sell to a billy goat.
07:57I might as well have crushed up like a thousand peach pits in there and ground them up and soaked alcohol in them because that's exactly what it tastes like.
08:04You got to get the alcohol out of the pot.
08:06So we might as well just dump these jars.
08:08Let's strip all the alcohol out of the pot and we'll carry it back to the shop and see what we can do with our flavoring.
08:12And we'll figure out some kind of other soaking method or shaking method or rolling method or something.
08:18We got to figure out another way to rapid age whiskey.
08:20So we're going to run the rest of this mash without the wood chips and try to come up with another game plan.
08:25Jerry, I hate that this didn't work right now.
08:27I'm sort of disappointed about it, you know what I mean?
08:30Oh yeah.
08:31Man.
08:32What can we do?
08:33Try, try, try.
08:34How do you come up to anybody yet, anybody you even think might be moving this liquor?
08:48Whoever this guy is, he's just misleading people with this GNS.
08:54In Cock County, Tennessee, after discovering an unknown bootlegger flooding the outlaw market with an industrial alcohol called GNS or Grain Neutral Spirits.
09:06The Grain Neutral Spirits, they run them on those big stills and they strip all the flavor and aroma out of it so that it can basically be flavored to taste like anything they want.
09:14Mark and Digger are determined to hunt down the unscrupulous party before the cheap imitation product undermines their centuries old craft of backwoods moonshine.
09:25And they're representing it as backwoods pots still run corn liquor.
09:31It ain't.
09:32And it ain't.
09:33Now Stan's true blue, he's old timey.
09:36He's no snitch.
09:38And, you know, he wouldn't tell me where he was getting it.
09:42Man Digger, we're gonna go meet up with Stan.
09:44He's a good friend.
09:45Not only has he been a loyal customer for years, he's the reason I found out about this cheap liquor.
09:50I tell you, when a man ain't living up to what he's supposed to be fulfilling, he deserves to be turned out.
09:57That may sway Stan to help us a little more.
10:01Yeah.
10:02True mountain people that's been in this business, whether you're making liquor or just buying liquor, whatever, there's a mountain code.
10:09And we don't rat each other out unless there's a good reason to.
10:14And this is one of the times that we feel there's a good reason to because this guy's misrepresenting himself and his product.
10:21How you been?
10:22Been a while.
10:23Been a while.
10:24They don't let me out much.
10:25How you doing, Bob?
10:26Everything good?
10:27Yeah, man.
10:28What's going on?
10:29Well, the last time I was here, when I asked you where you was getting that liquor, you wouldn't tell me.
10:35That's right.
10:36You've been knowing me a long time.
10:37You know how I am.
10:38I have.
10:39That's admirable.
10:40But we did get a jar of it, and we've got some news.
10:48This guy right here is misrepresenting everything that we uphold.
10:53He ain't making no liquor in the backwoods.
10:56This right here is grain-neutral spirits.
10:58Mass-produced alcohol that you can make anything out of.
11:02You telling me that that ain't?
11:04This ain't homemade liquor.
11:05That ain't homemade liquor.
11:07That something's come off of some factor.
11:09It's an industrial alcohol.
11:13What y'all want?
11:14I ain't got no use for no lie or no feed.
11:26You know?
11:27And I can know.
11:29You let us know who he is, and we'll take care of that.
11:32Once we explained to Stan about the fraud and them being misrepresenting this product,
11:37he's a little bit pissed off about it himself.
11:41I'll tell you how you can find him if you're heading on up towards Gatlinburg.
11:45Y'all know where that little old windy dirt road is.
11:48That turns off right there past that bridge.
11:51We do.
11:52That big bridge up there.
11:54He's got a little deal set up Wednesday evening.
11:57There's a place up there on Spring Creek Road.
12:00You just pull up there and meet with him, and that's how I've been doing business with him
12:05the whole time y'all's out of the game.
12:08So he's pretty much it.
12:09If you come want liquor, he'll sell it to you.
12:11Mm-hmm.
12:12I haven't had a problem with him.
12:14You know, Stan tells us this guy sets up on a Wednesday evening at the end of an old
12:18dirt road, and people know to come find him, so we may just go find this young man.
12:24Spring Creek Road.
12:25Yeah, you just pull up there and flash your lights at him twice, and he'll come on down
12:30to you.
12:31And we gotta put a stop to it, not only for ourselves, but all the other legitimate moonshiners
12:36in the area.
12:37You, my friend, have just earned yourself a case of genuine corn liquor.
12:41I appreciate that.
12:42Actual backwoods made liquor.
12:44I appreciate that.
12:45Yes, sir.
12:46Y'all good luck, alright?
12:47I understand.
12:48Well, we got a lot of good clear corn and wheat liquor here, don't we?
12:59Now we just gotta figure out something to do with it.
13:01You know, we just tried running our good alcohol vapor through all these wood chips like we
13:07would be infusing some type of flavor.
13:09It's the most done-awfulest, nastiest taste you ever wanna do.
13:12We've got a bunch of clear whiskey.
13:14We're gonna start all over, figure out what we can do next.
13:18We've tried about everything there is to do.
13:20Soaking, setting, waiting.
13:22Well, I mean, the whole idea in a barrel is the fact that it's soaking in that barrel,
13:26and it's breathing it in and out.
13:27So I figure if we just run the alcohol over the chips, we'll get that same reaction.
13:31It'll soak it up, and then it continues to move, and it'll rinse it out.
13:35I don't say why not.
13:36Let's do it.
13:37Alright, Dan.
13:38You do that.
13:39Let's get this on.
13:41So we've come up with another method to try to color this alcohol and get the flavor that
13:46we're looking for.
13:47There it comes.
13:48We're figuring what if we take the alcohol and do it like a waterfall, let it flow over
13:54these chips and continuously cycle back over and over again until we reach that flavor
14:00and that color profile.
14:01I can actually see a little bit of tinge in it already.
14:04Oh, yeah.
14:05I'd say let's heat it up.
14:06If you want to grab our little stove top, I'll go make us a little cap to go on a jar,
14:09and we'll be right at the rock and roll.
14:11Where's your stove top?
14:12Just through here.
14:13Okay.
14:14We're going to try to heat up this alcohol in line with our pump.
14:18We've got to find that happy medium.
14:20We can't steam it through the jars like we did.
14:22That was way too much.
14:23It needs to heat up gradually.
14:25We're getting darker there, Jerry.
14:27It is getting darker.
14:28I'm starting to get this aroma coming out over here.
14:30You know, we're up about 120-ish degrees so far.
14:33What do you think?
14:34How's it tasting?
14:35It's getting better.
14:36You know, our goal is to be able to hit right around the 150-ish degrees.
14:39We don't want to go much higher than that because we don't want our alcohol vaporizing.
14:42When we vaporize our alcohol, we're just going to put it right back in the atmosphere
14:46and it's going to be gone forever.
14:48It's looking real good, ain't it?
14:49Let's give it a try.
14:50I'm pretty excited, man.
14:51Let's see how this works.
14:52Yes, sir.
14:53Oh, it smells good.
14:54Got a good nose on it?
14:55It does, man.
14:56It's got a real good nose on it.
14:57It's better.
14:58Okay.
14:59It's just not where we need to be, that's for sure.
15:13You know, this alcohol may not be exactly where we want it to be, but it's got a very
15:17good body to it.
15:18It's got a really good nose.
15:20A customer that drinks a lot of aged whiskey would definitely know that's not a two or
15:24three-year-old whiskey.
15:25Me and Jerry want to take the extra steps, precautions, and time to make this right.
15:29We ain't going to give up, man.
15:30That's $200 a gallon that we can get for this liquor.
15:33Yep.
15:34That's money we can't afford to lose.
15:35You know, we've definitely learned something here today.
15:38We feel like we're making good progress.
15:40You know, we need to keep working.
15:41This is not what we want to sell to the customer, but we're definitely in the right direction.
15:50Okay.
15:51Well, you got it done then.
15:52We got the pipe in.
15:53Now we just got to build us a deer stand.
15:54It's going to be eight feet tall on the front end, seven feet tall on the back end.
15:55I can't have this chimney just sticking out of the ground.
15:56That'll be sticking out like a sore thumb.
15:57That is not going to work.
15:58Get this done.
15:59I'm going to run this pipe through the floor.
16:00It's got the, the deer stand over it.
16:01You know, smokestack comes out of the ground.
16:02You can't see it.
16:03Runs right up through the wall.
16:04Freakin' wood stove right there.
16:05Pipes right into it.
16:06Even if you get up here and look in it.
16:07It's the ultimate cover.
16:07We're ready to rock and roll, man.
16:08Let's build it.
16:09Let's build it.
16:10Let's build it.
16:11Let's build it.
16:12Let's build it.
16:13Let's burn it.
16:14Let's build it.
16:15Let's build it.
16:16Let's build it.
16:17Let's build it.
16:18Let's build it.
16:19Let's build it.
16:20Let's get it.
16:21And we're ready.
16:22All of these.
16:23Let's build it.
16:24Let's build it.
16:25Even if you get up here and look in it, it's the ultimate cover.
16:28We're ready to rock and roll, man.
16:29Let's build it.
16:30Let's get it, baby.
16:31With everything that's going on right now with Mark and Digger
16:34and our other steel site being compromised,
16:36the last thing that we need to worry about
16:38is someone walking up on us.
16:39Let's get these babies screwed together.
16:42We're going to build what looks to be a deer stand
16:44on top of the underground steel site.
16:46That way, you know, he can run his exhaust up through there
16:50and it can come out the top.
16:51Oh, that's a body.
16:52What's the way?
16:55That's oak.
16:56Yeah.
16:57We're in the South.
16:58Coming across the deer stand out in the woods in the country.
17:02It's not out of place in any fashion.
17:03That's right where it belongs.
17:11Let's stick a wood stove in place.
17:12One, two.
17:16We got the roof and two walls.
17:18Now we got this bad boy done.
17:25It looks pretty good.
17:26All we got to do is put some paint on it.
17:27It's good to go.
17:28This will stop it from us rocking this fast, you know, make it blend in a little bit better.
17:44I'm quickly realizing that this ain't no deer blind that I'm used to.
17:47So far, I've been a contractor, a painter.
17:51I was afraid we were going to start plumbing this sumbitch.
17:53We kept going.
17:54Usually when I build a deer blind, it's made out of scrap lumber that you find laying here
17:59and there, and you just kind of slap it up together as long as it blocks the wind off
18:02of you and kind of covers you up.
18:04When's the tile guy getting here to lay tiles?
18:06Hey, kiss my butt.
18:09Your very own camouflage house.
18:11I've never seen this much construction put into a deer blind, but hey, you know, maybe
18:17that's how they build them in North Carolina.
18:19I don't know.
18:20All right, so now we need to put that pipe in, and we should be good.
18:23The whole reason to build this is the damn chimney.
18:26This is how we're going to do this right here.
18:29The rest of it's just a facade.
18:34I feel pretty good about it.
18:41It's coming out from the floor, and this is going to be able to pass right on through
18:48and go out the ceiling.
18:49Chuck, this is going to work so perfect.
18:51I know we went around the world to get some smoke out of a hole, but at the same time,
18:56I'll be able to kill deer and turkeys right here.
18:58I'm going to be able to get rid of any of the gases that's in our steel site.
19:02I'm going to be able to be able to fill the fire here and stay warm when I'm hunting.
19:06He'll be able to spend a night here if I want to.
19:08Hell.
19:09Yeah.
19:10Know what I mean?
19:11This is going to work good.
19:12Let's make some liquor.
19:13This thing turned out pretty doggone good.
19:15It's the perfect camouflage for our steel site.
19:17I'm kind of proud of it.
19:18Now that we got all this done, now it's time to make some mash and put this thing to work.
19:22All right, Chuck.
19:23Let's go get some corn.
19:32Go to police.
19:33Popo.
19:34You know, no.
19:35I ain't speeding again, am I?
19:36I'm only doing 45 on a 25.
19:39We're good.
19:40Yeah.
19:41Now that we finally got this doggone deer stand done, now we can make some mash.
19:44Well, we're going right now.
19:45It's one of the places I get my corn from.
19:47Me and my dad used to go here.
19:49It's been around forever and ever.
19:50I got a really good hookup for corn around here.
19:53My buddy Nathan, he's got a lot of it.
19:55What's up, buddy?
19:56Oh, man.
19:57Where you been hiding now?
19:58You can see, man.
19:59I ain't seen you, Nathan.
20:00There just ain't nowhere else to go, in my opinion.
20:02My buddy, Chuck.
20:03Chuck, nice to meet you, man.
20:04Nathan, nice to meet you.
20:05I've been telling Chuck all kinds of stories about coming down here and getting corn and stuff,
20:09coming down here with dad.
20:10He was a character.
20:11Yeah, dad was a trip.
20:12They broke that mold, didn't they?
20:14Yeah, dang right they did.
20:15Yeah.
20:16What one's up to today?
20:17We need some ground corn.
20:18You cooking?
20:19Yeah, maybe.
20:20All right.
20:21I'll get you fine ground.
20:22All right, then.
20:23We've been buying corn from Nathan my entire life.
20:26Well, that smells good.
20:27A few minutes you just got it cooking, hasn't it?
20:29Smells like money, don't it?
20:30My dad used to go there.
20:35Barney used to go there.
20:36That's some good right there.
20:37But the most important part is, is I can go get whatever I want from Nathan.
20:41And I know he's not going to tell anybody anything.
20:44He's got a tight lip.
20:45Good to see you.
20:46Take care of you.
20:47Tommy, you don't worry about it.
20:48Same.
20:57Nothing wrong with some corn liquor.
20:59Put some just straight up corn in, huh?
21:01Well, the last liquor I ever made with my dad, we made it in this still site.
21:06And I haven't made a run of liquor there since.
21:09Now we're back all of a sudden.
21:11I'm going to do it as a tribute to the old man.
21:13I hear that.
21:14I like it.
21:15Being back here in North Carolina got me thinking a lot about my family, especially my dad.
21:20But I want to do a special run of liquor that brings all the things we are as a family together.
21:25You've heard the stories about my family being miners and shiners.
21:28You know that liquor's got the gold flakes in it?
21:31Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:32I know what you're talking about.
21:33What a great thing about some moonshine with some gold flakes floating in it.
21:35Hey.
21:36Kind of a novelty type thing.
21:38Yeah.
21:39No.
21:40I bet that turned some heads.
21:41You know what I mean?
21:42Oh, yeah.
21:43Yeah, they like that.
21:44We call it liquid gold.
21:45Well, me coming from a whole long line of miners and shiners said it only makes sense
21:50that I make some moonshine, put some gold in it, and sell some liquid gold.
21:54This is about my heritage.
21:55This is about my family.
21:57This is about keeping traditions alive.
21:59Hey, man, you got to do it right.
22:01You're back in the old neck of the woods.
22:03You're at your old steel site.
22:05Why not make a big run in honor of your dad, you know?
22:08That's kind of how I feel about it.
22:10I'm with it.
22:11Let's do it.
22:15What Stan tells us is that this guy is selling a knockoff corn liquor.
22:25He has a spot that people come and meet him at.
22:28It's on a dead end road called Spring Creek Road.
22:32Boy, ain't it nice up here.
22:35We have to absolutely confront him, and we got to put a stop to this,
22:40not only for our own livelihood, but for all the other legitimate moonshiners out there trying to make a living.
22:47Well, Stan shed some light on this forest pus.
22:51Yeah, pretty heavy light.
22:53We know where to find him now.
22:55So, I say we approach him.
22:58You know, what we do know about GNS is that it is strictly regulated.
23:03We know that whoever is obtaining it and making this fake corn moonshine liquor out of it, they're not getting it legally.
23:11We could just try to buffalo him and just tell him, we know you're stealing this liquor.
23:16I know where you're stealing it. They've asked me about it.
23:19So, you've got 24 hours to go dump your on the ground and get out of business.
23:24If you don't stop, then we're ratting your ass out.
23:28Not to the low, mind you, but we're telling the people that you're getting the stolen GNS from where it's going.
23:35So, Digger's come up with a plan that we're going to make him think we know more than we really do.
23:41Kind of buffalo him, so to speak, or run a bluff on him.
23:45I think we can smoke him out and run him back home.
23:49We've got to be careful. We've got to handle this with kid gloves.
23:52We've got to tread lightly. I mean, our dog ain't got no teeth.
23:55So, there ain't no bite there. Our information is zero.
23:58This is just all a bluff.
24:00So, we've got to be prepared for whatever comes out on the other side of the tunnel.
24:05Hopefully, it'll do what it's intended to do and shut him down.
24:09He'll get spooked and he'll get out of business.
24:15Let me tell you what, I don't guess you slept much last night.
24:23I've been out here all night. I couldn't sleep.
24:25I put in the chimney here. I put this all back together.
24:28Dude, it's been a chore.
24:31Now, we've got to do is fill this thing up with water and put some fire to it.
24:34And let's make some ash.
24:35Let's do it.
24:36The creek that we've got on hands dirty as all get out, we ain't using that.
24:39So, we're having to bring in fresh water, which we've got plenty of.
24:46The good news is, is we're bringing in high-quality water.
24:48That's the least we can do to have the coverage we've got and the security we've got with the steel side.
24:52If all we got to do is bring a little water in, I'll take that.
24:55Cut it off, Chuck.
24:57All right.
24:59This is the moment of truth.
25:00It's time to fire the steel up, make some ash and make some moonshine and make some money.
25:04All right, Chuck, give me some gas.
25:07Oh, damn, dude.
25:10It's been a long, hard road that we've been on, but we're finally at the point where we're about to make some moonshine.
25:17And for a moonshiner, that means everything.
25:19I'm just going to do some corn whiskey, and we're going to add some cinnamon to it.
25:22Yeah.
25:23And you know as well as I do, when you use cinnamon, it can go either way on you real fast.
25:27Yeah, we want the flavor, not the fire.
25:29Yeah.
25:30Oh, she's ready.
25:33She's boiling.
25:35I'm going to go ahead and cut the boiler off.
25:37All we've got to do now is transfer buckets of water.
25:40I hate we're having to do this the hard way.
25:43It is what it is.
25:46This first run she's made in five years, but she's working.
25:52The next step is, now that we've got some hot water, pour some grain in there.
25:58This corn that we're about to use has got quite the reputation in the moonshine world.
26:03Dump some sugar to it.
26:04A lot of moonshiners have used it to make liquor in the past, so I feel like we're about to make a premier moonshine.
26:10Then we're going to find out if we're going to make anything worth having or not.
26:13We're going to dump some cinnamon to it.
26:15I've made corn whiskey a hundred times.
26:17You can smell it big time.
26:19That's not the problem.
26:20Today, we're experimenting with cinnamon.
26:22The difference between too much and not enough is about this much.
26:25But when you get it right, it makes a great drink.
26:33Man, that's good.
26:34Tastes just like cinnamon toast.
26:37Does it not?
26:38Grits with cinnamon in them.
26:39I can't wait to see how this turns out.
26:41All right, I'm going to grab the yeast here.
26:43All right then.
26:44While this mash is working off, I'm going to go pay for some gold flakes to christen the first jar.
26:48This is my way of honoring all the miners and the shiners in my family.
26:52Hey, we better make some liquor, bro.
27:02While this doggone mash is working off, we're going to find some gold.
27:05Or we're going to try to find some gold.
27:09Gold nuggets?
27:11Very rare.
27:12What we do have plenty of is flakes and splatter gold.
27:22Got to get down to pay dirt.
27:28I'll tell you one thing.
27:30I guarantee you those miners back in the day, they didn't have no fancy equipment like this.
27:35They just dug in the creek and had a pad or something other, found what they needed.
27:40I'm bound to determine to find some real gold.
27:43This run is for all the miners and the shiners of my family.
27:46Like, it's important to me.
27:47It means something.
27:49To be in the same hills, digging for gold, and I'm making moonshine.
27:55Let's see what in the world we can come up with in this thing.
27:58I'm carrying on a family tradition.
28:00Miners and shiners.
28:01It don't get no better.
28:03I'm excited.
28:04I hope we got something here.
28:05I'm no miner for sure.
28:08But, uh, we'll see what happens.
28:10We'll see what happens.
28:29I ain't never seen no mica of that gold before.
28:31Look at that.
28:32It's gotta be gold flakes right there.
28:35Hell yeah!
28:37That's what I'm talking about.
28:38That ain't no mica.
28:40Little bitty flake of gold right there.
28:42If I had a whole bunch of them, we'd be in business.
28:44That's what we're looking for.
28:46I ain't crazy enough to think that we're gonna drink real gold.
28:49We'll have to come up with some edible stuff.
28:50But, uh, man, oh man, am I gonna be on to something.
28:53Everybody's gonna want a jar of this.
28:54And I'll tell you something else.
28:55At this rate, I got a lot of work to do.
29:03Well, we're getting close to our mark, man.
29:05But, you know, this alcohol right here ain't gonna cut the mustard for us.
29:10You know, me and Jerry's been busting our butts trying to come up with a way to make our clear liquor taste like it's been in a barrel aging for two years.
29:16So this whole time, our bootlugger junior thinks we've been out there trying to source two-year-old barrel aged whiskey.
29:22We got all these little bitty pours.
29:25We gotta find a way, Jerry, to get the alcohol in these chips and back out of them as quick as possible.
29:37Maybe, maybe put them under pressure or something.
29:41Well, if we used high pressure, that would actually force that alcohol into that wood.
29:48Mm-hmm.
29:49And then if we put it under a vacuum, that would actually extract it back out.
29:52A vacuum?
29:53I've actually got a vessel we can do that in.
29:55Put them chips under some kind of pressure along with this alcohol and force it into those chips.
30:01Let it sit for a little while.
30:02Let me take a look and see what I can't come up with.
30:04Don't bring something back that's gonna blow us up, man.
30:06Oh, shoot.
30:07You know I wouldn't do that.
30:08So the plan is we're gonna put our alcohol and our chips inside this little tank, put the pressure to it, and let it sit.
30:15Could give us a good hose connection.
30:17For a vacuum.
30:18For pressure and vacuum.
30:20Mm-hmm.
30:21You know, we're gonna try a vacuum as well.
30:23You know, pressure, you're putting something in real, real tight.
30:26Vacuum, you're sucking it out real, real tight.
30:28You're collapsing with a vacuum and you're expanding with pressure.
30:32Good going in, better coming out.
30:34It just pretty much seals it like a vault.
30:36Ready to throw some pressure to it?
30:38I guess.
30:39Can I go outside for that?
30:40No, no.
30:41It's got a pop-off valve right here.
30:42I know it does, but it may pop off and hit somebody, right?
30:45Well, I just won't be standing right over it.
30:47You ready?
30:48Lay it to it.
30:51That's about a muff, huh?
30:55Well, it's got it, don't it?
31:00You know, once we let this stuff set it under pressure for a good little while, then we're
31:04gonna reverse that process.
31:06Depressurize it and get it under a vacuum.
31:08We're just gonna put it under a vacuum and we're gonna try to see if we can suck all the
31:12air we can back out of that in hopes it'll pull the alcohol out of the chips.
31:17I say it's a pulling the liquor out of that wood, ain't it?
31:22Well, we're good enough on that.
31:23Yeah.
31:24So.
31:25Kill the mold.
31:26You know, I think we're, you know, reached our max here.
31:29I mean, man, it darkened it up, didn't it?
31:31We got a good color change.
31:33We're gonna see what this stuff tastes like.
31:34We own something, baby.
31:43That tastes a lot better than it did before it went in there.
31:46Juniors want our age whiskey to taste like it's been in a barrel for at least a couple
31:50of years.
31:51It's gonna be a game changer.
31:53This is moving in the right direction.
31:55We know that using heat across the chips works.
31:59And we know that pressure in a vacuum is working.
32:03It's working.
32:04It's working.
32:05So now all we gotta do is we gotta make this a whole lot bigger.
32:09The next time Junior calls, I wanna be able to tell him we're on our way.
32:15I've got my wheels spinning, man.
32:17I've got some ideas.
32:27Yeah, that's that turnaround at the dead end that Stan told us.
32:30Yeah.
32:31It's Spring Creek Road.
32:32Yeah, Spring Creek Road.
32:33Then this logging road, it ain't gonna bounce.
32:35We do have word from Stan that this guy's selling the knockoff corn liquor.
32:40Once a week, he sells here.
32:41There it comes.
32:42Thielen Bastard.
32:43He didn't come up here just to set and park by himself and keep himself company.
32:49So we think, you know, this is definitely the right spot.
32:53And, you know, I'm sure customers will be showing up.
32:56I hear something else coming.
32:58They're on the pickup truck.
32:59Yep.
33:00First customer's a pickup truck.
33:01Look on it.
33:02He'd been here before.
33:03He pulled right around there and backing right up to the door.
33:05I got, he knows the deal, doesn't he?
33:06He knows the ropes.
33:07Low in the hole, here comes the pickup truck.
33:08Seems like this guy knows the drill.
33:09$180.
33:10Uh-huh.
33:11Another $180.
33:12Another $180.
33:13Another $180.
33:14Hell, it's like watching a gas pump turn.
33:16Hmm.
33:17There comes another one.
33:19Yep.
33:20It knows the routine, too.
33:21It ain't there first time.
33:22It absolutely ain't there first time.
33:28Ain't there?
33:41It is first time.
33:43It absolutely ain't their first time.
33:45Ain't their his first time selling it, but I knew it.
33:48I mean, this is just kind of like a drive-thru.
33:50They're just pulling up, placing their order
33:53and putting it in their car, paying for it,
33:55and going on about their business.
33:57I have to give him credit. He is very ballsy.
34:00I didn't have no idea it was happening on this scale
34:03until you see it.
34:06Boy, that's disheartening.
34:08You know, what this guy's doing is beyond illegal.
34:11It's immoral.
34:12I mean, he's telling somebody that this is something that's not.
34:15I mean, yeah, we might make a little illegal liquor,
34:17but we don't lie to people about it.
34:19So, to say that it's going to be a pleasure
34:22to make this man's acquaintance, it is in fact.
34:25Addy, I ain't going to take no lip off this son of bitch.
34:29He better come around our way of thinking rather quick.
34:32We're going to wait until it gets a little darker,
34:35then we'll slide in on him.
34:37This son of bitch has been a thorn in our side all year long.
34:40It's time that he goes someplace else.
34:43ATF free!
34:46Damn, you scared the piss out of me.
34:48What have you done?
34:49You got a little liquor sold?
34:50Well, I'm getting ready.
34:51Car shows are coming up.
34:52I know how much liquor these cars all hold.
34:53I'm seeing how many this old Ford will hold.
34:54I mean, it's a perfect place.
34:55There's 450 other cars there.
34:56Nobody will notice.
34:57Yeah.
34:58And three or four law men walking through.
34:59They like old cars just like we do.
35:00Well, we won't try to sell them no liquor.
35:01No.
35:02I ain't stupid.
35:03It don't take a rocket scientist to see jars coming out of the trunk of the car.
35:04Yeah.
35:05And three or four law men walking through.
35:06They like old cars just like we do.
35:07Well, we won't try to sell them no liquor.
35:08No.
35:09I ain't stupid.
35:10It don't take a rocket scientist to see jars coming out of the trunk of the car and figure
35:14out somebody's doing something illegal over there.
35:17I ain't having no part of this .
35:19Well, look here.
35:20If it was April, I'd call you a damn April fool.
35:23But obviously, you're a fool all the time.
35:25He he he he he.
35:26He he he.
35:27He he he.
35:28He he he.
35:29He he he.
35:30He he he.
35:31He he he.
35:32He he he.
35:33He he he.
35:34He he he.
35:35He he he.
35:36He he he.
35:37He he he.
35:38He he he he he he.
35:41You son of a bitch.
35:42Have your old empty cases back.
35:44I'm just seeing how many boxes it'll hold, dumb ass.
35:47He he he he he he he he he he.
35:59Let's make some liquor.
36:00Yes, sir.
36:01Ain't no way it ain't ready.
36:04Oh, it's on.
36:05We are finally here.
36:06We have mashed in.
36:07Oh.
36:08On third base slide down there.
36:10And it's time to finally run some liquor.
36:12Seems like it's been forever.
36:14All right, big dog.
36:15It's on now.
36:16There it is.
36:18I haven't been in this still site in six years.
36:20It feels pretty damn good to be coming back.
36:22We done built the steer stand.
36:23We got our exhaust figured out.
36:25And we're back to making liquor.
36:27For the jars of liquid gold that I'm going to come up with,
36:30I got some edible gold.
36:31Every jar is going to be beautiful.
36:33Let's give it some fire, big dog.
36:36All right.
36:41I got 250 gallons of mash in here.
36:45The fire's under.
36:46There's nothing but a waiting game now.
36:48We're about to make some moonshine, baby.
36:50We're a business.
36:51Yes, sir.
36:52It's raining cats and dogs, bro.
36:54Yeah, it is.
36:55Oh, pouring rain.
36:57We got a still site and a storm shelter.
36:59I'm OK with it.
37:01I mean, dang, Chuck.
37:02It don't get much better.
37:03No.
37:06Here it is.
37:07Rain sleet of snow.
37:09The shine's going to flow.
37:10He's smelling that strong with cinnamon,
37:12and it ain't got going good yet.
37:14Oh, yeah.
37:15That means we're probably going to have a good turnout.
37:18Get something to try.
37:23Good and clear, ain't it?
37:24Yeah.
37:26That's what I'm talking about.
37:27Yes, sir.
37:28Hey, to the miners or the shiners of the past that made us who we are,
37:32you're welcome to the first shot, sir.
37:34Ooh.
37:35Fire.
37:36I approve, but I'm going to tell you that is good.
37:37Wow.
37:38Wow.
37:39That's good, ain't it?
37:40Yeah.
37:41The cinnamon totally carried over, but it don't feel like it's like overbearing.
37:57We actually did it.
37:59It tastes like some sort of cinnamon toast.
38:01It's got a really good flavor profile.
38:04And we're going to do this for the miners.
38:07Oh, I got some gold.
38:09I want you to look at that.
38:11What we have come up with as a tribute to my family for the miners and the shiners
38:16has turned out to be one of the most amazing things that I've done.
38:20Look how pretty that is.
38:21Oh, yeah.
38:22I'd buy it.
38:23Holy crap.
38:24And that gold in that jar, that sparkly, beautiful look that it has,
38:29and that cinnamon flavor that it comes off with.
38:31We're on to something.
38:32This is going to be a game changer.
38:34Let's cut this off and get the heck out of here.
38:36I'm with you there.
38:37Damn.
38:38That's $900, $900 more out there he's putting in his damn pocket.
38:51Yep.
38:52It ought to be some of our money.
38:54I've watched about all this.
38:55I can barely watch.
38:56Well, we're getting over it fast.
38:59Let's do it.
39:00Let's get with you.
39:01It's now or never.
39:06I ain't looking forward to this.
39:08I hate doing this kind of thing.
39:10I hate confrontation.
39:12But if we're going to make a living at our profession,
39:16we're going to have to confront him.
39:18How you doing there, boss?
39:19How you doing tonight?
39:20Doing all right.
39:21We ain't too late to buy a little liquor, are we?
39:23Nah.
39:24Take your horn to that right there.
39:25See what you think.
39:26I make it myself.
39:27Boy, that tastes like something we've tasted here lately, don't it?
39:33It's familiar.
39:34That's mountain-made, creekside pot liquor.
39:38Yeah.
39:39I'm throwing the bull flag.
39:40I just wanted to see if you wanted to fess up to making a jar of liquor that ain't that great.
39:45Oh, that's good liquor.
39:46Well, it might be to you.
39:48But that's GNS.
39:51Oh, no.
39:52I mean, that's pot liquor.
39:53That is great.
39:54Don't blow smoke up my ass.
39:55It tickles.
39:56That's creekside pot liquor.
39:57You're getting that from a legal facility.
39:58Oh, no.
39:59You ain't got no permit.
40:00That's good liquor.
40:01Look here, hoss.
40:02You look me in the damn eye.
40:03That's good liquor.
40:04We know where that liquor's coming from.
40:05It's stole.
40:06They've been blaming it on us, and it's over.
40:08Y'all come up here.
40:09I'm trying to make a living.
40:10Well, that's what we all try to do.
40:11I got to make a living.
40:12I got to make a living.
40:13I got to make a living.
40:14I got to make a living.
40:15I got to make a living.
40:16We can't sell a jar of liquor because you're selling it cheaper than anybody in these
40:26mountains.
40:27And it's pilfered stole liquor.
40:29And what you're going to do right now is get in that damn trailer and that truck.
40:33It's time you get the hell out of here and be done with this business.
40:37Got us?
40:38It's time.
40:39Dirt tracks.
40:41We have no idea who he's getting it from, but the look on his face tells us that he
40:49believes us.
40:50Think it's going to take?
40:51I believe it will.
40:52It better.
40:53We won't see him no more.
40:54You know, he knows that if word were to get out, not only would his bootlegging operation
40:59take a big hit, but between stealing the GNS and selling it without a license, he'd be
41:04in some serious trouble.
41:06Let's get the hell out of here.
41:07Our job's done.
41:08Well, y'all just show me where to go and we'll get this stuff hit.
41:13The best thing we can figure out to do is stash our brandy over here on one of these
41:17small islands and then just sell it.
41:19There's some pretty wealthy people that live here on the lake.
41:22Somebody's coming up to the island, y'all.
41:25I've lost everything I had in Virginia.
41:27I come here, I'm starting it all over again.
41:29All we need to do now is get back and mash in.
41:32Cut the lights off, guys.
41:34What's going on in here?
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