♪♪
Yeah. I consider it A true blessing to be born
In these appalachian mountains.
This is where our forefathers Hammered out a living
By whatever means necessary.
That meant making A little homemade liquor.
It's very difficult To be a moonshiner.
I'm trying to push the envelope And move forward
Into the future.
I was at the still even Before I can even remember.
It's a way of life for me.
Everybody here Knows what I do.
They just don't talk about it.
This is our business, And this is our heritage,
And this is going To carry that life cycle
On to the next generation.
Moonshining Is a cutthroat business.
When you're breaking the law, There's nothing fair,
But it's just in our blood.
America was born on moonshine.
It's early spring in appalachia.
The days teem with life, And the nights with fire.
Tiny blazes dot the hillsides, Eyes into a hidden world
Where the only currency Is your word,
And the unwritten rules are as Old as the mountains themselves.
Those select few Who can brave the wilderness,
Survive the backwoods Gamesmanship, stay out of jail,
And keep the heritage Liquor flowing,
Earn the name moonshiner.
Looks like We got some company.
The long arm Of the law reaches virginia.
They've been trying to Arrest me for years.
He's got to be up to something.
In tennessee, a sign from above.
Are you *bleep* me?
Cutie pie!
And there's venom In north carolina.
It's a copperhead.
Son of a bitch!
I'm sorry, baby.
♪ no one can hold me down ♪
♪ or make me change my ways ♪
♪ so don't waste your breath Sayin' ♪
♪ crime never pays ♪
♪ goin' for a ride ♪
♪ runnin' to survive ♪
♪ when you're livin' Outside the law ♪
♪ we're livin' Outside the law ♪
This is how We make the moonshine!
--captions by vitac-- Www.Vitac.Com
Captions paid for by Discovery communications
♪♪
Right now we're on our way To this killer still site.
It's got good, Fresh spring water
Right out of the side Of the mountain.
It's real hard to get to.
That's a good thing And a bad thing.
On the piedmont plateau,
A lone shiner Traverses the backwoods
In search of a new location To expand his craft.
When I was a kid,
I used to come up in here On four-wheelers a lot.
We used to have to worry About the train
When we rode up in here,
But, hell, It don't come no more.
Josh is looking For the rare site
That has three Specific qualities --
Access to pure, Mountain spring water,
Thick overhead coverage,
And seclusion from The outside world.
Son of a bitch, Another damn tree.
This year I want to make As much moonshine as I can.
If I could just make 1,100 gallons, I'd be happy.
I plan on making my family Recipe, the cherry bounce,
Because you get to charge More money for it.
Holy *bleep*
♪♪
It don't look like There's no way around this.
I think we're just *bleep* out of luck.
It's too hard to get to, And I ain't cutting no trees
Because anybody will know I've been in here.
It's just too much damn trouble.
Josh is no stranger To roadblocks.
Last season, after his shine Reserves went up in flames
And he lost his finger In an accident,
Josh looked to an old friend For a new start.
-what's going on, big chuck? -hey, man. What's going on?
That thing is flying, Ain't it?
Josh and chuck Winterized an old mill
To run shine year round.
Hey, hey, hey. Somebody is here.
Who the *bleep* Is that?
But just when things Were looking up...
It's gonna cost us $8,000.
You've lost Your *bleep* mind.
...The bottom Dropped out once again.
Big chuck has gone back To just being retired now,
And it's just too much work For a 63-year-old man.
The spot at the railroad tracks Just ain't gonna work,
But I still got one more idea.
I'm just gonna go where My buddy, red dog's family,
Is known for making moonshine
On the side Of the mountain, here.
I went to school With his daughter.
I'm gonna go see If he knows any good spots,
Somewhere where we can Get good spring water.
I don't normally step outside Of my inner circle
Of people that I trust.
If you bring people in that You don't know
And you don't trust, You never know what can happen.
Hey, there, josh.
What are you doing Up in here?
I've been making liquor. I got a pretty good setup,
But I've about Exhausted all my spots,
And I don't have anywhere To go right now.
So I was wondering If you knew any spots
I might could make A little setup.
I don't know.
You don't have police Following you, do you?
Well, you've known me My whole life.
I wouldn't pull no *bleep* like that.
I just need a place to, Dang, make some shine.
I've been knowing Red dog my whole life.
I knew that he made liquor back On these banks back in the day,
But it's just one Of those things
That you kind of Keep to yourself.
Well, if he says no, I'm completely *bleep*
I'm fresh out of ideas.
I remember that time you got hit In the top of the head
With a baseball when you Was playing little league.
It didn't addle your brain Forever, did it?
I don't remember that.
I do. I remember it well.
You was crazy When you was that tall.
I know a spot, maybe.
Has it got that water?
Oh, yeah.
Do I know the ones That taught you
To make this moonshine?
Did you know old barney?
Oh, yeah. I knew him well.
Played music with him Back in the day.
He taught me about All the secrets.
Yeah? He sure know How to drink it.
I've known josh since He was in diapers.
As long as he keeps His mouth shut,
I'll help him Any way that I can.
I hear it running.
This flows right out Of the mountain?
It never runs dry.
It's got pretty good Air cover.
Yes, it does.
If you let me set up in here, I'll keep you supplied.
I'll give you All you can drink.
How do you know how much I can drink?
Finding a well-hidden Still site is key
To a moonshiner's survival.
The cat and mouse game Between law enforcement
And shiners began in 1791,
When in an effort to pay off the Debt from the revolutionary war,
President george washington Levied a tax on all alcohol.
Tax collectors were sent To extract money from farmers
Who refused to pay.
This sparked a tit for tat,
Which culminated In several agents
Being tarred and feathered.
The situation quickly spiraled So out of control
That President washington, himself,
Had to lead a militia Of 13,000 men
To suppress the insurrection.
220 years later, Law enforcement is more vigilant
Than ever with Backwoods distillers
Who evade uncle sam.
Agents say they seized 65 gallons of moonshine.
In the last decade, There have been more than 15,000
Moonshine-related arrests,
With penalties Including crippling fines,
Property seizures, And jail time.
Yet, year after year, Thousands of shiners risk it all
To carry on their Ancestral tradition.
♪♪
You know, back in the day,
We was trading moonshine For just about everything.
Eggs and bacon and bread.
Hell, you could trade enough For a car if you needed to.
In virginia, Former outlaw tim smith
Is building his legal moonshine Empire piece by piece.
Today, he needs gravel For the road to his distillery.
We're gonna go To the rock ground.
Said they got in The gravels over there.
If they like moonshine, We may make a deal.
♪♪
I want to trade that box Of moonshine for the gravel.
Is that okay?
All right.
20 tons of gravel.
That's a good deal, right?
Well, you know, last season I thought I was busy,
But it's more busy Than ever now.
Last season...
All right, now. Set it down.
...Tim began construction On his dream distillery,
But the project went belly-up
After his largest order Was canceled.
I got almost $2 million Worth of moonshine
That is just sitting right here.
With bankruptcy looming,
Tim created a new product And saved his brand.
Let's talk numbers.
All right. I like it.
Now, with orders picking up,
Tim needs to finish His expansion
So he can run At maximum capacity.
-well, what do you think, j.T.? -gonna spread some gravel?
Yeah. Finally, huh?
J.T. Is coming of age.
He's doing a whole lot of work Around the distillery.
I'm trying to build something For my son to take over.
J.T. Does not have to do it, But this is our business,
And this is my goal Is to keep him motivated
Getting into this thing.
Let's see what this thing Looks like, here.
Look like We got some company.
-company? -uh-huh.
-how you doing? -all right.
I'm looking For mr. Tim smith.
Well, as soon as I turned and Looked, I recognized the guy.
It's abc agent jesse tate.
Jesse tate is one Of the most feared
And respected lawmen In the state of virginia,
And he's been hunting The smith family for decades.
I'm a special agent with The virginia department
Of alcohol beverage control.
Throughout tim's Outlaw career in the backwoods,
Agent tate was on his heels Every step of the way.
I want to see him go to the Penitentiary for what they do.
Well, well, You look familiar.
Yeah. So do you.
What in the world Is going on here, man?
We're looking at the guy Who's arrested my brother,
Arrested my dad, Arrested my uncle.
You know, he's been trying To arrest me for years.
What's he trying to do?
He's got to be up to something.
Just thought I'd come by And see you.
-yeah? Okay. -yeah.
What do you want To see me about?
Well, this.
♪♪
All right, bud.
We ought to be in a little Bit better shape
Starting out this season.
We ought to be.
You know, we didn't break That old steamer down.
It's just a matter Of cleaning it up,
Getting us A little masher going.
Deep in the great Smoky mountains,
Two veteran shiners already have A leg up on the competition.
We just try us out a little Corn run, get started,
Get the barrels All cleaned out.
Mark and digger are on their way To mash in day one,
An advantage afforded to them
Because their site is still Set up from last year.
Last season, mark and digger Produced premium flavors
Such as hazelnut rum, Cranberry shine
And their revolutionary Mountain gin.
They're willing to pay $500 a gallon.
The two veteran shiners Had their best season ever,
Pumping out 928 gallons Of handcrafted liquor.
Son of a bitch.
Is this getting heavier,
Or are we just getting Older and fatter?
Yeah.
We're ready to go.
I mean, we got a still set up.
That's put us ahead of the game.
We should be able to make 1,100 gallons of liquor.
That might be closer To retirement for us.
That's deer.
There must have been more Wind up in here hit
Than we thought.
Wow.
Didn't have no idea It blew like this.
Last winter, a big part Of the smokies
Suffered a lot of devastation Due to a big fire.
We've got An all-out firefight
Continuing this morning In the town of gatlinburg,
Tennessee.
We had severe Drought conditions.
That added with unprecedented Hurricane winds,
It was the perfect storm.
14 people perished,
And 14,000 others Were evacuated
When an arsonist's Match unleashed
Mother nature's wrath.
Fortunately, we didn't Suffer any fire damage,
But we've had some Terrible winds up here.
The deeper I get in, The more leaves I see
And more branches.
A lot of branches down. Hey.
Look over yonder At them trees down.
Holy moly.
It snapped that Like a twig.
Oh, hell.
Are you *bleep* me?
I wish I was, but... *bleep*
Coming up....
I want to say another 10 To 15 minutes.
...The shine is flowing In the blue ridge mountains.
Oh, that's still hot.
And in north carolina, It's life or death.
It will be okay, baby.
Daddy is hurrying.
This is insane.
Back in tennessee, Mark and digger
Are combing through The wreckage after mother nature
Dropped a 20-ton poplar tree On their still site.
I ain't never in my life.
I mean, it didn't Just break this.
It uprooted The whole thing.
We've got a full-grown Poplar that's 60 foot high
Right through the middle Of our still.
It couldn't be no more square Right in the middle.
It's right across That arm on the cap
On that second mash barrel.
It's now going to take Mark and digger
At least 2 weeks To set back up,
Which if spent shining, Could have netted them up
To $15,000 in profit.
You know, Working in the woods,
You face difficulties All the time,
But we certainly Didn't plan on coming in
And finding this monster tree Laying across our still.
Is the pot salvageable?
This is okay, I believe,
Unless that arm, there, Is kind of monkeyed up.
It's monkeyed up, flat.
Right now, we got to get Our small stuff out of here,
Bring us some saws, and fuel And oil in, and cut the tree.
Then we'll get this Still out of here
And try and see If it can be salvaged.
-you got that all right? -I got it.
It will be dragging The ground the time
I get to the road, but...
It is a pretty big hiccup,
But we're not laying under That tree with that still.
That may have been The end of one of us.
You know, the mountain giveth,
But the mountain Will taketh, too.
♪♪
So we're gonna go back to The same site we had last year.
It was a good place To run, and...
On the tennessee, Carolina border, mark and mike
Are heading back to last year's Still site.
Last season...
...Mark split up
With his long-time carolina Shine partners,
Jeff and lance.
He joined forces With a new still hand
In eastern tennessee...
My granddaddy run liquor.
It's been in my family For 100 years.
...And the profits Began to flow.
♪♪
It looks our furnace...
Yeah.
Ain't nobody been here.
There any left in it?
Whoo! There we go.
That's the life of A moonshiner's season,
Right there, plenty of water.
We got us a full pot coming.
All right.
Moonshine starts by Mixing water, sugar and yeast
With any fruit or grain,
In this case, corn.
The combination, known as mash,
Is left to ferment For about a week,
During which time the sugar And starch in the mash
Convert to alcohol.
The fermented mash is then Heated in the first chamber
Of the still, Known as the pot.
The heat vaporizes The alcohol from the mash,
Causing it To rise up into the cap,
Then out through a pipe Called the arm,
And over to the thump keg, where Any residual water is deposited.
The purified alcohol vapor Then moves through
Another arm to the condenser,
Where it's cooled back Into liquid moonshine.
This season, I'd like to make At least 1,200 gallons.
It's one of the reasons I teamed up with mike.
He did good work.
All right, buddy. That will work.
Put our pot in, Fix the furnace,
And hook the worm up, We'll be good to go.
Yeah, boy.
Now, we've mashed In one more time, son.
Next thing, we'll just Work our way over
To the flakes, there.
♪♪
Look like We got some company.
-company? -uh-huh.
Back in virginia,
There's a ghost From tim's outlaw past,
Abc agent jesse tate.
What do you want To see me about?
Well, this.
This is a legal distillery That we built in here.
Well, that's a 4,000-gallon Pot still, there.
4,000 gallons.
It's good To see a legal one.
Yeah.
I've seen a lot of Illegal ones in my day.
Yeah. Yeah, I bet you have.
Why is he here? I know it's got to be bad.
You know, what's he Trying to do?
He's got to be Up to something.
So I heard that You was big legit...
-yeah. Yeah. -...And going strong...
-yeah. Yeah. -...And I retired.
Oh, you retired?
When I retired, I said I was Gonna ride up and see you...
Okay.
...Kind of sit down and talk To you a little bit.
Tell you what drove me All these years,
And you can Kind of tell me
What drove you All these years.
He tells me he's retired.
I really think, In the back of my mind,
That, you know, I won this contest, here.
When he was trying to arrest me
When I was illegal He never could,
And now that I'm legal, He never will.
Over the years the guys That did it illegally,
Well, they were Trying to survive.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
It didn't change the fact That it was still illegal...
That's right.
...And they could Get caught for it.
That's right. I agree on your side.
I understand you had a job, But I'm also looking at,
You know, the revenue That was gained.
Even though the money Was created illegally,
But you look at there's a lot Of houses that was bought,
And a lot of kids Went to college
Because that was that extra Income that they made
Because the regular Infrastructure is not there.
I came down here to let Him know why I did my job,
And I also want to hear What drove him.
I certainly understand Why he did what he did,
And I wish him The best of luck.
Just glad to see it work Out for you, man.
-okay. All right. -good seeing you.
Don't let him work You too hard.
Nope.
Well.
Well, that was a shock.
I'm telling you.
Hmm.
This season on "Moonshiners"...
-there we go. -holy *bleep*
Moonshining is not easy.
Come on. Easy.
If it was, then everybody In the world would be doing it.
I ain't changed A whole lot.
Today's not about Making a big sale.
Today is about making a deal
That's gonna Pay us all season.
I really don't want The absinthe.
I don't care what You do with it.
We need to build a bigger Platform in the trees.
See these four?
This year it's gonna be Out of sight, out of mind.
This season, We're going to run two
Of our most popular Moonshines -- mayhaw and pear.
There's no doubt in my mind
That this is groundbreaking.
A three-pump still. This is the kraken.
So I got this idea.
So this is Where you come in.
What was I thinking Bringing a woman in the woods?
By god, that's liquor.
-whoo! -we got water.
Get right there and I'll tell You when you get it right.
I'm doing what You're telling me.
God dang. Watch the snakes.
Holy.
So this is happening right now.
Look at my trailer. My stuff is burning.
Please get the fire Department, man.
♪♪
I don't know how you got two Headlights out
At the same time.
I don't know. It's kind of funny.
Well, this one is broke.
If you got a light out,
That means you going To get pulled over.
If you get pulled over,
And you got something In the truck,
Then you in trouble.
In culpeper, virginia,
After the run-in With jesse tate, tim and j.T.
Are taking a break From the moonshine grind.
Seeing jesse tate really Brought back those memories
Of being illegal In the woods,
And I really want j.T. To really appreciate,
You know, those roots And where I came from.
You know what me And your papa would do
When we couldn't Do nothing else?
What did you all do?
We'd go ride around And find another still site.
You know What we ought to do?
We ought to go ride around And find some places.
Okay.
So you can start Thinking the way
I was thinking When I was at your age.
Well, you know, every year I set some kind of goal in mind,
And, you know, where can We go in the future?
This year I'm thinking about Taking him on a road trip.
We're gonna go back To where I come from,
Back to pittsylvania county, Back to franklin county,
And let him meet some Of the old moonshiners,
And that way he can get A little taste
Of what the real moonshine Is in the backwoods.
He may even help me understand What is out there now,
What's going on right now.
My dad and your papa, We always carried a sample...
Yeah.
...So when we run Into somebody,
We'll give them A little taste.
See what They think about it.
We'll see what They think about it,
But also, If they got something,
They gonna give us A little taste of it, too.
Mm-hmm.
That way we can compare, And we'll just make sure
We're on top of our game.
I feel like, kind of, nervous.
You know, I don't know exactly What we're gonna get into,
But I am looking forward To taking this road trip.
Put that headlight on.
Let's see if it works. -all right.
I want to see if we did Anything, here.
I'm trying to build a legal Legacy of a moonshiner,
And I'm trying to leave Something for j.T.
That he can carry on.
I want him to get it, that This is where we come from.
Yeah. We got headlights.
♪♪
Yeah.
High on the tennessee Blue ridge,
Mark and mike's mash Has been fermenting for 7 days
And should be ready to run.
I've got a buyer Lined up already,
And it's just the first Of the season.
He's wanting 25 Gallons of liquor.
Oh, yeah. It's ready.
May have to make a couple runs,
But me and mark got To make that happen.
There she flies, buddy.
Mark, I believe we're About full enough.
We're up to the cake On her, now.
All right.
Me and mark, we work Real good together.
We, pretty much, got a good Game plan going on,
And we help each other,
And everything just Goes pretty smooth.
All right, bud. Sounds good.
That looks like We're running, buddy.
You want to pull that Fire back a little?
Yeah.
I'll go ahead and get them Pads bowed out.
On a 100-gallon still,
The first Pint and a half of shine
To run off contains Poisonous methanol
And is thrown away.
Yeah. It's running good.
Yeah. Let's take us A good horn of it.
Wow.
-still hot. -yeah.
I tell you what, bud. It tastes good.
Yeah.
We've got a good run Of liquor,
And we're looking to get roughly 15 gallons of good whiskey.
You ready? -yeah.
Now I've got 25 gallons To get sold out by next week.
That's a little short Notice, you know,
But we need to hurry up, Get in here, get the re-mash in
So we can get that 25 gallons to my customer.
Last one of the night Right there, son.
♪♪
Making moonshine ain't All sunshine and butterflies.
It's a lot of damn hard work,
And it's really A lot of hard work
When you're doing it By yourself.
We gonna take this Over to red dog's.
We're gonna get...
What's the deal with that?
You trying to tell me You want some more jerky?
Let's see. Look.
I'm sorry, baby.
In north carolina,
Josh finally Has a well-hidden sight
To set up his still
And is one step closer
To getting his season Off the ground.
I'm just glad to be Getting back up and going,
So it feels pretty good to be Setting my spot up, here.
Come on, cutie pie.
Cutie pie has been with me For, like, 13 years.
She's an old-timer At this point.
Cutie pie has really been The only person
That stuck by my side.
This is josh's 11th shine season
With the brains Of the operation, cutie pie.
How about it, cutie pie?
You gonna help me tote Some of this stuff in here?
That's my best friend.
There can only be one cutie pie.
We just about got us A still site.
You hear that?
Get down, get down.
♪♪
That's damn red dog.
You scared the *bleep* Out of me.
What are you doing Letting an old man like me
Sneak up on you?
Man, this is Some kind of operation.
Fixing to be.
You doing all this By yourself?
Unfortunately. You want to help?
I'm a little old For one this big.
You won't help me Make no shine, huh?
No. I don't need to risk Getting in trouble again.
You need a young guy To come in.
You can teach him The ropes.
I need two or three, Where I can sit back.
Fine, then. Two or three you could trust
And depend on Might be the problem.
Finding any you can trust And depend on.
See, that's the problem.
How soon will you have it Dug out and level and ready?
I'll have this in by The end of the evening.
I want to build, like, A overhang over all this,
About 16-by-18 Or something.
I can probably help you With that.
I got this old lumber.
Some of it We might can use.
We'll drag some out And see what you think.
Be careful. It's got nails in it.
I think we'll find some usable Stuff down in there.
Cutie pie! You see her, dog?
Yeah. She's right over here.
She's holding her leg up.
*bleep* What's the matter, cutie pie?
Oh *bleep*
It's a copperhead.
Son of a bitch!
We got to go to the vet.
♪♪
You okay, cutie pie?
I'm sorry, baby.
It will be okay, baby.
Daddy is hurrying.
Cutie pie!
It's a copperhead.
We got to go to the vet.
On interstate 26,
Josh is in a desperate Race against the clock.
Get cutie pie to a vet where she Can get antivenom serum,
Or she dies.
As soon as we walked in to the Vet, the vets took one look
At cutie pie, And rushed her into I.C.U.
We'll need to make an assessment As far as the physical site.
Will she need antivenom?
I don't have it.
Western carolina Has antivenom.
They are About 20 minutes away.
-*bleep* -all right.
Good luck. No, no. We're good.
Yeah, cheers. Be safe.
♪♪
If something happens To cutie pie,
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
I'm freaking the *bleep* Out, man.
I've had a couple of dogs Get copperhead bit,
And they lived through it, But they were younger.
She is freaking Breathing like crazy.
It looks bad to me.
♪♪
-digger. -huh?
I tell you what We got to do now, buddy.
We got to keep an eye out For each other
On these widow-makers. -oh, yeah.
In tennessee, mark and Digger are cleaning up
What's left of their site
After a 60-foot tree Smashed their still.
Well, it isn't any Secret that mine
And digger's goal Is to make liquor,
But today we've got to Clear off this old still
And see what we've got.
Let me gas this rascal up.
Fuel that puppy up.
Well, any moonshiner that ever Hopes to be halfway successful,
You can't let these Obstacles deter you at all.
If you're gonna be In this line of work
And choose mother nature As your opponent,
You have to work with her.
Boy, something about a chain saw Makes you feel like you
Got six nuts Instead of two, don't it?
Yeah. Especially since I'm down to one.
You have to learn to adapt And be resourceful.
This is what moonshiners have to Do if they're gonna survive.
We're used to being thrown Curves on a daily basis.
You go, hercules.
Oh, yeah.
That's too boogered up. Look at that.
Look at it. It's warped The whole damn thing up.
Well, we know The lids are killed.
We know the frame Is killed.
We can't fix that. -I can't weld it that good.
It's damaged beyond repair.
There ain't enough bailing wire And duct tape
In the redneck world to get us Back on our feet with this.
If we try to spend a lot of time Fixing this rascal,
Then we're just that Much farther behind.
Yeah.
We got to come up With a plan.
We got to make liquor.
I got a little something I've been studying about,
And I'm thinking I want To run a three-barrel still.
-really? -three pots at one time.
You're saying the two twins That we've already got...
Yep.
...And the great big one In the middle.
Yep.
I don't know that I can build that.
As far as we know, a three-pot Still ain't never been used.
We've certainly never seen one.
Digger hopes to double His and mark's production
By adding a third 300-gallon pot
To their existing 400-gallon two-pot system.
Alcohol vapors from mash Being cooked simultaneously
In the three pots
Will travel down an arm, Meeting at a junction box,
Or manifold, where The vapors will blend
Before heading out To the thump keg and condenser.
The benefits of this Additional pot are two-fold.
First, with the added capacity,
A 700-gallon still will Nearly double their yield
To 90 gallons per run,
Which can fetch mark and digger About $13,500 in profits.
Next, blended liquors Can be created
By putting different Varieties of mash
In the still's three pots.
This technique is said to create Smoother, subtler blends.
Can you imagine how much time It's gonna take?
I've seen you build a cap At nothing,
Half a day, in and out.
You can do it. I got faith in you.
All right.
I don't know what I've Let you talk me into.
You know, the great thing About this is not only
Are we gonna increase Our level of production,
It's gonna open us up To a few more recipes.
I say we either sell This son of a bitch,
Give it to somebody Or put it in the scrap pile.
Let's just keep him for just Dumb sentimental reasons.
Just a reminder how bad *bleep* can get in the woods.
Yeah.
♪♪
Make a lot of liquor, Sell a lot of liquor,
Make a lot of damn money.
That's what I like to do.
Over on the tennessee Border, mark and mike
Need to run 10 gallons of shine
To complete their first Order of the season.
When you've got buyers Already lined up
Wanting your liquor Before it's ever made,
You're doing something good.
Our first run yielded 15 gallons,
And we were real Tickled about that,
So we don't see any problem
Why we can't get 25 gallons by next week.
You got any more Buyers lined up?
Yeah. We got a lot of people That buy liquor.
Well, we can get rid of About anything we make.
Yeah. I can guarantee that.
What the hell Is that all about?
God, almighty.
No, sir.
No.
Construction equipment Near mark and mike's site
Could mean logging Companies are advancing
On their secluded Piece of paradise.
Yep.
Uh-oh.
No. They starting to push A road in here.
I've got a buyer lined up that Wants 25 gallons by next week,
And I've got to make That happen,
And I can't afford To lose a customer.
What in the hell?
Coming up, Josh's trusted companion
Is in the fight of her life.
She's too old for this.
She's my best friend.
We've got this big, old Tree that the good lord
Saw fit to put right through The middle of our still.
We're gonna make use Of it the best way we can.
Historically, our predecessors In this business,
Whatever hand they were Dealt in the woods,
That's what they worked with.
We've got our coffee table.
I like to prefer that As a bar.
Whiskey pusher.
We'll have to build a shelf Under it now.
Put it in under?
Let's skedaddle,
Or do you want me To leave you sitting there,
And you'll be there When I come back tomorrow?
No. I need you to carve me A recliner.
Oh, my god.
What in the hell?
Back on the tennessee border,
Mark and mike have a client
Expecting 25 gallons Of moonshine by next week,
But their still site Has been destroyed.
Oh, my god.
They've tore it all to hell, Ain't they?
All of our mash is turned Over, poured out.
*bleep*
What the hell are we Gonna do now, son?
Everything's ruined.
All this hard work We've done done.
I mean, It's demolished.
Look at that furnace.
The only thing you can think is, "What do we do now?"
Ain't my fault. It ain't your fault.
No. No. I know that.
It's just something That happened.
I understand that 100%, But, I mean,
How long do you think It would take us to build
Another still site?
I can't do that. You know what?
I, basically, I've Promised this guy
25 gallons by next week, And I've got to get it.
I understand that. I know you can't help it,
But a handshake Is a man's word.
I ain't never let nobody down, And I don't intend to.
You know, I've got A family to feed.
I've got to get Some liquor sold.
Look, if you get The still site set up,
I've got a still At the house
I can just go Set up and run.
Right.
All right, buddy.
♪♪
Come on, people.
In north carolina, Josh and red dog
Are racing to save Cutie pie's life.
We were uncovering that lumber Pile out by the cabin,
And a copperhead Hit her on the leg,
And she hasn't moved since.
The way she's breathing Is just freaking me
The *bleep* out, man.
She's stiff as a board.
State troopers hang out Down here all the time.
They'll just have to follow My ass to the vet.
I ain't pulling over for them.
Now, you're slinging Her around, man.
Ease up.
It kind of worries me the way Her tongue hangs out.
Come on, people.
I'm afraid she might have A heart attack or something,
The way she's breathing.
Am I going right, Or left, or straight?
You go straight, Didn't he say?
Ah *bleep* I don't know, man.
My brain ain't working.
When something Like this happens,
There's about a million things That run through your mind
In just about 2 seconds.
Life is short, man.
We forget how short it is.
We get all caught up in our work And everything we're doing,
And sometimes we forget About the small things,
The simple things that Really make life great.
♪♪
Just open the door, And I'll be right back.
Golly.
She's crapping herself, and it Scares the *bleep* out of me.
My best friend.
She's too old for this.
That's what scares me The most about it.
She's in bad shape, Ain't she?
She's in trouble.
Cutie pie is a small dog,
And a copperhead Can produce a lot of venom.
Next time on "Moonshiners"...
You got to get right here.
I can't stand over there
And see what You're wanting me to do.
...A family on the brink In north carolina...
I'm gonna slap the *bleep* Out of you in a minute.
I'm doing what You're telling me.
We're gonna have to bring in
Outside help To build this stand.
...Thick as thieves In kentucky...
I don't want to come Across as threatening,
But if anybody finds out Where I'm running liquor,
I'm dead in the water.
This is jail time.
*bleep* damn it.
...In tennessee, Best laid plans go awry...
This is insane.
*bleep* damn it.
It ain't meant to be.
...And cutie pie Desperately clings to life.
Having to walk away and Just leave her on that table,
It kills me.