All language subtitles for Moonshiners.Master.Distiller.S01E05.Mark.vs.Digger.vs.Tim.1080p.WEB.x264-ROBOTS_untitled_track2_[eng]

I heard digger say this,
"and I know way more about

making liquor
than tim smith does."

I can make damn better liquor
than you on a damn teapot.

Have to run one of these stills
over here to find out.

There still mash
over there.

Want to do a little side
bet on that?

All right, I'll match
whatever you put on the table.

Well, well.

Narrator: This time
on "master distiller"...

Digger:
You touch that and you can say
if you haven't been shot before,

"I've been shot before."

narrator: Three of appalachia's
most notorious moonshiners...

Tim:
You ain't ever seen nothing
like that.

That's open-jar distilling.

-Shoot.
-Whoo-wee.

Narrator:
...Go head to head to determine
once and for all...

You got five minutes, fellers.

Narrator:
...Who can make the best liquor?

It had a smooth taste.
In fact, I'd feed it to a baby.

Narrator: For decades the best
moonshiners in america

have built their reputations
on the smoothest liquor

and finest heritage recipes.

Now, for the first time ever...

These master shiners
are staking their names...

-My secret weapon.
-What are you sick?

Look like you got a damn jar
of pepto-bismol.

Narrator:
...And their hard-earned cash...

I got $1,000
riding on this.

...To present their best
signature shines

to "moonshiners" fans...

-Some of us cheat.
-No, that's you.

Tim:
What are you talking about?
I'm standing over here.

Narrator:
...In a competition...

Digger: You better brought your
a game, tim.

Narrator:...For
the ultimate bragging rights.

Tim: I turn around
and mark and digger's

over in the corner
making milkshakes.

And there it
is again.

Bring on the moonshine.

[ cheering ]

-- captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

now I've got a little old bitty
still out here

we can put up for the trophy.

All right, y'all want to do
a little side bet on this?

Hey, a thousand bucks a piece,
if yinz gonna do a side bet.

The thousand dollars
is between you two.

I ain't a gambler,
I'm too stingy.

We got to set up
some ground rules here.

I think we use the same ones
we used for the contestants.

House mash, equal stills,
4-hour time limit.

Just like the contestants.

We'll build
our own mash, too.

All right. Looks like
we've got ourselves a challenge.

We need somebody
to keep us up to date on time.

I got the perfect person
to run this contest.

Really?

Hey, you know, this guy
knows his numbers.

-[ chuckles ]
-okay.

Well, all right, fellas,
we's here.

What we got going on?

We're gonna go over there
and run these three stills,

and you're gonna time us.
Now the time is just 4 hours,

all you got to do is tell us
when to start and when to stop.

I ain't got no watch.
What am I gonna do,

sit here and count?

Damn, tickle, don't wander
off with my watch.

All right, sounds good.
Y'all go over there.

Yeah, we're
going over here.

Okay. All right,
now what I do now?

Tell us to start.

You have 4 hours
starting...

Now.

Narrator:
Using the same corn mash
and equipment,

the first run will showcase
the master moonshiners'

unique technical skills.

The winner will get
the first pick of ingredients

to flavor the resulting spirit
for the next challenge.

And at the end of the
competition, the flavored liquor

will be judged alongside each
shiner's own signature recipe

for the final prize.

Watch this, I'm afraid
it'll fall out of my basket.

♪

I'm starting to believe
that's a bribe.

Damn good one, though.

I'm not boastful, but there's
not many people in this world

that can carry my shoes
when it comes to making liquor.

Our region, it's known as the
moonshine capital of the world.

I work with some of the best
liquor men in the country.

Back here in this old hole

is where a lot of
the old liquor men

came and got their sugar
and their corn, their jars.

I was hanging around
working a little bit,

and a little wiry feller
came in,

you know, and he come over
and first thing he did,

he squeezed my arm and said,

"boy you're a strapping
young man, aren't you?"

probably the first
recollections of meeting

up with popcorn sutton.
"come see me,"

he said, "I'll put you to work."
the rest was history.

-He feels the spirit.
-Yeah I did, yeah.

He feels the spirit.

Digger: Making liquor gets
into your blood.

Anybody that's ever made it
will tell you,

it's in their blood,
and they're not lying.

It's the smell that you got
in your nose when it's cooking.

It's the noise
the stills make.

It's really indescribable
how it makes you feel.

What you doing
over there?

I'm getting my
steeping bag ready.

Mark: We ain't got
none of this stuff.

I thought we had to play
by the same rules.

You should have brought it.

Looks like you ain't got
a barrel of mash tim.

There's two barrels of mash --
my mash and mark's mash.

Whatever. I knew this wasn't
gonna be a fair game, no way.

That's okay, I got
something over here.

I'm calling
bull [bleep].

We're supposed to use
the same stuff

that the other
contestants use.

Equipment wise
with the stills.

Yinz just go ahead
and have at it.

Cheat like hell, I'm going
to beat the piss out of you.

Mark: I don't give a damn
what they're doing.

I like tim smith, I love digger.
It's a competition now.

Mark: Now, I've knowed digger
for 40 years.

This is where it all started,
mine and your friendship.

I don't even remember
what we talked about that night.

I remember we talked
maybe about camping

a little bit
and some guns.

This is where it took off.

Right over yonder,
there by the stools.

Mark: Digger's my partner.

He's somebody that I trust
and he trusts me.

We have each others back.

Damn, popcorn, what
have you got us into?

You ever miss popcorn?

Oh, every day.

He was a dear friend of mine.

Man: Popcorn would be proud
of mark and digger,

the way they've --
keeping the tradition going.

I always said from the get go,
"I'm the still man."

this the first time that
we've built one of these

from scratch, digger.

I think you're doin'
a beautiful job.

Oh, he's a picasso.

Mark: Being able to build
a still from scratch,

it's just another way
of my honoring my heritage.

This is a work of art.

I'm the still man.

But we're gonna have liquid
out of here any time, tickle.

I know how to make liquor,
I can make liquor.

You've got to boil the piss
out of that corn

to break down
the starches in it.

Smells delicious.

This contest is
a 4-hour contest.

When he brought out that pump,
he probably cut 30 minutes off

because I'm slowly, gallon at
a time, putting it in there.

You take a gallon a minute,
that's 30 minutes.

I done lost 30 minutes already
just filling up the still.

I'm out of town here.
This is their home turf,

but I'm number 1 moonshiner
from where I'm from.

There's money to be made at that

as long as you don't
get caught at it.

My name is tim smith.

Through my dad
and through the family

I kind of grew up
around moonshining all my life.

My father didn't want me
to do moonshining.

He always talked
about going legal.

He always told me
that we had the best recipe

and made the best moonshine
in the country.

My dad passed away, and
I started thinking seriously,

"I'm gonna do it
for my dad."

that way I can keep
on the heritage

and make money without
worrying about getting arrested.

But you know
that costs money.

Tim: Steve's one of the
goodest guys you'll ever find.

I'm tickle,
I work with tim.

Tim, this is a monumental
undertaking, huh?

Oh, yeah.

This bottle right here
is the first bottle

of legal climax moonshine
right here.

You see my dad
inside the bottle

because that's his recipe.

My knowledge from years back,
and my dad teaching me

how to run moonshine stills.
I got this.

Everything I got here is manual.

I don't have no kind of
automated equipment like this --

digger has over here.

You justify it however
you want to, but...

I'm backwoods, I don't
need no electricity.

You can cut the lights out
if you want to.

We're smart enough
to go buy a generator.

Tickle:
Tim and digger, they've got
this side bet going on.

I really think that
has really amped it up.

It just got serious.
Tim done took his shirt off.

We don't want
to see your man [bleep].

I know tim smith, and I know
digger pretty good, too.

And ain't neither one of them
gonna want to let go

of $1,000.
-This is the first time

I've ever run a still
this small.

Kind of look like a toy,
don't it?

I don't know if I got it
too hot or too cold yet.

Tim bellyaching
about everything.

Can't get my liquid out.

Digger:
I keep hearing these noise
that sounds like a crying baby,

will somebody please find it?
I think somebody's abandoned it.

My drain is not working,
I'm telling you.

And there it is again.

This is gonna be the easiest
$1,000 I ever made.

When I need some help now,
I want both of you...

You holler.
I will not...

I want both of you
over here.

-I'll come and help you.
-I'll come help you.

I'll come and help you
tighten your nut, tim.

Okay.

Gentlemen, and I use
this term very loosely now,

2 hours left.

Well, digger,
he's way ahead.

I see you're already heated up
over here to about what,

about 150 degrees?
-Yup.

Digger's came out of the gate
like a racehorse.

There's 1,000 different
ways to run a still.

The end result's what counts.

What you got
going on here, tim?

Checking my mash as
I'm heating it up.

My dad told me
slow and cold,

and we're gonna get
the perfect jar

out of this little still.

Tim: My dad always told me,
if you can't put your finger

three times in it,
then it's hot.

One, two, three.

I just can get three,
so it's almost ready to cap.

Okay.

See these guys over here
don't know anything about that.

They just went ahead
and capped the still off

and turned the heat on.

You don't want to put
the cap on it till it's ready.

Tim might be trying
to get in my head.

He don't know the combination
to get into that dusty dungeon.

Narrator:
Once burners are lit,

the distillers must carefully
control the heat

in order to reach 173 degrees

when the alcohol vapors
are stripped

from the remaining liquid.

The vapors travel to the thump
keg for a second distillation,

before reaching the condenser,

where they're cooled
into liquid alcohol.

Digger: I crank my still up
where I think

it would start running quicker.

You've got to get your feet wet.
You got to feel that still,

and you've got to get a feel
for what it does.

Seems to be digger's a
specialist on these gas burners.

He knows more about these
things than anybody.

Honestly, I run mine
a little hot

because I can correct
that heat if I need to.

Digger:
Your honor, let the record
reflect, I have liquor running.

Oh.

You touch that and you can say,
if you hadn't been shot before,

"I've been shot before."

just looking at it.

God, I think you're just
scared, that's all.

Mark:
You get that burner to quit
going and coming,

but I think it's heating okay.

Did you adjust
you're airflow?

Let me work
on that just a skosh.

I'm running pretty liquor.
My liquor's coming off so clear,

I'm having trouble
seeing if there's anything

even in the jar.
This is wonderful.

It's here now, it's coming here.
Got anything, mark?

Nope, not yet.

I don't even have anything
coming out yet,

and digger's
on four jar.

Let's count together, tim.

One, two, three, four, five.
I'm on number five.

Narrator: Coming up...

It can only get better.

Narrator:
...Blind taste tests...

A red one, a yellow one
and a blue one.

Narrator:
...And backstabbing.

They ain't left me [bleep].

Hey, this is a competition,
you know, I'm in it to win it.

Tim: Everything I got here
is manual.

Hell, we're smart enough
to go buy a generator.

Narrator: It's hot stills
and dirty deals...

I'm starting to believe
that's a bribe.

Narrator:
...As three of america's
best moonshiners battle

to bring their best jars
to a public competition.

Tim:
This first time I ever run
still this small.

Gonna be the easiest
$1,000 I ever made.

Narrator:
Using the same corn mash
and still set up...

It just got
serious.

...The shiner with the best jar
from this challenge

will get first pick
of their ingredients

for the next flavor run.

What are you doing
over there, poot?

I'm tampering.

Narrator:
Over the course of a run,
shiners make cuts

to separate the harsh high proof
heads from the cleanest,

most desirable alcohol
found in the hearts,

before reaching the lower proof,
but flavorful tails.

The mark of a true
master distiller

is how they choose to blend

these cuts
for the final product,

including adding water
to bring down the proof

in a process known as tempering.

Digger:
I'm not a cuts guy.

I pull a little bit of the
foul-tasting heads out,

run the back, and save me
a little back ends

to use in the thump keg,

and then I spring water
temper it.

When I got a good sweet jar...

...I just call it good
and go turn my jar in.

Alright,
one jar in, huh?

I wouldn't be ashamed
to sell 10,000 cases of it.

Well, there you go.

So it's done come down to this,
we have 1 hour left.

Time flies when you having fun,
don't it?

Mark:
Yeah, I wish it'd slow
down just a dab.

I may have to turn my heat
up a little bit then.

Tickle: Mm-hmm,
you might have to.

I don't like
to turn mine up.

I ain't gonna be where
I need to be in an hour.

I ain't
got no choice.

This is the time
in every moonshiners

run when mistakes
can be made very easily.

Mark:
I turned mine up
a little, tim.

Yeah, I turned
mine up, too.

I don't like running it
that high.

I've got it up
to 200 degrees now.

That's actually about 10,
15 degrees higher than I like.

We've got a drip.

Finally, something's
coming out.

I did make
a little bit mistake.

I went ahead and filled
my still up like

I was gonna make
a whole full run,

but we're gonna get there.

I finally got
a drip over here.

I'm a little
crunched for time.

Pressure's on.

Tim:
I'm running in the heads
right now,

just trying to balance it out,
trying to adjust my heat

a little bit,
my worm condenser,

just make sure I got
everything running right

before I really
get serious with it.

I've caught just a few heads.
I didn't catch many.

I don't know if I want
to do any blending yet

or just wait
until I get a sweet jar

and leave it at that.
I don't know yet.

If I like it, then maybe
everybody else will, too.

You got 5 minutes left.

Honk, we're running out
of time, huh?

We sure as hell are.

Tim: I'm playing a game here
with this alcohol.

I'm putting it
in this container,

rather than putting it in a jar
and putting a seal on it

because if you put the top on,
another alcohol can vapor out,

so I'm actually letting
some air get to it

and let some of that
alcohol vapors come off of it,

letting it dissipate
a little bit.

Hopefully it's gonna make
a little bit smoother taste.

Pretty high proof,

but it's the way
we did it in the woods.

Here you go, tickle.
-All right.

That's the winner,
tim smith, md.

-Md? Moonshine doctor?
-Master distiller.

Master distiller!

Mark: Running out of time here.
It's still at 120 proof.

Just a little touch
of spring water

will bring it down
really quick.

I just need one jar.

All right,
mr. Ramsey.

All right,
here we go.

Well, I've got a great idea
on how we can keep this fair.

All right fellers,
y'all can come on in here.

Tim: What you got
going on here now?

I got a red one, a yellow one,
and a blue one.

I've got the names
covered up on top,

so we don't know whose is what.

Everybody vote for the jar
they liked the best.

We don't know whose the hell
either one of them is.

A blind taste test
is extremely fair on this.

Honestly, if I taste
a better jar of liquor than me,

I'll tip my hat to him.

This is gonna tell us
who on your next run

gets to go into the pantry and
pick all your goodies out...

-On our flavor..
-...On your flavored run.

That being said,
let's start tasting.

Smells good.

♪

digger:
Pretty good.

Tim: My jar, I could actually
tell the flavor profile

because by me airing it out
a little bit

and letting some of those vapors
come off,

it actually made it smoother.

All right, now let's try
the yellow jar.

Mark:
That's pretty good jar of liquor
right there.

Tim: Still smooth.

Tickle: The smell is very close,
but on those two jars,

there's a definite difference
in the flavor on them.

You know,
I don't know how,

but I see this really
being a cluster.

Nobody here is a rookie, and it
shows right here in these jars.

Honestly, I couldn't tell a lot
of difference in any of them.

The only thing that woulda
really made any difference

to made it easier is if
somebody'd scorched

their liquor,
nobody scorched their liquor,

everybody
run their liquor, fine.

I'd be proud to claim
any of them jars.

-Any of them jars, yeah.
-I think all of them are good.

Tim: All of them are very close
to the taste profile,

but I got this.

I'm gonna go one, two, three --
red, yellow, blue.

I'm in 100% agreement
with tim.

I'm pretty much
there, too.

Red...
-Red.

...Tastes better
to me.

Okay.

The first person going
into our pantry...

...Is tim smith.

Good job, tick,
I knew you could do it.

Tim: It was kind of shocking
that mark and digger

actually picked my jar.
You know, it's kind of exciting.

These guys have been making
moonshine longer than I have.

The second jar, much as I hate
to admit it, is digger.

Tim: There.

Tickle: He done a fine job,
which means...

Would you look how long
it took me to get done.

-You can only got third.
-Hey, I'm...

At least you
got third place.

Tim's the winner and now
I need to be worrying about him.

When we go to our pantry,
tim will go in first,

digger will go in second,

and mark,
if they leave you anything...

-If I got anything left.
-...You go in third.

Thing about it is,
you know, on the flip,

hell, I can't do
no worse.

That's right.
You know what?

You know,
it can only get better.

I'm the first one
to go to the pantry,

I've got 5 minutes.
There's vegetables in here,

fresh fruit, and then, my eye
goes to the horehound candy.

Thinking about grandma's recipe
and making a cough syrup,

this is what I want.

Then I see all the other things
I could add to it.

Then I see some things
I really didn't know

if I needed to use it or not,
but I grabbed it anyway

because I knew
if I had them in my basket,

mark and digger can't use them.

Hey, this is a competition.
I'm in it to win it, right?

Even though tim's tried to take
everything out of the pantry

that he could to sabotage
everybody,

he didn't take anything
I needed, it's all right there.

He didn't get the cherries.

There they are,
so I just gather up what I need.

I come out with three things
in my basket and I'm done.

It ain't bad enough to come
in third place, sad,

but they ain't left me
[bleep].

I'm really grasping straws
at this point.

I got to get whatever I cans.

I get a few bananas,
some maple syrup, some pecans,

and I don't at this point have
a clue what the hell

I'm gonna do with them,

but it's what I got,
so I'll make something.

I don't know what
it'll be just yet,

but I'll come up with something.

Narrator: Coming up...

-I'm trying to flavor.
-Well, you need to.

Narrator:
...The recipes get heated...

Digger: I'm just worried about
making enough to beat you.

Narrator:
...And paranoia boils over.

All of a sudden,
I can't smell anything,

and then mark, he's like,
"I got the same symptoms."

narrator:
Three of america's best
moonshiners are competing

for the ultimate
bragging rights...

Finally, something's
coming out.

...And $1,000 side bet.

Gonna be the easiest $1,000
I ever made.

Narrator: After the initial run
of the house corn mash,

tim smith won first pick of the
pantry for the next flavor run.

They ain't
left me [bleep].

I'm in it to win it.

I'm really grasping straws
at this point.

All right, y'all have one hour
to make y'all flavors,

starting now.

Narrator:
Moonshiners are forced to
improvise their techniques

when operating
in the backwoods.

For this challenge, the shiners
must flavor the liquor

they collected
in the first round

without the use of a still.

Mark:
It's bad enough for me to come
in third,

tim got every ingredient
in the pantry.

Tim: Hey, you got to do
what you got to do.

First come, first served
is what they told me.

Didn't have enough faith
in winning on your own.

Narrator:
The resulting shine will be
judged by the public

along with the moonshiner's
own signature recipes.

Digger: Ain't making but a quart
of liquor, tim, hellfire.

-I'm trying to flavor though.
-You need to.

Mark: Maybe you need all that
then to flavor that jar up.

I'm making my top secret recipe
that I learned from my dad,

and the base is horehound.

Horehound's probably one of
the oldest old-fashioned candies

that you ever see out.

So I'm using straight moonshine,
no water,

but I'm using a container
to heat my jar with inside.

You can see the color's
already changing already.

Digger, what
are you making?

I'm making the finest liquor

you've ever had
the opportunity to taste.

We're cooking up our syrups
to use for our flavors,

and all I needed
was a steeping bag.

My cherries,
I pulled the stems off

so they don't give
any bitterness to it.

Put a little pectin in there

that I had to help break down
the fibers in those cherries.

And I'll steep them,
and the other stuff,

I'm not gonna tell you about.

I just knew it. That digger
liked those cherries.

I should've
grabbed those cherries,

and then he would've been lost.

Digger: Look at that
purty bloody color.

Mark: I'm gonna make what I hope
will be a maple, banana,

pecan pancake liquor.

I simply chop up some bananas,

dice up some pecans,
put my maple syrup in it,

a little bit of water
to thin it down,

and start simmering it
real slow.

Squeeze out the renderings
and see what I've got.

You never had nothing
like this before.

Hope nobody catches me do it
because next thing I know,

they're gonna know
the recipe.

Tim:
I use some different techniques
to the other guys.

They put everything in a pot
and cook it up like some soup.

Hey, I put my jar
in the middle

and I melted down
my candies in there,

and then I did the apples
and stuff on the side.

Because you want to use that
to water it down with,

and that adds
a taste profile to it.

Oh, man, look at that run off
that blade right there.

Boys, I don't know what
I'm making here,

but it smells
goosey pud.

Look at that stuff
distilling right there.

Look at that, hmm? Look at that.
-Look at it, what?

You ain't never seen
nothing like that, huh?

That's open jar distilling.
Smell that.

I can smell what tim's
putting down over there,

and it don't smell good.

Whoo-wee!

I can smell what mark's
putting down over there

and I can smell it, and it
smells like breakfast cooking.

It smelled like pancakes
fixing to hit the table.

Whoo, satan, get away
from my door.

Tickle: What you got going on
over here, digger?

This is what,

secret proprietary
ingredients?

Yeah.

Yeah, wouldn't even
tell your mama, would you?

Nope.

No, well, I can understand
how that goes.

Course it'd be
kind of tough,

you know, her being dead
and everything.

Oh, well, well, that's
the safest one to tell, then.

Fellers, good luck.
Y'all have 5 minutes left.

-Oh, hell.
-All right?

Tim: Hell, I'm about
done anyway.

I don't smell anything
y'all cooking.

I can't smell anything for
all this good I got over here.

All I'm smelling
is this right here.

Damn, boys,
I wanted to beat you,

but I didn't want
to beat you this bad.

♪

I'm done.

Well, I knew that before
you ever got started.

This [bleep] right here is
the recipe that stopped

the damn
hatfield-mccoy feud.

-Stop it.
-Stopped it.

I'm bringing an old
fashioned recipe.

I would like to call it
daddy's whole ham delight.

This is the winning jar,
no doubt.

So I just made the best
of a bad situation,

and I call it maple, banana,
pecan pancake.

I like it a lot.

Look at that.
It's beautiful, it's red.

This has probably stopped
more divorces

than anything in east tennessee.
It's love juice.

You get ahold of it,
I don't give a damn

who you're mad at.
Tim, I love you.

[ laughter ]

oh, my god.

All right, fellers,
are you guys done here?

Yeah, I got the winning jar
right here.

Well, I guess
we'll see about that.

Tickle: All right, fellas.
It has come down to this.

Right there's the winning jar,
stevie ray tickle.

It's what I had to work with
on the spur of the moment.

I'm happy with it.

I have to say, that ain't bad,
right yonder.

That smells like
the pancake pantry.

Tim:
Mark's tastes pretty sweet.

It's got
some "alchy-hol."

tim:
You added some kind of syrup
to it, didn't you?

Maple banana,
with pecan.

Digger:
There was 900 little cherries
give up their all for that jar.

Pretty good right there.

But it ain't a very pretty jar
of liquor though, is it?

Tickle: That doesn't mean
that it ain't good.

Tastes a little bit red
on my tongue.

Tickle: Digger, I hate
to tell you this.

It reminds me a whole lot
of a cough syrup.

Tastes like some koolaid.

I don't give a [bleep]
what anybody calls it.

I know when I make it,
I can't keep it.

It goes too fast.

Now, y'all done got
all that out of the way,

let's taste the real stuff
right here.

Daddy's horehound delight.

Whoa. Damn.

Digger: They call it
horehound for a reason.

It looks like a dog that
can't get nobody to love it.

Tim: You ain't never tasted
nothing like that.

-You're right.
-That's the real deal.

It's got bite.

It's got a little bit of bite to
it, but she got a good flavor.

Taste that vanilla
I put in there?

Digger: Can't taste it
for the horehound.

I'd like it better
if it had cooled off good.

I don't like
horehound candies.

It tastes like a damn
buffalo's ass to me.

Well, the way I see it,
they all taste good.

Let the people decide it.

This jar right here
is your flavored run,

and we'll have your run that's
your own signature recipe.

-The last run.
-The last run.

You do what you want to with it.
That is your signature run.

It ain't none of their business
what I'm doing.

Narrator:
The final run...

Digger: I'm just worried about
making enough to beat you.

Narrator:
...Leads to the final straw.

Tim: I mean,
digger's killing us.

He's done sabotaged
his best buddy for 42 years.

You guys done here?

Yeah, I got the winning jar,
right here.

I guess we'll
see about that.

Narrator: Three of the country's
top shiners

are putting their reputations
to the test

to see who can make
the best liquor.

Look at that.

They'll each bring two jars
to the table.

Mark: That's a pretty good jar
of liquor.

Narrator: In the last challenge,
they created a flavored shine.

For the final challenge,
our distillers are crafting

a signature shine
from scratch

to be judged by "moonshiners"
fans in a blind taste test.

[bleep] I can make liquor
in a coffee cup.

But with suspicions
running high,

two of the shiners
are insisting

on mashing in their
original recipes side by side.

I ain't seen nobody offer
no money up yet.

Wait a minute, now. I thought
it was a friendly wager.

You can't win the wager
if you don't win.

I hope so.
I got $1,000 riding on this.

Hell yeah.

Digger:
All I'm using is just plain
old cherry pie filling,

a little bit of sugar just
to boost the alcohol content,

and then an old strain of yeast
we've used for some time now.

I can't be telling
all my secrets,

but this right here helps
the fruit along really good.

It's actually an enzyme
that breaks down

some of the pectins
in the fruit.

That's where your flavor's at.
It's tasty.

You better have brought
your "a" game, tim.

I'm making milkshake
over here.

I don't know
what you talking about.

I don't know what am I doing,
but I tasted this right here,

I thought I'd cheated
on my wife.

We're gonna make
some peach cobbler.

Old fashioned recipe back
from my grandmother, actually.

We always love
eating peach cobbler.

My dad said, "why don't we
turn it into a moonshine?"

peaches, some sugar,
malted barley here.

We're gonna mix it up
with the drill, add my yeast.

40 years been using
the same yeast.

Yeah, you better hope
you got yeast

to stand up
all that sugar in there.

I hope so.

You know we got to have
this done in five days.

That's a lot
to be finishing up.

I'll be done in four.

Digger:
I ain't worried about making
a lot of liquor.

I'm just worried about
making enough to beat you.

Tim: This comes out as good
as that tastes right there,

we're gonna have
something good.

Digger:
[bleep] I've had people drink
this cherry liquor,

and it changed their life.

Tim ain't no competition.
I see what he's doing,

and I know where
it's gonna end,

and it ain't gonna end well.

I need to be worrying
about mark.

I wanted to do mine away
from them

because it ain't none of
their business what I'm doing.

I'm gonna make a mash
to beat these other two farts.

They don't know it yet,
but armageddon is on its way.

I'm gonna try to keep mine
very, very simple.

Very little sugar, a maple base
smash, white ground corn meal.

Not gonna use a lot of it.
It does,

it smells like a pancake.
I hope the good lord,

when I stand in front
of my maker,

he can look at me and say,
"mark, it was really fun

when you beat
digger and tim smith".

Because that would be
the ultimate prize.

Narrator:
Once the yeast is added,
the shiners have only five days

to allow for fermentation
to occur.

If the ingredients are right,

the yeast will consume
the sugars

and starches in the mash,

releasing alcohol
as a byproduct.

If the alcohol levels
in the mash reach 10% to 20%,

the yeast will die off,
and it's ready to distill.

An incomplete fermentation
will result in low proof shine

and affect the final flavor.

Fellas, this is y'all signature
mash, y'all's final run.

What we've got here
is the trophy

that y'all are going
to be playing for.

It's a little baby still.

I believe you two fellers
has got a little side bet

of $1,000
going on right here.

Y'all have 4 hours
to get us a jar

to get out
into the tasting room.

All right?
Your time starts...

Now.

My trophy.

You leave that alone.

-Boy, that smells good.
-Tell you what, digger,

that is definitely
a great tasting mash.

Do you know
what you just did?

-What's that?
-You tasted the winning mash.

♪

just so cold.
Oof.

I'm running an old fashioned
peach cobbler brandy.

I'm running it cold.

It's looking good,
it smells good.

Mark: I'm gonna try it.
Might put fruit in there.

-Thumper.
-Thumper.

Hey, I may put a little
bit in mine, too.

Digger put some cherries
into his thumper, so I thought,

"well, why shouldn't
I just put some peaches in?"

kind of enhance the flavor
just a little bit.

It's competitive,
we're in a contest,

so I don't want to be left out
in the cold here.

♪

♪

the majority of the flavoring
in it is maple and vanilla.

My nose is so stopped up,
I can't even smell my mash.

One thing I feel just a tiny bit
handicapped about today is,

I'm gonna be turning
in a jar of liquor

that I don't have any idea

what it smells like
or tastes like.

I tell you what,
I can taste the maple in there.

It's gonna be
so damn good

you'll have to lay down
to drink it.

Well I tell you what,
I'm looking forward to it.

All right, fellas, 1 hour.

I've made cherry brandy
for 30 years.

My go-to recipe, it's illegal
in seven states.

Is it?

I've got a secret weapon
in my holster.

Tim ain't got a clue
what's coming his way.

You got 5 minutes, fellers.

-5 minutes?
-No, no, no. I'm just kidding.

Y'all still got
plenty of time.

Damn, we got to send
him back to school.

Well, if we got 5 minutes you
know what you got over here?

Three losers.

Have you got liquor?

Digger:
I got wicker.

Ain't nothing wrong with that
except need to run

a little bit out, start getting
into that sweet [bleep].

You got wicker?
-It's coming in by pairing.

Mark got a cold,
he's stopped up.

He can't smell,
he can't taste.

Then I looked over here
and tim's starting to sniffle,

and snot, and whine
about it a little bit.

Tim: All of a sudden
I can't smell anything.

Then mark, he's like,
"I can't smell anything neither.

I can't taste anything."

and I'm like,
"I got the same symptoms."

you got any wicker, tim?

Tim: No, we got
a little pee coming out.

Tim: Both of us are coming down
with the flu symptoms

while we're running a still,

so I'm thinking,
"man, what's wrong with digger?"

he's like, "I'm good.
Nothing's wrong with me."

mark: You're coming
at you, puss.

Digger:
I'm [bleep] like a buffalo.

I'm thinking, "sabotage again."

I mean, he's done rubbed
something off onto mark.

Then mark's done rubbed it
off onto me or something.

It's hard to make those cuts.

I mean, you can't smell it,
you can't taste it.

I mean, what else
you gonna do?

Only thing I can do
is look at it.

I mean digger's killing us.
He's killing both of us.

He's done sabotaged mark,
his best buddy for 42 years.

Tickle:
I hate to tell you all this

but y'all done got
a half hour left now.

-What? Half hour?
-Yes. All right.

-You sure your clock's right?
-I am 100% sure.

♪

I'm just gonna wait
and pull my secret weapon

out when the time comes.

Is this your 19th time
through here?

Narrator: The shiners present
the cream of the crop...

Looks like you got a damn jar
of pepto-bismol.

Tim: It's a kid's drink.

Narrator: ...For a shot
at the trophy, the glory,

and the $1,000 prize.

Y'all voted
for what you liked.

And I reckon everybody liked...

You in here?
Tim?

When I get up here,
I can't find no damn body.

That's a good batch.
It's ready to run, too.

Hey.

Oh, yeah.

I actually found me
a jar of moonshine,

so I didn't find tim,
but hell, a jar of moonshine's

just as good I reckon.
That'll do.

That'll do right there.
Yeah, yeah. That aught to do.

If you can't take it
don't lay it out.

Narrator:
Three of america's most
notorious moonshiners

are finishing a run
of their best signature shines.

[bleep] like a buffalo.

The resulting jars will be
judged by moonshiners' fans

in a blind taste test
to determine once

and for all
whose shine is finest.

That's getting into some tails
come out of that right now,

which is giving me
some good flavor.

Tim: It looks good. Best I can
tell it tastes good

and it smells good.

We both done lost that.
I turn around and I look,

mark and digger's over in
the corner making milkshakes.

Mark: I've got a surprise for
them, so...

-Say, you do?
-Well I think I do.

I got one last trick
up my sleeve.

I brought my cream with me.
I call it winter fest

because it tastes
so much like,

and reminds me of
when I was a kid, snow cream.

I think it's gonna be so good

but I might have plans for it
somewhere down the road.

That [bleep] right there will
cure anything

from itchy ankles
to sore [bleep].

Time to pull
my secret weapon out.

My cherry vanilla cream.
Everybody begs for it.

60% of the moonshine
consumer market is a woman.

You've got probably 20% to 25%

that either have boyfriends
that are trying to impress them,

they're gonna vote their way,
or they got henpecked husbands.

I know where
I'm going with this.

I'm shooting
for that target market.

What are you sick?

Look like you got a damn jar
of pepto-bismol over there.

I mean, no way they're going
to come out with a pepto-bismol

and put it on the table
as moonshine.

Your final run of moonshine?
No way.

Digger:
People might say, "it's not
making true moonshine liquor."

yeah, it is. I start
with the moonshine liquor.

I take it to a higher level

because if you're gonna be
successful in this market,

you're gonna adapt.

I'm not just some dumb
hillbilly moonshiner.

Tim: It's a kid's drink, right?
It's a kid's drink.

If you put it in the freezer
it'll freeze solid.

That's one fresh jar
of peach brandy.

Okay, fellers,
we have one jar in.

Here comes the winning jar
of cherry vanilla sipping cream.

All right.

We're just waiting
on yours, brother.

We're getting down
to the wire now.

You know how brave I am?

I'm bringing you
the winning jar,

and I don't have any idea
what it tastes like.

-All right.
-It is nice and light.

-Snow cream.
-Awww.

Narrator:
For the final judgment,
each distiller

has two jars
in the competition.

Their flavored house shine
and their own special recipe.

Tim smith, mark ramsey,

and digger will be competing
for this trophy still.

We have alcohol a, alcohol b,
and we have alcohol c.

There may be about $1,000 side
bet on this, too.

Narrator: The distiller with
the most votes

after two rounds
of tasting wins

the entire competition
and the $1,000 side bet.

-Y'all enjoying it so far?
-Yes.

A was a distinct flavor.
It was wonderful, smooth.

I didn't like it too much.
Had a little texture to it.

I liked b.
I think it was my favorite.

Really well balanced.
-I tasted cherry and cinnamon.

And those are just really
strong, good flavors.

They were my favorite.

They're enjoying the hell
out of yours.

You might have to have
to give them more sippy cups.

Man:
The nose was really good on it,

so I had some really
great expectations.

The finish was not as great.
It was actually a little chunky.

C, it kind of reminded me a
little bit more about apple pie.

It had like a pop of flavor
at the end.

It's supposed to be 20 people,

so there should be
20 cups over there.

Maybe the damn first two were
so bad they didn't want another.

C was way too strong.

I got a whole thing still left
over there.

Maybe you had more
to start with.

-Somebody's cheating.
-Hell, it's you.

Tim: What you talking about,
I'm standing over here.

All right folks, this next
round that we've got,

without further ado,
let's bring on the moonshine.

A was just kind of mediocre.

Man: It had a nice balance
of sweet and strong,

so it felt sort of like a smoky
mountain christmas to me.

Very easy going down.

Ma'am, is this your 19th time
through here?

-24th.
-24th. Oh, okay.

All right.

B was the one I liked the best.

-You could taste the cherry.
-It was very flavorful.

Man:
Had a little bit of a bitter
finish to it,

which to me was detracting.

It had a smooth taste.
In fact, I'd feed it to a baby.

I thought about my wife,
she'd probably like that a lot.

Digger:
I'm watching them going through,
tasting it.

I'm seeing the big eyes
on the women,

and turn around
and tellin' her husband,

"this is even better."

tickle: Get your votes
in right down here.

God knows I would help you all
out or I can't count later on.

Tickle needs to fill up
some on the a slot.

After you drink 20 that's it,
you don't get no more.

That's enough votes.

Well, hell,
why not, right?

Hell, I believe
I'd vote for that one.

C was like a true moonshine.

A little too strong.

You could tell it definitely
come from the backwoods.

The peach did come through.
It has a good flavor.

Hoo, because you taste it
from your tongue to your tummy.

You know what?
I ain't gonna lie to you,

I'll vote
for that one, too.

-Should have been even.
-Here we go. Calling a foul.

What's that noise again?

I keep hearing
that crying baby again.

It's a foul.

All right, well, hell, I reckon
the only thing left for me to do

is count all this up.

♪

does he know his abcs?

Tim: Hell, he ain't
got to shuffle them.

What comes out
is what comes out.

This one's gonna be a lot
closer than what I was thinking.

You all come up here.

I'm gonna win.
I mean, how else can I lose?

Hey, I'm getting
a new set of tires.

Mark: I'm not scared of either
one of them.

Mark is winning the still.

I'm confident
but I'm not certain.

You all voted
for what you liked.

And I reckon everybody likes
pepto-bismol.

Digger!

[ cheering ]

you know,
I mean, I'm humble.

I don't take anything
for granted.

[ cheering ]

I work hard at this.
I don't think it's easy.

Congratulations,
my brother.

Tim:
I don't know where his recipe
came from,

but, hey, people voted on it,
it was fair.

The old liquor men that I've
known since I was just a kid,

they were always the ones
that were first in line to give.

They helped somebody out
when they were in need.

And we're gonna auction
this off

and give it to the
wounded warrior project.

Amen!

[ cheering ]

I've said it for years,
there's a lot of people

made way more liquor
than I have,

but I'm good at what I do.

Tim smith, he and I've
got $1,000 side bet.

[ laughter ]

I guess I'm gonna have
to go sell my tires.

You made a bet and didn't
have no money on you?

I was planning on winning.

[ laughter ]