[narrator] this time, on moonshiners.
What the hell are we gonna do with milk?
[digger] make whiskey.
I think he's finally snapped.
Whoa! Damn!
It's soured, hatty.
[gags]
I'm not sure of a lot of things when it comes
To making liquor out of milk but I'm gonna figure it out
My favorite time, right here.
Ready to fire these babies up!
Last week, we mashed in henry's sweet mash recipe.
Now, we're ready to roll.
Josh, what in the hell are you doing?
I quit. [bleep] I'm done.
[tickle] it's all right, josh!
[dogs barking]
Holy cow.
There they come. Right down there, jerry.
[mike] what this tells me,
With these dogs coming through here,
Hunters ain't far behind.
Oh, hell. Look up yonder, what we got.
Howdy.
Yeah?
[man] this is how we make the moonshine!
What're you doing, puss?
I'm bringing you a new project.
What do you got?
You ain't gonna like it.
Well, I might. You can't never tell.
No.
I already know the answer to this question,
But we got to try it.
I have 30 gallons...
-Oh, hell. It's cold. -...Of grade a
Milk.
[mark] what the hell are we gonna do with milk?
Make whiskey.
Really? Milk liquor?
Yeah.
If they can make a milk stout,
I can make mash, and make liquor out of it.
What do you mean, a milk stout?
That's a beer that they make.
You know, he looks like he's been
Slapped in church for farting.
I know by the expression on his face
That he ain't really digging it right now.
Where'd you get it at?
Out of a damn cow, einstein.
Larry over at the dairy farm, he had extra milk surplus.
[mark] so you thought, milk liquor?
[digger] if you can get your hands on something that
Fermentable, and you want to experiment with it,
Look my way. I'll take it off your hands.
You're the mash guru.
Hell, if you think it'll ferment, I'm with you.
If they can ferment it in a beer,
We can ferment it in a mash.
Milk liquor! God almighty, what have we evolved?
You know, there's so many things
That you can do with milk.
You can drink it.
You could make butter out of it, by churning it.
And, I'm pretty sure that the lactose,
Which is the sugar that's in milk,
Will ferment.
All righty-roo!
We'll have to put us a burner together.
-We should put-- -we gotta warm up about half of it, I guess.
It got pretty chilly last night.
I'd say, probably about 35 degrees, 40 degrees.
That's not a good, hospitabl environment for yeast,
So we gotta warm it up a little bit,
Get it to 75, 80 degrees. That'll give the yeast
A good environment to start working.
All right, here we go.
[digger] now, when it comes to dairy,
I know which end of the cow to mix,
And I know you milk a heifer and you don't milk a bull.
Beyond that, I'm in the dark.
I've never tried anything like this before,
So it may not work.
Now, all we need to do is get enough
To get the yeast to take off.
[mark] so, that's good?
[digger] I would think.
Here we go!
[mark] whoa!
[digger] I think it would behoove us,
No matter how hot we're gonna get it,
To kind of do a little of this.
What you see down there on the temperature?
[digger] I'm gonna say, yeah, right at 80 degrees.
It's not far from it. It's about 78.
Finger don't lie.
I just dipped out a damn bucket
-Full of... -...Whipped cream!
[mark] look at it!
That's crazy.
Digger, if this ferments, and works,
What in your mind, do you have any idea
What you think it's gonna taste like?
I think it's gonna be buttery.
Smooth.
Milk has got in it everything that I love.
Buttery.
Creamy.
If you could get that
To carry through over into a liquor?
You know, bully for him!
[digger] we'll give it a good healthy dose.
You can't never pitch too much yeast.
I got all the trust in the world in you,
When it comes to yeast.
[digger] we're gonna use wine yeast,
Because a lot of wines are acidic.
They're a lot like milk.
So these yeast, they're propagated
To work in an acid environment.
I'm gonna try real gently, just to pull it to the bottom.
You reckon they've formed enough to work?
[digger] yeah.
All we need now is a little time and cooperation
From the milk man.
[mark] I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed,
Because if it ferments, and it works,
You may be on to something there, man.
I'm gonna go buy you an ice cream cone.
[mark chuckles]
[mike] what you doing?
You doing all right?
Good! What we got to mash in, brother?
-Check this out. -What we got?
Brown sugar!
That is fresh amish-made brown sugar.
Amish-made, huh?
Well, I figured you was gonna get some rye, or something. Some grain, but...
Well, you think about it, we're pushing kind of later
In the season right now, so things are getting
Kind of scarce, I mean, look at...
-Yeah. -...The issue we had finding corn.
Oh, I know it, man. I tell you.
[jerry] I got this at a really good deal.
There's no artificial nothing in that.
Let's see how it tastes.
-[jerry] see? -[mike] mmm! Damn!
You can tell it's very, very fresh,
And very good.
I understand the concept, but that's awful damn bland.
Just, sugar, water, and yeast, you know...
I got something, I want you to try.
And we'll if we can do something similar to it,
But I think it's gonna be something neat,
-And unique to everybody. -So you got some with you, or something?
Yeah. I brought a little bottle with me.
-Why don't you try it? -Jerk it out! Damn, I'm cold. Let's warm up.
Get you a horn of that, and see what you see.
If I like something, I don't mind trying to make it, you know?
[smacks lips]
Whew! Damn!
Well, that's got a damn good taste,
But, boy, it evaporates off the tongue awful fast.
What in the hell proof is that?
That's 160 proof.
160 proof?
Well, this is spiced liquor it evaporates off your tongu
Really, really fast at this high proof,
But it leaves all the flavor behind.
There's so many different flavor notes
Going on in this stuff, and that's what I like about it.
I can't believe this stuff's 160 proof.
You know what I'm picking up on the most?
Some kind of damn sassafrassy,
Or birchy, like.
On my side, I'm getting kind of, more of like,
-A cinnamony, vanilla, nutmeg kind of flavor. -Mmm-hmm.
You know, I don't really know what spices
Are in this spiced liquor, but man, they're amazing.
So I'm thinking we just do it in a clear version,
Instead of a dark version.
You know, how we done our amaretto?
We didn't really go by what amaretto is made out of.
-No. -We kind of done our own thing, you know?
So I'm thinking, we do the same thing with this,
And whatever spices we decide we want to put in it...
-Put any! -...That's entirely up to us.
I think that'll sell good.
[mike] if we can make it 160 proof
And be that damn smooth,
Without burning somebody's guts out,
I can't wait to see it happen.
That's a damn good item, but look,
We ain't got no damn system that would run 160 proof.
The rig that we're running on right now
Won't reach 160 proof,
So me and jerry, we're gonn head on in to the still site
And take a look at this rig
And just come up with something
To give this thing a facelif
'cause the way it sits right now, it's never gonna make it.
You know, I'm thinking, we're gonna have to...
Probably multiple jar rigs,
To get it up to that high a proof.
Plus, I'm thinking, if we're gonna make it a clear...
-Yeah? -...Reintroduce that spice
As it's coming through.
Yeah, we gotta do that. Because we don't want to mix
-Spices and stuff in these wood barrels. -Mmm-mmm.
You know, we had real good luck
When we done our jars on our column?
How it was all going vertical?
[mike] yeah?
What if we just actually replaced this thing here?
-In other words, put like, a small column top up here? -Yeah.
Me and jerry come to the conclusion
We're gonna go back to what we know how to do.
We're gonna incorporate a small jar rig to the still.
It accomplishes higher proof. And, you can add flavors
Into the jars and infuse a high proof alcohol,
As it comes through the jar rig.
We just come right off of here,
And go right up the side of this flue,
And then come off the top, or whatever we do here,
And bring it right down here.
Yep.
We're just gonna build, pretty much a cap jar rig
To set right on top of this barrel still.
This flue will help keep them jars warm.
Keep it truckin' and right on runnin'.
That sounds like
A winner winner chicken dinner to me.
You know, I feel like me and jerry
Can make a lot of money on this,
If we can make it turn out right,
Because, you know, people's wanting
Premium liquor these days,
And they don't mind spending the money.
But it's gotta be good.
We'll probably have to break it up a little bit more as we pour it.
-Yeah. -[grunts]
We can do it.
[dogs barking]
One damn thing for sure, it'll make alcohol.
[dogs barking]
Listen.
[dogs barking]
[jerry] them dogs I hear?
[dogs barking]
Holy cow.
[mike] it's coming off that ridge, right up yonder.
[jerry] it's getting louder.
[dogs barking]
There they come, up yonder, jerry.
[jerry] what the hell. There's a damn gang of 'em!
I'll tell you what, son.
That ain't just any ordinary house dog, there.
It's got something on its neck.
[mike] hunting dog.
[jerry] that son of gun has got gps collars on. Look at that!
Git! Go!
-[barks] -get out of here, dog!
-[barks] -get!
That means the damn hunters will come too, won't they?
[mike] they'll come, too.
They're on one of these damn hills, I can tell you that.
What the [bleep] are we gonna do now?
I'm telling you right now, I don't want to have to
Pay nobody off, again. We can't afford to do that.
I'm tired of it, man.
I mean, they ain't walked in on us yet,
But they could be close by.
[jerry] yeah, and that's what scares me.
Hell, they could be up there in that damn log thing, and sitting there watching us.
We're gonna mash this up, then get the hell out of here.
What this tells me,
With these dogs coming through here, number one,
A bear's been through here.
Number two, these dogs have got gps collars on,
And number three, if there's a bunch of dogs
Running bears in these woods,
The hunters ain't far behind.
Get the hell gone! [exhales]
[barking]
[tickle] what you reckon about it, henry?
[henry] finally, man. Finally!
Get that sweet mash runnin'.
[tickle] I can't wait to see what this stuff tastes like!
It's my favorite time, right here.
I'm ready to fire these babies up!
Last week, we mashed in henry's sweet mash recipe.
Now, we're ready to roll!
She's bitter as hell.
No sizzle to it.
We've been fixin' to make some of the best moonshine
That's ever come out of these woods around here.
Yeah, you gotta get everything stirred up off of the bottom.
Ready to roll?
[tickle] yeah, baby!
That's what I'm talking about!
-[henry] sounds real good. -[tickle] mmm-hmm!
I need some moss, or something!
[chuckles]
Josh, what in the hell are you doing?
[josh] white water rafting.
It don't mind what I'm working on, I...
Somebody's got something to say about it.
-[all chuckling] -it is what it is.
We come down and fire up these stills,
And they're all getting all steamy and hot,
And ready to go, and I get to noticing that
We've had a major rain,
And it's kind of undermined the dam that I built,
So there's no way we're gonna be able to get enough water
To cool this worm.
Not gonna take this long to boil
If we don't have no water.
[tickle] I thought we already had it done.
[josh] well, these guys have been busting my balls
Pretty hard about digging out this creek,
And working on this the whole time,
And I'm not in the mood to hear it.
Never had this much problem with a dam. Never!
What?
I said I ain't never had this much problem with a dam!
I quit.
That's all I'm saying, josh!
I ain't never had this much problem with one of 'em,
But I ain't never put one here, either.
Don't quit.
[bleep] ya, I'm done.
[tickle] it's all right, josh!
If you [bleep] follow me with that camera,
I swear to god, I'm gonna go the [bleep] off on you!
Maybe we took this a little too far.
That's some bull [bleep] right there, bro.
You dig it!
[laughs sarcastically]
You know how it needs to be up here.
You do it! I'm outta here.
They come right on down through there, man,
And the man who owns them dogs
Knows exactly where they're at,
Which path they're taking.
The best thing we can do is, is get out of here.
Let's lay low. We'll get the jar rig built.
That way, we'll be ready to run this run when it's ready.
Oh, hell. Look up yonder what we got.
[bleep]
Damn. Well, that's some hunters, ain't it?
[jerry] that's exactly what that is.
All right, want to just go up there and talk to 'em?
[jerry] what do you think?
I mean, either we just fly by,
Or we stop and talk to 'em, a little.
I think we'll just stop and talk to 'em.
[jerry] all right.
[mike] let's just be real friendly.
That's all we can be, at this point right now.
Yeah.
Howdy, boys!
[mike] good!
Hell, nothing, man. We're just doing what we do.
How about y'all? Y'all having any luck?
Oh, we just...
You know, we got a...
Is it all right if we come on over?
Oh, not much.
[hunter] how're you fellas doin'?
Aw, we're just running the countryside a little bit.
Yeah?
I mean, we couldn't know what kind of place
You're talking about. I don't know.
To be rightfully honest with y'all, that's our setup.
It is. We're just trying to make a living...
[hunter] right.
...And do what we do...
-[hunter] yep. -...To keep, you know, keep an old-time tradition alive,
Make a little money,
And make a little liquor. That's what we like to do.
I'd say we are.
-[hunter] yeah. -[all chuckling]
You got plenty of good, cold water.
-That's important, you know. -Yeah.
We'll be thankful if y'all just kind of...
[mike] right on.
We knew, deep down,
We'd have this conversation with somebody.
We're gonna...
We're gonna run liquor till the day we die
One way or another. Y'all seem like nice guys,
And y'all like to hunt, and I love to hunt,
And I like to make a little liquor.
-We'll slip you a jar or two. -[hunter] huh.
How does that sound?
[hunter] that sounds good.
-Hey, I appreciate you guys. -[hunter] same at you.
[mike] you know, these bear hunters,
They know what we up to.
They've been to the still site.
If they wanted to take us down, they very well could.
We just want to encourage them to keep their promise.
We're gonna give 'em a jug of liquor,
Um, even though they said
They wouldn't say nothing at all, anyway.
[jerry] relatively
Not what I was expecting.
You know, me neither, but I'm glad it went over
The way it did. [chuckles]
[jerry] heck, yeah.
Tickle... Tickle, don't. Leave it.
Just leave... Just leave the hell alone.
You don't know what you're doin'? I don't know what I'm doin'.
Yeah, he, he had put a whole lot of work in this thing.
He knows how you had it laid out.
He knows where everything goes.
-[tickle] well... -Just had a little
Bad luck with that storm.
You know this thing got washed out
And then josh thought that it was his fault, but..
It's not his fault.
He's got to understand when you're on a creek like this
Anytime it comes up a storm
This is going to happen.
This is part of it.
You've got the good, you've got the bad.
Just so happen
We got the bad with it.
We've got to get this fixed before we can cap the stills
If we cap the stills we've got nothing to condense it with.
So we've got a little bit of a problem.
You know josh has been working with us a couple of years now,
And I think he's done great
You know he's a whole lot calmer
Than most people told me he was
Until today.
That branch worm it got the best of him.
[tickle sighs]
Oh, no, he didn't go too far.
-[kenny] josh, come, come... -We don't know
What the hell's going on with this thing.
Come here a minute, let me talk to you a minute.
You know, you couldn't help it the storm coming through.
And, you know, you run off like that now
What are we supposed to do?
I swear... Listen,
I wasn't... I'm not angry at you in any way.
All right.
[josh] yeah, I got aggravated and I was heading down...
Down here dealing with this [bleep]
Worm again I [bleep] put all that work into it.
[henry] so let's get 'er done.
[kenny] you done good getting a fix for it.
I just needed a minute to cool down.
I knew I was the only one who's gonna get that
That worm put in,
And put in right without having a bunch of headache.
I had to come back.
I couldn't leave my guys holding the bag.
It's looking good far as the water level.
We got the dam built.
We got the worm in.
It requires a little bit of maintenance.
Just part of making moonshine.
[tickle] well, you know, it's the nature of a dam
When you, when you, you get a rainstorm.
You're lucky if somethin'
Don't mess up.
It probably wasn't about
15 minutes...
About right?
...And josh had this
Whole dam working.
Our worm covered up
And now he's waiting on us to get
These pots boiling.
Now there's been
A few moonshiners out there
That's run a single branch worm,
And that's hard enough to get right.
But a double branch worm is extremely difficult
To get everything running.
So there's a lot riding on this.
Can you look, josh? How's that one?
Ooh, yeah.
She's getting hot over here.
I'll should be getting some liquor then.
[tickle] come on, come on.
This thing's down to the worm so...
-[tickle] down to the worm. -All we gotta do is just wait a second so...
All right.
Oh, whoa, whoa.
We got, we got liquor y'all.
-[tickle] she's running. -[henry] yeah.
-[tickle] I'll be dogged. -[henry] she's here.
I see that darn liquor come out of those two worms
And I could even
Smell it before I even get down to it.
This is sweet mash,
And it just takes your breath.
It's amazing the smell.
-Yeah. -That's gonna be some fire-ass [bleep] right there y'all.
[tickle] we've got this pot running,
Josh is catching buckets,
Henry's proofing,
And I'll tell you things are working as smooth as
Silk right now.
Now, you won't have no trouble getting rid of that.
-Mmm. -[henry] sweet mash, baby.
[tickle] yes, sir.
When we taste this stuff
It has got a flavor,
Like, you wouldn't believe.
You can taste this malt in there,
You can taste corn,
And they meld together so good
That this is really an unbelievable one-of-a-kind liquor.
Don't hit that too hard.
-That's mine. -It has to be a long way
To carry your ass up that hill.
Never mind carrying it up that hill, we need to hook this pump up,
-And pump it up the hill. -Yeah, we'll pump that on up there.
[tickle] now it is time for.
I really think the most ingenious
Part of this still site.
We're gonna pump this stuff
Back up the hill to the hous
-[walkie beeps] -y'all got the pump hooked up and ready to go?
[walkie beeps]
Yes, sir, just waitin' on you to holler.
We're gonna fire it up right now.
-Holler. -[walkie beeps]
[tickle] now you ready?
[liquor running]
[tickle] there she goes, she's a hummin'.
[josh] hell yeah.
-Damn, bro. -Yeah, I'm gonna--
Boy, I'm telling you right now.
-Heck, yeah. -[henry] pump's doing its job right, ain't it?
[josh] yeah, it is pumping good.
I'm tellin' you.
Well this plan is finally coming together.
I told the guys,
"take your time, we get all this in. It's gonna pay off."
All right, fellers,
We, we done about sucked this barrel dry down here.
[henry] but now, there's no driving
Down that 300 feet
To pick that liquor up.
We got everything right there in that little building.
Everything is working
Perfect from right down where we at.
Right, slick operation you all rigged up, up here.
It's working good that's for sure.
That just for doggone sure.
Well it beats carrying it
Up that damn hill.
[josh] I don't walk
Up that damn hill without toting anything.
[tickle] well, you're right about that.
[mark] gosh, almighty. Do you smell that there?
[digger] did you fart?
No, I didn't fart.
You know, we hit the top of the stairs
You smell it.
Yeah, it's not good.
[mark] we got a dead rat or somethin'.
[mark] well, I got a sneakin' feeling what it is.
Whoa! Damn!
-[coughs] -it's soured, hatty.
[gags]
[digger] stinks a little bit, don't it?
God, look at it.
It looks it damn squeezed out of
A zit off of jolly green giant's nose.
-Taste that. -[gags]
You know how I am with damn stinky stuff.
[mark] so much for making liquor
Out of damn milk.
What are you doing?
Seeing if there's any alcohol.
What if it started fermenting or not and just quit.
It started rottin' and kept it up.
Well, there's cottage cheese in there.
Well, you know, even despite the smell,
I mean, I've got to check I and see
If there was any alcohol production
And there ain't the one way to do that,
That's to taste it.
You the craziest son a bitch I know.
Oh, my god.
Kind of tastes like sour cream.
Was there any alcohol in it?
Absolutely none.
[mark] you can't make liquor with milk.
I tried to tell you.
Well, this just my first try.
I don't know if we can fix this.
[digger] I don't think we can.
You know, a lot of times
People get a little defeat in their eyes, they want to give up.
Yeah, I just want to dig a little deeper.
With you or without you, I'm goin' to do it.
Plain and simple.
All right, okay, tell me what you want to do.
I don't know yet, I'm gonna call rader.
Rader don't know nothing about making milk liquor.
No, but he knows about milk.
He's milked more cows than we've seen.
Well, yeah, he might know that,
But I promise you that making liquor out of milk ain't never entered his mind.
[digger] it's high time it did.
[cell phone ringing]
I do know a guy that milked
A lot of cows in his time and his dad run a milk route,
That's jb rader.
[jb rader on phone] hello?
Hey, rader.
[jb] yeah.
What are you doin'?
[jb] sittin' here. How are you?
Well, we is experimenting a little bit.
I want your input on somethin'.
Won't you come on down here and help us a minute.
-We're down here at the little hardware store. -[jb] all right.
Okay, I'll be right there.
-All right, brother. I appreciate you. -[jb] all right.
-Okay, bye. -Bye.
That's better just to get him here.
Yeah, so he can enjoy this damn
Pretty smell.
Well I don't want him to miss out on it either, do you?
Well, there's one thing I'll always say about a failure.
It'll make me go back and study my books a little further.
It's awful to say, but I don't know if I'm getting used to it,
Or it's numbed everything
In my damn nose.
Maybe you're ready to take a little drink.
No, I ain't ready to take a little drink of it. Uh-uh.
[digger laughs]
[jb] now I walk in.
Oh, god. What the hell's going on?
Tell us what you smell, jb.
[jb] damn.
You know, I'm not sure of a lot of things when it comes to
Making liquor and beer out of milk,
But I am sure that we're no
Too proud to say that we've been whooped
And we ain't ashamed
To call somebody that might know a little more than we do.
[mark] it's rotten ain't it, jb?
[jb speaking]
-[digger] nope, we didn't take nothing out. -[jb chuckles]
We just took raw milk heat it up,
Pitch the yeast, walked on.
-It rotted before it could ferment. -Yeah.
[digger] hmm...
So according to jb I should get
The fat out of the liquid
Then there's nothing in there to really rot.
You know how to get these curds
Out of this milk?
Okay.
-I know. -That makes sense.
[mark] if this solves the rotten problem
-We still don't know... If it'll ferment. -[jb] if it'll ferment.
[digger] if you think about it, jb.
Do you think if we can get it down to whey
That we can make it ferment?
Oh, yeah.
The whey's still got
-Sugar in it. -Oh, yeah.
Okay.
[digger] I've done some research
We can use some lactase,
Which breaks down
-The lactose. -The lactose. Yeah.
[digger] that's goin' to break it down
-And make it more fermentable. -[jb] make it more--
More friendly for the yeast.
Yeah.
[digger] well, jb, you're lactose intolerant.
-Didn't they give you a pill for that? -Mmm-hmm.
That lactose intolerant pill
Is lactase.
You got any of them with you?
No, I ain't got none with me.
You have to go to the drugstore.
-Get a big bunch of 'em. -[jb] yeah.
I've done a little bit of reading.
What I found is that
The lactose and it's a totally different structured sugar
Than cane sugar.
This lactose you got to get
Where the yeast can eat it.
So we need to add lactase.
These pills that jb takes
Is exactly what we need.
It's an enzyme just like amylase.
Let's go get some milk,
Then we'll come back in the morning
-And get back with it. -[sighs]
All right, here we go.
You drive and I'll provide the engine.
[jerry] I got a few pieces of scrap cover here
If you want to go ahead and start laying out
For some caps to go on there.
Well then.
Yeah, you know, me and jerr
We're working on some over proof
Spiced liquor.
We've got to fabricate
A jar rig onto our still pipe
To make the proof up higher.
I would say just a little bit
Bigger than those.
[mike] yeah, I reckon.
This is a mini column
Of six small jars
For them to us as flavor for the spices for the run.
Every time the stain
In the alcohol flows through one of these jars
It's gonna re-distill
And up that proof just a little bit more through each and every jar.
[jerry] you know, I think we hit this 160 proof and stuff,
I think we have
A good chance of making a lot of money with it.
I do too.
[jerry] pirates used to drink that real high proof stuff.
[mike] we got a lot of folks in the world
That still think they're pirates.
[jerry] yeah, that's for a fact.
[mike] gets soldered in here.
-[jerry] mmm-hmm. -[mike] that's what I said, soldered.
Yeah, that's how we want this spot here. I didn't like how it looked.
So I'll fix it.
That's more gooder.
-More gutter? -Yeah.
That does burn it up, didn't it?
It's actually a little something for you.
-[mike] look at that. -For your little graduation cap.
-Oh, how-- -[jerry] I skilled you
For so many years it's time for you to graduate.
[mike] I heard that.
You know, I've been messing with jar rigs for years.
You know, and I've seen how efficient
These things was...
So this is a face lift
So to speak to this rig that we've been running.
And that to go in yonder.
[jerry] that's probably gonna be one of our smaller jar rigs we ever built, huh?
[mike] I'd say so.
[jerry] hold the jar if you will. There you go.
We're goin' to replace the existing cap
To set this jar rig on top.
That way we can even take it off
When we don't need it and just run the still the way we usually do,
Or we can just throw it back in place when we have an order
For a higher proof type of
Flavored alcohol that we need to run.
It's no end in sight
When it, you know, comes to the possibilities
Of building stuff to make your proof even higher.
Well, all we got left to do now
Is get this sucker to the woods, grab some spices.
Stick 'em in, hook the arm up to the condenser.
-[jerry] and we're off to the races. -We're gold, son.
-[jerry] kinda looks familia don't it? -[mike] yeah.
[henry] must be sleepin' in this morning.
[kenny] must be layin' on in
[tickle] here he comes.
Hot dog.
-So how's it goin' this morning? -[josh] how are y'all?
-[kenny] what's goin' on, josh? -Good, you got company?
-Nah. -Yeah, is your ghost up there?
[josh] I don't believe in ghosts.
[tickle] but what if they believe in you?
[laughs] you ever think
It might work that way?
[josh] hey, I got a problem.
We've been so busy doing our thing up here,
I been totally neglecting everything that I've worked for back home.
I'm about to lose a customer if I don't fill an order.
I got a customer that's in dire straits
For some liquor right now and I haven't been able to get it to him.
He's wanting
25 gallons right now on the asap.
That's a lot of money just to...
Whew.
You don't want to lose that customer.
You know I can think of a whole lot worse problems to have
Than having more liquor sales, man.
It's an all malt to mash.
That's what he prefers.
We got a recipe for that.
We got plenty of pots. Why don't we bring another one in down here?
We can mash that malt in,
Gravity feed it right down to the still,
And when it's ready to roll put a fire under it.
Being as we've already got grains in these other two stills
We're gonna bring in another pot
To make this special run for josh.
This is a customer
That we don't want to lose.
Josh is part of our team
So we're gonna help him out.
-All right, here's a place to do it. -[kenny] that's it.
All right then.
Pay day, baby.
[kenny] yes, sir.
[tickle] I tell you what, it does
Me good to see henry swing that mattock.
[henry] it does me even better.
If a man's gonna be putting still sites together
He better not be no stranger to a mattock and a shovel.
Well, you right about that.
When we run off
Our sweet mash
And we come back this mornin
So we can
Mash in our malted barley mash bill.
Being as we've already got grains
In these other two stills
We're gonna bring in a smaller pot.
We're building us a furnace for this still
Just like we did the other ones.
-Yeah, get it below the line. -[josh] there we go.
[tickle] this thing it really just needs
To be functional,
But with josh doing it
It's not only goin' to be functional
It's gonna look the best that it
Possibly can be.
Come on, baby.
-[tickle] oh, yeah. -What I'm talkin' about.
[kenny] that sound good, don't it?
[josh] and it looks good.
[tickle] I like it.
Looks real good.
[henry] let's get the pump hooked up.
Pump it out and get to the top of the hill
So we can get this stuff mashed in.
We don't have much time.
I reckon I walk up that darn hill.
You don't want to mash in
A malt mash bill
Right in your pot.
What'll happen
Is you'll end up scorchin' this stuff.
So to do a malt mash bill
We have to mash this stuff
In a tote.
We've got to heat the water up,
Pump it back up the hill,
And then we can
Mash in,
And when it's ready we'll gravity feed it right back down,
And we'll run this thing.
What's it look like, tickle?
Uh, it look like, we're about where we need to mash in.
I think it's perfect.
[kenny] that's goin' to be mighty close.
Let's get on with it
'cause it's gonna chill out if we don't.
Right here, tickle.
I want you to beat it in while I sift it in.
Sweet malt, baby.
[henry] so josh this is a 100% malted barley.
The whole trick to it is
Just cookin' this baby in right.
You have a whole lot of mash bills when it comes to making moonshine
And one of probably the rarest ones
Is 100%
Malted barley mash bill.
And the whole key of it in the next three days...
We're not gonna be here, and since you live here,
This is your babe. You've got to
-Keep and eye on it and make sure it's warm. -You got to rub it
-And talk to it. -Rub it, talk to it.
[josh] man, you goin' make us a lot of money.
[all laughing]
Ready to load these jars up, jerry?
[jerry] I'm ready to do it to it.
[mike] we got our spices here.
Today, me and jerry are going to try to make
Our over-proof spiced liquor
160 proof alcohol is hard to drink by itself.
You have to put a good bit of these spices in there, jerry.
Your hat comes of a jar rig
It's goin' to be good.
[mike] me and jerry just got finished building our jar rig
To keep that proof real high.
Gonna be able to transfer those spices
And flavors over into our liquor.
-Oranges. -[jerry] oranges.
[mike] good old ginger root.
Normally we wouldn't sell a 160 proof,
But a lot of people like a real
High proof spiced liquor.
Just a little bit of each spice goes a long way
And at the end you have a really
Good flavorful alcohol.
So that's gonna be flavor town
Down usa right there.
With all the spices
Being incorporated into this,
I believe people will buy I
And be able to enjoy it
No matter how high
That proof is.
Oh, look at that teamwork, son.
Look at that.
[jerry] let's get this pumped over, and get us a little heat going.
[mike] I need you to pull on that
Like you ain't never did before now.
[jerry] she's rolling.
[mike] damn, jerry, that's good, boy.
-[whistles] whew. -[jerry] yeah, good flavor to it, don't it?
Whoo, shoot, yeah.
Yeah, I'm glad we got this
Damn water powered fan in here
To work it good.
It won't be long now.
We got little bubbles.
[jerry] you got a little bubble action getting some sweat in here.
Look at it, starting to cry down the sides right there.
[mike] sure is.
[jerry] did you see the flavors in here just dancin' around?
They are. They are mixing.
Just get her to climb on up.
You know, there's six jars
Incorporated with this jar r
And watching this jar rig ru
And sweat, and condense it's like the first time every time, man.
We are fixing to have some spiced liquor
Come out of this worm.
I can't wait.
It's goin' be nutmeg-y,
Vanilla-y,
Peppercorn-y and ginger root-y.
With a little orange citrus to it.
With a little orange in it.
She's in the water.
[in sing-song voice] she's in the water.
-[mike singing] -[jerry] won't be long now.
There she comes.
[mike] all right. Ah.
[jerry] and there it is.
[mike] our main goal is it to be 160 proof
So we need our heads
To be pretty damn high
So we can maintain that
160 proof throughout the run
That's where we got to stop at
To keep this, uh, this spiced liquor
At 160 proof for selling.
Dump 'em out, boy.
You ready? See what we got.
Whoo, girl.
[mike] holy damn, about 171.
-[jerry] I'll take that. -That's pretty good.
[mike] alright.
[jerry] is that pretty?
I love the fact that it's clear.
-[gasps] -[jerry] people is gonna eat that up.
Still hold that good flavor?
That'll evaporate off your tongue in a damn hurry,
And them flavors is coming through there like no other.
She's warm. [laughs]
She's warm. That's...
[mike] that'll warm your damn guts up, won't it?
[jerry] flavors are so strong as that stuff dissolves.
It's just right.
[jerry] and it's clear, I love it.
[mike] it's nice.
Yeah, you know, it's just taken a lot
For me and jerry to get to this point of running this stuff.
The dogs come in on us, we run into the damn hunters, but it's well worth it.
This stuff is on damn point, son. I think we've hit it, man.
I think we've got some of the best alcohol we've ever run here.
[jerry] get the heck out of here
And go see if we can find some hunters.
[mike] yep, go get them boys took care of.
Try to get us something sold
[digger exclaims]
-[mark] hey, jb. -[jb] yeah.
[mark] you gonna learn us how to damn separate curds and whey today?
[jb] oh, yeah.
[digger] well, we've got some obstacles
We have to overcome with this milk situation.
The milk rotted, and it didn't produce any alcohol.
Jb said you gotta take the milk solids out.
Makes sense, protein and fat rot.
Boys, I'm gonna figure it out
-If it's the last thing I do. -[jb] ah, yeah, yeah...
At first, this was a non-cost experiment,
Just the cost of our time, and a little bit of propane, and some yeast.
But now, it's... It's hitting us in the pocket book.
Four dollars a gallon, damn, milk's getting as high as gasoline.
[mark] hopefully, we don't rot the milk this time.
Well, we get the curds and the wheys separated, it won't.
Mamma'd add a half cup of vinegar
To a gallon of milk to separate it.
Adding an acid to the milk itself
Causes the fat and the proteins to congeal and, uh, coagulate,
And make the curds that the cheese are made out of.
Show me how, rader.
Yeah, you just pour it in there.
Yeah, slowly now. Don't want to shock it.
That just don't seem right, pouring vinegar in milk, does it?
-No. -No, it don't. [laughs]
Well, how about that [bleep],
I am seeing something come together there though.
-[mark] that's crazy. -[digger] ain't it?
Almost immediately, we see little chunks
Of curds beginning to form on the surface.
-Look at there. -[jb] there we go.
-[digger] cottage cheese. -[jb] you damn right.
[mark] I mean, instantly.
-[jb] yep. -[mark] right there's what rotted.
[jb] you damn right.
-We can use some of them pills jb keeps... -Yep.
...To keep him from turning into chocolate fountain...
-Hell yeah. -...When he drinks milk,
And that'll break it down a little bit further,
-Make it more friendly for the yeast. -[jb] yeast, right.
Okay.
[digger] as it's getting thicker and thicker,
I strained it off, put it in cheese cloth
To catch more of the whey out of the cheese.
And squeezing that cheese cloth,
And the actual liquid that's coming out of it is yellow.
So that's showing us that that's the butter.
It's still suspended in there, we didn't churn it out.
Probably gonna give us a little more flavor too at the end
If we can get it to ferment.
Here's what we end up with.
That looks like chicken broth.
[jb] does, don't it?
It's kind of an amber, yellow, gold color,
Milky, just a little bit of tinge of milk in it.
I do know there's sugar in this whey.
Now, we're gonna take some of these pills
That jb has to take so he can eat dairy
And crush them up and put them in the blend
To further break down that lactose.
Now, the yeast will get in there.
We'll let it still till it kinda swells up and starts breaking up.
Now, that's the same yeast that we put in that first, right?
Exact same yeast we used.
You know, maybe we're going in the right direction.
I don't know, won't know till it's all said and done,
But, uh, hopefully, we're gonna make a little alcohol out of milk.
Basically, what I'm gonna do here,
I'm just gonna make a little airlock.
[jb] oh, yeah.
If it does what it's supposed to,
That co2 will blow these bags up.
[mark] you know, now, it's just a matter of waiting and see.
We'll come back and check it tomorrow, just for giggles.
[jb] hell yeah.
[mark] milk liquor, damn.
[jb laughing]
[henry] come here, let me show y'all something.
[tickle] all right, what we got over here?
-[henry] check out my jukebox. -[tickle] jukebox?
Yeah, check this baby out.
Come right here, now watch.
Bam. Picks it up, puts it on.
[tickle] that... There you go!
-[music playing] -[laughing]
There you go.
[tickle] when it hits, you gotta go to dancing.
Ah, check it out now! Look at it, doggie.
[henry] that's right, come here, hoss.
[tickle] that's right, there you go!
[henry] swing around!
-[henry] he's had too much to drink. -[tickle laughing]
-[henry] it's the day we're lookin' for. -[tickle] yes, sir.
-[henry] pay day, baby. -[tickle] yes, sir.
[tickle] all right.
Today, we're gonna run this malted barley run.
We're gonna pump this stuff down,
And we're gonna heat this still up,
And we'll have liquor coming out of there in no time.
She's good and bitter.
All right, you can send her on down
Whenever you ready there, boss man.
[josh] 10-4, I'm cutting it on now.
[tickle] this malted barley recipe that we're making,
This is one of henry's recipes.
It's a sweet liquor, and it's also very high proof.
Looks like that's about there right yonder, don't it?
[henry] about it, let's get the fire under her
Let's roll on with it.
When you malt these grains, it completely changes their flavor.
It's a whole lot different than a regular barley liquor
And I tell you, josh's customer should be happy.
Getting hot on us.
Ain't gonna be no time, she's gonna be ready to roll.
[kenny] yeah, she's ready to cap.
[henry] you know, we ran a sweet mash last week.
This first run right here,
A lot of people would much rather have a first run than a sweet mash,
-Wouldn't they, kenny? -[kenny] oh, yeah. Whole lot of people...
So we always had, like, two or three different clientele for it.
[kenny] yeah.
[henry] this takes a little bit of that grain taste off of it.
Does that make it a little less harsh.
Not harsh, there's nothing harsh about our liquor, period.
What do you mean harsh?
I'm just saying like...
I'm asking a question.
Harsh, did you hear that?
I heard it.
He said something about harsh.
Alcohol's harsh, I don't give a damn how you...
[pretending to choke]
[all laughing]
I think we got liquor running, hoss.
[kenny] yeah, they running good and hollow.
-Hell yeah. -That's a first run, man.
[josh] that baby's running good too.
That's damn good.
[sighs] man, that's gonna be good good.
That's what we need to call that,
"good good".
Get some good good.
Okay, never mind. [laughs]
I never named any of my liquor before like that, them crazy names.
Good good, he's hollering.
We got a new name for it, josh just named it.
-[tickle] uh-oh, what is it? What did he name it? -Good good.
-[kenny] good what? -[josh] some of that good good!
-[tickle] good good. -Good good.
Well, I can't say I disagree 100%...
-What's that? -...It's good.
Main thing is let's get it out out before we get caught caught.
-[henry] hold up. -[all laughing]
This is a day right here that every moonshiner looks for.
Still's run, and everybody's starting to feel a whole lot of relief.
Call your man, get that liquor on down to him.
Next week, we'll make another run.
[josh] you ain't gotta tell me but one time, that means time to roll.
It's good good!
-[josh laughing] -[henry] that's a bad bad name.
[mark] let's see what we got.
Heck far.
[digger] my god, it's a working like mad.
Initially walking in, we can see
That the little baggy is inflated.
[digger] give her a snort.
[mark] it's got a little alcohol, it's still a making it though.
[digger] boy, it does, don't it?
We take the bag off, and get down there and smell,
And yeah, it's evident there's alcohol in here.
It's not strong, there's not a lot of it,
But there's alcohol going on in here.
Now, we just gotta upscale it.
Yeah, I can't... I don't think we can separate
No 50 or 100 gallons of curd from whey.
-We can't get... -No, that's what I'm thinking,
We need to go to a cheese making place where they make a lot of it.
You know, this is just a little small experiment.
If we're gonna do any good, we need to go find a place that needs rid of some whey.
Whey is a byproduct at creameries, they don't do nothing with it,
-But feed it to the cows... -Cast off.
-...Or put it on their fields. -Yep.
Well, if we can get some of that for nothing...
I say we go get busy and look for and find us one.
-Okay. -Let's get with this.
Now that we know that we can get whey to ferment,
Now, we want to move on, see if we can get a larger quantity of it free.
It's a byproduct, people need rid of it.
We don't care to dispose of it.
I mean, if they say no, we ain't lost nothing.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
We'll buy us some cheese while we're there.
That's right, but if they say yeah, then we may have a plan.
Let's go.
All right.
[digger] let's go on the hunt.
[mark] you are the man.