This is a very special day.
You're all veterans. You're all distillers.
This is the Armed Forces Face Off.
As a fellow veteran,
I welcome you to Master Distiller.
I am very honored to be part of it.
Served in the United States Army for six years,
39 months being overseas.
Fresh out of high school,
I wanted to do something, get a job.
I found out it was exciting part of life.
You know, it was adventure sometimes.
It was scary sometimes.
But it was also fun sometimes.
All right then, first and foremost,
I want to thank y'all for your service.
Now, that being said,
y'all are here to make us your specialty liquor.
At the end of this competition,
we're gonna crown one of you all the next Master Distiller.
Along with the bragging rights,
you get a limited run of your liquor
at a major distillery.
[Mark] You guys served in different parts of the world,
and ain't no doubt in my mind
this is gonna be three different types of spirits.
And I can't wait to taste them.
[narrator] Armed forces and alcohol have been paired in battle
for over 2,000 years.
Beer, wine, and distilled spirits
not only provided troops with liquid courage.
They were used to treat a variety of ailments
and safer to drink than the local water.
In America,
whiskey was the Continental Army's spirit of choice
during the Revolutionary War.
In 1775, General George Washington started
a 50-year-long tradition
providing each soldier four ounces of whiskey a day,
known as a gill.
Washington would later go on to open one of the biggest distilleries in the country
at his Mount Vernon estate,
becoming the first in a long line
of American servicemen to take up the craft.
While the modern military no longer encourages drinking on active duty,
veteran-made spirits are a growing part of the liquor market,
with many brands donating a portion of their profits
to causes that support their brothers and sisters in arms.
[Tim] Guys, we asked you to bring your favorite liquor from back home.
You're gonna have one hour to mash in and five days to ferment.
But we're not doing it in here. Come with me.
[Digger] Good luck, men.
[drums beating]
[Tim] All right, guys, you're gonna have one hour
to get your mash prepared and in the barrel.
-Everyone understand their orders? -[all] Yes, sir.
Your time starts now.
Show me what you're made out of.
[Matt] Hey, Joe, what kind of corn you got there?
I got malted blue corn.
Hey, man, I ain't never seen no blue corn.
That smells like corn.
Blue corn. You can't tell the color from smelling it?
I got my lucky rucksack with me.
We're gonna head out in the woods here.
My name is Joe Jackson.
I'm 36 years old,
and I'm from Western Pennsylvania.
Where we're at right now,
part of the old Whiskey Rebellion trail.
I was in the Army for five years
in the 82nd Airborne Infantry.
I have my still High and Angry here,
and that's what my soldiers in the military used to call me,
"High and Angry."
It's about a haircut, not about anything illicit.
I did two deployments to Afghanistan.
So, I run an all-copper still setup.
Got an 8-gallon pot and a modular column on the still.
My transferable skills from the military into, like, the distilling world
is whether or not a recipe comes out good or bad the first time,
there's always a next time.
This is my malted blue corn.
Uh, it's good sipping whiskey.
It's a purpose, process, payoff kind of deal.
Have the purpose, nail the process,
then there's a big payoff at the end.
-I was in the 82nd Airborne Division. -[Tim] Okay.
-Fort Bragg? -[Joe] Fort Bragg.
I crashed in a Black Hawk,
and like, all the hydraulic lines burst.
[Tim] And then, you're trying to figure out...
-Where you at. -[Tim] "Am I bleeding,
-or what's going on?" -[laughs] Yeah.
[Tim] And all of the sudden, everything's split.
Exactly. You're covered in all that crud.
Yeah, well, I'm glad you made it.
-Hey, Matt. -Yes, sir.
I see you got 101st on there.
-Is that the last of your station? -Yes, sir.
Screaming Eagle always stands out.
[Matt] I'm Matt Brown.
I'm 39,
and I'm from Springfield, Ohio.
It's a party now.
-How's it going, brother? -Good. What's going on?
All right. You know, just getting ready to do this run here.
I joined the Army back in 2002.
Did a deployment to Iraq,
came back, did a deployment as a civilian.
This is what we do for fun in Ohio.
Hunt, fish, and make fire.
And good liquor.
I've been distilling 10 years now.
See, I don't really have a cool story.
Like, I'm not like, a second, third generation moonshiner.
I think I bought my first still
shortly after I saw an episode with Mark and Digger.
And then, uh, I made bad liquor for about five years.
Eventually, if you do something long enough, you don't suck at it.
What I'm doing right now is starting a family tradition.
There's people that come from Kentucky up here...
-Where? -...to get it.
Oh, I got people coming to get my liquor
from North Carolina, Kentucky.
I ain't gonna mention no names.
When I win the show,
I think I'm gonna go back and open up a distillery.
Can't wait to see your run.
-Thank you, sir. -All right.
Hello, Justin.
You know, your two competitors over here, they're Army guys.
-Yeah. -And I understand you're Navy.
I spent 12 of my 20 years, uh, stationed right near Pearl Harbor.
My name is Justin Rivera.
I'm 39 years old,
and I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
I'm a professional distiller at a local distillery in Hawaii.
Before distilling, my life was a little crazy.
I was in the Navy for 20 years.
In the Navy, I served on everything
from amphibious assault ships
to destroyers and submarines.
So, as I exited the Navy,
I was able to participate
in a program called SkillBridge
where you could leave six months early,
and the government still pays your check,
and you could learn a new trade or skill.
Uh, so literally, the government taught me to make liquor.
You're like a mad scientist over there, man, mixing all kinds of stuff up.
I gotta get all this frozen pineapple juice out.
In the military, you're very regimented and, uh, formal.
But being able to create something
just out of the thoughts and ideas
that you want to express is a very special experience.
Whoa.
-Is that from those pineapples? -[Justin] Yeah, come...
[Joe] Dude, I wanna like, make a drink with that. [laughing]
[Justin] Oh, we gonna be drinking it.
I'd say my specialty right now is, uh, this pineapple swipe that I've been working on.
Pineapple swipe is a traditional spirit
made by plantation workers.
So, we have all these pineapple skins right here.
-[Tim] Yeah. -[Justin] They got a lot of great flavor in them.
So we're gonna keep that.
They got some nutrients,
and all that's going right on in there.
My family came from, uh, Portugal
to work in the pineapple fields
and the sugarcane fields.
So I just figured, always keep grounded in your roots
and keep that story strong.
[Matt] The reason my recipe's gonna be a winner
is I keep it simple.
I see too many people try to fancy everything up
with this ingredient and this ingredient,
and in reality,
everybody just likes corn liquor.
I wanted to run a real good corn liquor as the base spirit.
-[Tim] Okay. -Keep it real clean.
Now, this distilling,
is this something you learned on a line here,
or is this something that you picked up from generation?
I didn't have anybody pass it down to me,
so I had to make all the mistakes
-and get them out of the way. -Yep. Yep.
You learn more from mistakes.
-Get some of this smoky goodness in here. -I see it.
-It's all coming my way. -[laughs]
Smells like it's chocolate or it's a scorched one.
I call it my chocolate smoke bomb bourbon.
[both laughing]
About a year ago, my dad passed.
Him and I used to travel all over the country
doing barbecue cook-offs.
I started learning about savory, umami flavor
that smoke brings forward.
-I started with a malted blue corn base. -[Tim] Yeah.
Then, I added my chocolate malt.
And then I added my peated, heavy-peated malted barley.
It's sweet, smoky, uh, savory.
It's got a lot of elements to it.
I just got one more thing before I leave you.
-[Joe] Uh-huh. -Are them shorts right there Army-issue?
[Joe] Sky's out, thighs out, Tim.
-Sun's out, guns out. -There you go.
-I'm missing a little pants, you're missing a little shirt. -All right, I got you.
-All right. -[both laughing]
All right, guys. You're down to five minutes.
-Can I taste it? -Yeah.
Oh, boy. We in trouble.
It looks like we're in a competition.
And hopefully, all of you gonna bring something good to the table,
'cause we don't like to drink anything bad.
You've now completed your mashing.
You ready? You good to go? Everybody's happy?
[all] Yes, sir.
All right, let's go.
[Mark] All right, gentlemen.
This round will simply determine
which one of you gentlemen gets to go
to the stillhouse first.
[Tim] If you think you need something else
other than what you see behind you
to influence your flavors on your next run,
you need to win this challenge.
[Digger] All right, guys. You have four hours.
Bring us your best jar.
Have it on this table, sealed up,
before that four hours pass.
Your four hours starts now.
That look just like good corn liquor right there.
It's awful clear, ain't it?
It is.
[Matt] My mash is perfect.
It worked off exactly how it does back home.
There was no sugar left in the mash.
Justin's lit.
[Justin] So, I turned the burner on
as soon as I could get some of that mash in there.
I'm gonna get the bottles quicker,
and I know that I'm gonna get a little bit of a head start on my competitors.
I find a lot of grain floating on top.
I just had a little bit of a latent ferment going on,
which is making me really nervous.
[Tim] I mean, I think it fermented good.
It's just that stuff floats on top.
-It don't sink to the bottom. -[Digger] Yeah.
Just make sure he gets it all strained out good
before he puts it in that still.
[Joe] It's like, uh, trying to fit...
...10 pounds of [bleep] in a 5-pound bag.
[chuckles]
So I'm having a little bit of trouble
straining the extra sediment out of my mash.
And that bag is a super fine micron
that I'm not used to using.
Son of a [bleep].
[Matt] She's going slow, ain't she?
[Joe] I tried to fit, uh, yeah, too much in one bag.
So I'm having a little bit of trouble
straining the extra sediment out of my mash.
It makes me a little bit nervous,
but you adapt and overcome with those processes.
I figure I'll get about halfway,
and then I'll light it up.
Then I'll just keep adding.
The way that this is gonna turn out for me, I think,
is gonna be really positive.
Is your line arm getting hot already?
[Justin] A little bit.
I am utilizing a smaller still than I usually do at work.
-Oh, here we go. -Start running.
-We got 'em. -Heck yeah.
-We got liquor. -[Justin chuckles]
But in that time in the Navy, I learned preparation is key,
and I converted our small test-batch still
from an electric still into propane,
and I've run several batches on it recently.
I might be a little behind some of these guys.
-I work at a legal distillery. We don't... -[Tim] Yeah.
We have high-tech equipment, easy enough.
But, uh, I've been practicing. I've been...
I'm getting there just a little bit.
Okay, you think you're gonna get 100 proof?
-Uh, I'm getting as close as I can. -[Tim] Yeah.
I'm feeling pretty confident.
[Joe] You might break the jar record.
-[Justin] Nah. -[all laughing]
All right, men. You're halfway there.
Burned two hours, two left.
We have three veterans that know what they're doing.
[Matt] Uh-oh, there it is.
-[Justin] Did you get 'em? -Uh-oh, we're dripping.
Joe and I, we decided to run our mash a little bit lower, low and slow.
Now, tell me about what you got going on in that funnel there.
[Matt chuckles] Those are just little charcoal packets.
Clean up the liquor a little bit.
Give it a smoother taste.
I think the guy that makes me the most nervous, uh, is probably Matt.
Oh, that's some...
He's running, like, a pretty simple mash.
It's just a corn mash.
It kinda comes out really clean.
But my base spirit has complicated ingredients.
-You get the chocolate? -[Matt] Oh, wow.
-It changed a lot. -It changed a lot, didn't it?
You get chocolate, and once you get around like, 100 proof,
you can mix it back in, and that's where the smoke's at.
Man, that time's closing in.
One hour left.
[Matt] What, what's your proof at right now?
[Justin] I have a hard time telling, man.
I know I'm not at 100. How's that?
Probably still 110, 115 at least.
[Justin] Being a professional,
once again, all our hydrometers get the best of us.
Matt, he's in his wheelhouse.
He knows where he's at.
Yeah, you tempered already?
-Yeah, man. I'm good to go. -Oh, shoot.
You got your perfect jar already, all right.
It's been sitting in ice for 20 minutes.
[Mark] These guys, all three of them,
are putting their personality in that jar.
Gonna be a competition, ain't it?
It is.
[Mark] All right, I like it.
[Digger] I love it.
Guys, we're gonna taste, deliberate,
come back and give you our decision.
[Mark] Can't wait, guys.
Military Armed Forces, God bless them.
[Tim] Why don't we start over here with the sunshine,
Justin, Navy man.
Pretty clear jar.
And he's the one that supposedly didn't know nothing about proofing?
Well, he has either been really, really lucky
or really, really good.
I would say he's above 100.
[Joe] Did you just shut off?
[Justin] I do like to take as much tails as I can,
just a lot of flavor right in there,
and then this next level of the competition
when we redistill it,
it's gonna bring it all back out.
-[Mark] It's over 100. I agree with you, Tim. -[Tim] I'd give him 110.
His proofing skills don't need a lot of adjustment.
-[Digger] Uh-uh. -[Tim] It tastes really good.
I'm tasting pineapple.
-[Digger] Oh, yeah. -[Tim] You're getting the bite up front from the proof.
But it's finishing off with a smooth pineapple taste.
It almost makes you wanna do that, uh, dance
that they do in Hawaii.
Well, jump up and do it for us.
-Not right now. -[Mark] Wow.
I'm just sitting here dreading these other two,
because this is gonna be tough.
He's made himself and the Navy proud.
Let's see what Joe's working with.
Let's see what Joe's working with here, Tim.
It's a nice, clean, pretty jar.
He's Army-ready also.
It's a nice-looking clear jar.
I'm saying that one's a little high.
I'm saying that one's closer to 120
than the one we just tasted.
[Joe] I think I hit it right.
I'm glad I collected it in as small increments as I did.
[Tim] He's got that smoky finish.
He made a chocolate Scotch.
[Digger] I'm gonna tell you.
With all that chocolate malt in there,
-that peated rye, it didn't stand a chance. -[Tim] Mmm-hmm.
It's run plumb out of town with that chocolate malt.
[Mark] I get a lot of smoke.
That's really good smoky flavor
that I never, ever thought I would like, but I do.
-Let's move on, before we get... -[Digger] Bring it on.
...too deep in that one
and won't be able to taste the next one.
Matt. That's a full corn liquor jar.
That is a crystal clear jar of corn liquor.
[Mark] I wanna say he's 105 or better.
Yeah, he's above a C note.
[Matt] You know, I wanted that sweetness
on the second round.
So I thought the corn would bring it out the best.
-Whoa. -Oh, that's corn liquor.
-[Tim chuckles] -Damn it, Matt.
-Very light on the nose, very light. -[Digger] Yeah.
[Tim] Well, I know where I'm at.
I don't know what you can say wrong with that.
-Man, the taste of it is outstanding. -[Digger] Yeah.
Thank the Lord for veteran moonshiners. [chuckles]
[Digger] All right, guys.
Starting right over here,
we've got the old high cracked corn.
We always use white corn in our area,
and we always shied away from yellow corn.
But after tasting your jar,
I have no idea why we shied away from yellow corn.
Very, very solid jar of liquor.
A little high on your proof, but a fine job.
You don't get too much sweet from the sugar,
and you don't get too much corn from the conversion.
Thank you.
And there we got High and Angry over there.
-[chuckles] -I don't think you're a bit angry.
I do believe you know what you're doing.
Love what a chocolate malt can bring to any spirit,
and the way you balanced that out, outstanding.
-Thank you, sir. -Unlike Digger, I was scared to death
when you said "smoky."
But, man, it enhanced it.
It was good. I liked it.
It's the only jar of smoky-type spirit
that I had more than one drink of.
-Thank you. That means so much to me. [chuckles] -It was really good.
Justin.
We've had some bad experiences in the past with pineapple.
However, sir, this is not one of them.
Thank you.
Pineapple just hits you right in the nose and the mouth.
A little high on your proof, and I don't hate it.
I like a high-proof drink.
You've got something to build a cocktail with.
Damn fine job, all of you.
We set the objective out there.
You had your mission.
Mission accomplished.
Thank you, sir.
-Thank you, sir. -Thank you.
Now, here comes our job.
We're gonna put you in order to go to the still house.
Matt.
Number one.
Justin, number two.
Guess who's third?
-Joe. -Joe.
And the other task is getting you there.
Tickle!
How's it going, fellas?
[Tim] Ah, we're doing great, buddy.
Look at all these veterans we got here.
-[Tickle] I see that, whole bunch of them. -[Tim] Yeah.
Y'all leave y'all's jars,
and y'all come on with me, all right?
-All right. -All right.
-Great job, fellas. -Thank you, guys.
[Tim] That's one thing you don't need.
Taking more alcohol with Tickle.
[all laughing]
It's like it was meant to be.
Almost, just bend it the rest of the way.
We ain't never gonna have nothing it'll fit again.
[both chuckling]
[Tickle] All right, fellas.
Now, I know every one of y'all can strip a rifle
and put it back together in three minutes.
But let's see if y'all can get your still parts together
in three minutes.
Matt, you're up first.
You have got three minutes,
and your time starts now.
You'll have to move faster than that.
I thought they taught you how to hustle.
Come on, man.
All right, let's see.
Have you got a still put together yet?
Almost.
When I'm looking in the still house,
I'm looking for my basic setup that I run back home.
Not trying to get fancy and get into a situation
where I don't know what I'm doing.
-Here's the stuff. -All right, there we go.
We have got a thumper. All right.
You're gonna have to hurry up.
You've got two minutes left, Matt.
Okay, we've got a cap and a condenser.
All you gotta do now is connect these three parts.
You've got one minute left, Matt.
One minute left.
A few small connection pieces, and you are gold.
[Matt] I got you.
I don't know how you're talking to me.
Oh, my God, this man came out
-with fishing rods. -Well, I just thought maybe...
-You know... -Good kill.
-[Joe] A fishing rod? -[Tickle laughing]
[Matt] Might wanna go fishing,
so I'll just grab some fishing poles.
[laughing]
[Tickle] All right, Justin.
Your time starts now.
Come on, Justin.
Set sail for a still, all right?
I know in the Navy, y'all put together
all kinds of stuff like this.
Gets boring out there on the boat.
My plan going into this still house is to get that thump keg.
I need it for my post flavoring.
I'm literally gonna smash as much pineapple flavor into this as I can.
Without that, I'd be dead in the water.
Two minutes. Now all you gotta do is be able to connect those, Justin.
-[Tickle] I know you got this. -This is gonna take a while.
[Tickle] All right, there we go.
-[Tickle] All right. I'm hearing some butts. -There you go.
I'm hearing some butts. I know you've got this,
but also, you've got one minute left, Justin.
-All right, good deal, Justin. -I took all the tri-clamps.
All right. Joe, you've got three minutes,
and your time starts now.
I know you got this, all right?
I got picked to go last to the still house,
so I don't have a thumper.
So, my plan going forward,
using those small gym baskets as thumpers.
All right, I see a condenser and I see a pot.
Minute and a half. Time is ticking, man, all right?
Come on, Joe. You can easily put this together.
I mean, it ain't but a couple of parts.
All right, you got this. I know you do.
Anybody that's ever been in the brains of armed service
can do anything they want in under three minutes.
And I know you can. All right?
-[Joe grunts] -[Tickle] You got this.
[Tickle] Come on, Joe. All right. All right.
There we go. That's a hell of a box of copper.
All right, Joe. Y'all grab y'all stuff
and let's head back in and y'all can get these stills together.
[Tim] Well, you got a fishing pole. [laughs]
[Digger] Welcome back.
Looks like y'all got plenty of still parts.
And if you catch a fish and a barrel of mash,
-you're gonna be the first. -[all chuckling]
Guys, your task right now, built us a complete still
that will function, and function safely, in less than one hour.
Y'all's time starts now.
Why is it always the guys in the middle
that wants to build the extravagant rig?
-Seems that way, doesn't it? -Yup.
[Mark] Don't know about here, this is...
It's gonna be interesting.
Need some help, man?
Uh, yeah, if you wanna scooch that over.
And then it's easier to move this.
-That's why we can't have that stuff. -[Joe laughs]
[Joe] I don't have a thumper, so,
I'm using those small gym baskets as thumpers for infusion.
Those units are perfect for pushing that flavor
through my distillate.
Wow. I have no idea what you're doing over there.
Well, this connect... needs to connect here,
so I can use this one off of here,
to go into the condenser.
I work in the pipe valve fitting industry,
I understand the way threaded joints work.
So I feel like I can be a little bit more outside of the box.
[Matt] Looks like it was meant to be.
[Justin] Almost, just bend it the rest of the way.
We ain't never gonna have nothing ever fit again.
[all laughing]
[Matt] I'm sitting there helping Joe
and I'm thinking to myself,
"This is never gonna work."
[Joe] Adapt and overcome.
-[Matt] The Airborne way? -[Joe] The Airborne way.
-That's what Airborne looks like right there. -Well, hey, look.
-[all laughing] -It may look--
-It look like a trainwreck. -[Joe] It may look like a soup sandwich,
but it'll get the job done.
Guys, you got 25 minutes left.
-I don't think anybody needs them, do they? -No, sir.
We're gonna get some whiskey made.
[all chuckling]
-[Tim] Or we're gonna die trying. -[all chuckling]
You got four hours, gentlemen.
Bring us a jar of your very best.
Your time starts now.
[Mark] Good luck, guys.
[Justin] So, what I'm doing today
is mixing the leftover mash with my liquor,
and, uh, figuring out how am I gonna get
a strong infusion flavor,
uh, in a short period of time.
[Matt] So my plan is, gonna put a strawberry wine base
that I've blended with my liquor
in the pot and the thumper.
I put three gallons of wine base in the pot
and then half a gallon of water on top,
that way I get maximum flavor.
Sounds like you're making something like a drink on the beach.
-[Matt] Can drink it anywhere you go, man. -[chuckles]
There you go.
Oh, look at the color of that mash.
That's some chocolate grain. Special roast.
[Joe] A specialty chocolate malt
gives it a little bit more roast-y toasty kinda flavor.
I've never seen anybody mix up fluff before.
Now, Joe, is this something you've done before?
[Joe] Yes, sir.
Now, the marshmallow goo.
I mixed it with some of my leftover mash,
some graham cracker crumbs...
-You bringing us a pie. -I like to keep it sweet.
I have the base spirit,
which is a chocolate smoked bomb bourbon,
So it's got chocolate, it's got smoke.
So I'm gonna be using marshmallow spread,
graham cracker crumbs...
[Justin] Is that graham cracker there, Joe?
-These are graham cracker crumbs. -Oh, my goodness.
...and mixing that into those two thumper receptacles,
really is going to make for a marshmallow, cozy,
next-to-the-fire feeling, like a s'more.
[Justin] Army strong over here.
[chuckles] Take cover.
[Mark] Watch your hair.
-[Joe] There we go. -[Justin] So, Matt,
you ever see anyone make an alcohol for deployed?
Uh, yeah, I mean, it's definitely not the best alcohol I've ever drank.
[Justin] Yeah, that's how I got started.
A couple of Marines got in trouble for making hooch in the tent.
-I know hooch is disgusting. -[Justin] Yeah.
-I was like, "These Marines are making hooch in the tent?" -[laughs]
-[Justin] Well, if they can do it, I can. -[laughs]
Men, you've burned one hour, you got three left.
-[metal popping] -Whoa.
-Sound familiar? -[Justin] Sounds like the boats decompressing.
[Justin] That's not comforting to a submariner.
Hey, Justin. What you got going on down there, man?
[Justin] Well, these are molasses, pineapple depth charges.
Uh, I found as I distill,
a lot of the flavor will come off a little early.
And I just pop that tri-clamp off
and I'm gonna dump in a little more flavor.
Oh, I'm running.
Ooh.
I run this until I get my heads through,
and then I'll pop it open to infuse my pineapple flavor.
Let me get this straight, now. As the still is running,
you wanna pop that thumper cap off
and drop some of those bombs in there?
-[Justin] Depth charges. -And then...
And then you're gonna cap it back?
At least once. Maybe twice.
It's kinda like changing the fan and belt as the motor's running.
-Absolutely. -Well, that something scared the [bleep]
-out of anyone. -Yeah, boy.
[Justin] See how this comes out.
As I start tasting it,
it's getting some good flavors through.
It was still a little hot, but I wanted to get that
infusion process going right away.
He's loading his thumper
as he's running.
Depth charge away.
-[Joe] Shoot it. -[Matt laughs]
[Justin] Uh, in here I got molasses, turbinado sugar,
vanilla, and some pineapple juice.
Paying homage to the swipe tradition.
You got a leak?
[Joe] Yep.
My thumpers are filling up,
and it turns out I have a leak.
Holy smokes.
It turns out I have a lot of leaks.
You got that...
-[Justin] Flour paste? -...a flour paste?
So, I'm making up some rye flour paste
to put around those leaks, to kinda seal them up.
In the Infantry, it's adapt and overcome.
And it's what the old-schoolers did in the backwoods.
Joe, I like what you got on your pasting going on here, you know?
-You know, it starts at one spot... -Mmm-hmm.
-...and then-- -Right, when you seal that one,
-puts pressure on the next. -Put pressure on the next one.
If someone was like weakest link in a chain,
-you know? -[Joe] Exactly.
[Mark] I wonder if the space from that first cap
-to the condenser will cause it to cool, you know? -[Digger] Yeah.
He's gonna have a lot of slobber going into that first thumper.
[Matt] Oh, my thumper's going bat[bleep].
I got the drip.
-[Joe] You got the drip? -[Matt] I do.
I got that first little bit of liquor out and I was like,
"Man, this is hot."
Oh, it's hotter than a [bleep].
-[Joe laughs] It's up there? -[Matt] It's up there.
Yeah, I'm about to start running.
Shake it out in here.
Yup, I'm running.
Oh, officially in all.
[Joe] Although I had some hiccups
with those two thumpers, it really worked out.
One hour, guys, time's getting close.
[Matt] Yeah, I'm waiting for that proof to come down,
it's just not wanting to do it.
That's just straight alcohol.
I'm waiting for some flavor to come through.
It's probably around 180,
and I wanna get it down to about 120,
and then start flavoring.
What jar number is that?
[Joe] This is gonna be five.
You can smell the fluff.
[Justin] I'm proofing down my jar,
and I'm trying to get it just right.
And I'm starting to worry that I'm not gonna hit that proof that I need.
I don't know if I can taste anything anymore.
My lips are numb.
30 minutes, gentlemen.
Time's a-drawing in on you.
[Matt] Lucky number five. Tell me what you think.
I think they're gonna like you.
-[Matt laughs] -Smells delicious.
The strawberry finally came through.
We had about 30 minutes left
when I started getting into my hearts,
so I grabbed that jar and started tampering with the other jars.
15 minutes left.
-Think you're about ready? -This jar is, like, 138,
but, I mean, tempering it down will only do it good.
I'm having trouble trying to push that
s'more flavor through that much equipment.
Well, I tell you, that smells good.
I think you might be there.
Five minutes, folks.
Still at, like, 120.
-[Joe laughs] -[Matt] Yeah.
-[Matt] Still a little high? -Still a little high.
[Justin tapping jar]
I'm trying to get it as close as possible.
'Cause the flavors are starting to pop real nice right now.
You only got five, four,
three, two,
one, boom.
I didn't expect anything less out of you men.
We're gonna step out, we're gonna taste, deliberate.
[Mark] But one of you has to go.
[Tim] All right, guys. These are military-trained individuals.
And we gave them a task.
I don't think I will be disappointed.
-I don't think either one of them is going to miss. -Well, gotta get with it.
[Tim] Justin, Navy veteran.
-He's retired Navy. -[Tim] Retired Navy.
[Digger] That's a damn fine bead.
It's definitely up there at 100.
I wish I would've put some water in it like you,
rather than extra mash,
but I was thinking flavor, flavor, flavor.
-[Tim] Mmm-hmm. -That smells really good.
-And it tastes really good. -Wow!
-[Tim] Now that's pineapple. -That's pineapple.
That young man brought it.
-And high-proof pineapple. -[Mark] Yeah.
As soon as it hits your tongue,
it just busts wide open with flavor, don't it?
Nice and warm on the back, I like it.
We got to work on us some depth charges.
[Mark chuckles]
[Mark] Let's move on to Joe, here.
Campfire smoke-infused s'more.
[Tim] Joe, he's a Airborne Infantry, 82nd Airborne.
High and angry.
I wish that I had gotten
further into my hearts.
Wow, very light on the nose, and...
-[Tim] Yeah, it's really... -Just a hint of smoke.
-Whoa. -[laughing] About 120 proof.
I get a lot more smoke than I do chocolate or marshmallow.
Yeah, the... well, the creamy marshmallow-y part,
I'm not really picking out,
-I'm just getting a little sweet, but... -[Mark] Yeah.
[Tim] Well, he had ten foot of working copper in there.
It had to go somewhere.
Well, he damn sure brought it.
Matt, Army Ranger, Ohio.
-[Digger] Yeah, two-time Purple Heart recipient. -Yeah.
He's 101st Airborne.
This right here is gonna be strawberry.
[Mark] The strawberry wine that he said
-he let vanilla marry into for a couple of weeks. -[Tim] Yep.
I think it's low-proof. I hope I'm wrong.
But going by these other two jars,
low proof could be a 100.
[Matt] I was kinda worried, you know, the first,
you know, four jars that came off were way high.
And then with my fifth and sixth jar,
it just fell right down to about 120.
-[Mark] A lot of flavor. -There is a tremendous amount of flavor in there.
Probably one of the most pleasant strawberry flavors I've seen.
-I think it's a little shallow in proof. -[Tim] Yeah?
Now, when we say low, we're talking about, like 90,
-[Mark] I think-- -compared to 120.
Look at the legs forming in there.
Still got plenty of proof.
-I think it's great. -[Digger] We got another one of them
moonshiner standoffs here.
[Mark] They're all top shelf.
I know where my number one and number two guy is, yeah.
-We all in agreement? -[Mark] Yeah. We are.
Okay.
-We're good? -Well, here we go, guys.
[Mark] God bless them.
[Digger] Guys, come on up and get your jars.
All right, guys, it was tough.
I'll start right up here with you, Matt.
Honestly, when you said strawberry, it scared me to death.
Because strawberry can be really, really fiery.
But, uh, yours was not fiery liquor.
Matt, it's a happy medium between
having alcohol and having flavor.
Excellent taste, excellent flavor.
-And the wild man, Joe. -[laughs]
Man, that was smoky, chocolatey goodness right there.
The only thing I didn't see that you didn't bring,
I didn't get the graham cracker crust in there.
I mean, hell, that alcohol vapor had to go around the world and back
-[laughs] -just to get into that condenser.
Joe, I now understand a little more why
that label says "high and angry."
-[laughs] -Instantly, it'll get you high.
-[laughs] -[Mark] And I didn't really pick up
on the marshmallow goo.
But, man, 120-proof liquor
that is really drinkable and pleasurable?
Man, you brought it.
[Digger] Justin. You know, pineapple swipe.
Bam, it hits you like a ton of bricks.
Even though you in the Navy.
-[Tim chuckles] -[Justin chuckles]
This pineapple swipe is off the charts.
You put your depth charge in there, you call it?
I mean, you made it taste good,
distilled 120 proof, outstanding.
All three jars was outstanding.
But you know one of you is going home.
[Matt] Careful, there. Oh, this guy, still going.
Is it cold?
-[swallows] Yeah, buddy! -[Matt] Is it?
[Justin] I hope you realize there's no pee breaks in this.
-[Matt laughs] -[Joe] Uh, no, that's fine.
-[Joe] That's why I got the empty bottle, right? -[Matt laughs] Yup.
[Matt] Do you know how hard it is to pee in a bottle,
driving 50 miles an hour on a bumpy road?
It's damn near impossible.
[Justin] That's why you need a pee can.
-[chuckles] -[Joe] If you're standing in a turret for long enough...
...sometimes you gotta have your buddy
-hold the bottle for you. -[Matt] Yup.
[Joe laughs] 'Cause you gotta keep your finger on that trigger.
-[Joe laughs] -[Matt] Yeah, man.
[Matt] That's a unique brotherhood right there.
-[Joe] Yeah, that's the brotherhood, man. -[all laughing]
[Joe] "Hold my junk for me. It'll be all right."
[Mark] Outstanding jars,
each in their own right.
-Yeah. -And this has been an honor, guys.
But you know one of you is going home.
Joe.
You just come down on orders to go home.
That down still infused a lot more smoke
than chocolate or marshmallow.
You're gonna be leaving us, but I'm proud of you.
I appreciate it, guys.
I feel proud to be a part of this
with my brothers-in-arms.
[Matt] Been an honor and a pleasure, man.
That, to me,
is the greatest part of this experience.
-It was my privilege and honor to judge you, young man. -Outstanding.
[Joe] Really honored to, uh, to be here with everybody.
Looks like the Army against the Navy.
[Digger] You guys are fixing to add that extra layer of flavor
for that best jar of liquor.
Now, keep in mind we're looking at marketability.
That's what we based everything on.
You're gonna have 30 minutes.
Bring us your best
post-distillation flavored liquor.
To end this challenge, one of you will be Master Distiller.
30 minutes starts now. Good luck, get with it.
I'm gonna tell you guys,
if they bring anymore flavor to the table,
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to stand up.
I don't wanna change up the flavor profile too much,
so I'm gonna go with a strawberry lemonade.
I'm gonna add a little bit of mint too it.
[Mark] Them's very attractive jars.
You gonna try to sample all of those and select one?
-[Matt] I put different proofs in there, -[Mark] Okay.
'cause I wanna make sure I get the proof right.
If you fill up the jar about halfway with about 120,
-then it'll come out about 70, 80 proof right there. -Right.
I had had it in my back pocket to do this, uh, sipping cream,
but, you know, I'm still not 100% confident in it.
Proof-wise, where are you, where are you trying to name it?
I'm trying to land somewhere around that 40 mark.
Seems like a real popular proof.
Yup. And sipping creams, especially.
But when I've seen what he's doing,
I knew I needed to do the sipping cream
if I was gonna be competitive at all.
[Tim] Is this, uh, banana?
No, this is all pineapple.
-[Tim] A whole pineapple? -Pineapple with sweetened condensed cream,
a little bit of vanilla.
Gentlemen, y'all are at the ten-minute mark.
You might wanna be polishing them jars up.
The biggest obstacle I was trying to overcome was
figuring out how am I gonna get
a strong infusion flavor,
uh, in a short period of time.
One particular jar of pineapple juice came from
the pressings of all 15 pineapples,
and I re-pressed it, and it was so gold.
Now these, uh, I've been macerating in the juice
for a little while now, so.
A little bit goes a long way.
Boom. We'll be back with a verdict, I promise you.
-[Tim] Total different ball park. -[Mark] It's Navy and Army.
-[Mark] I'm ready, let's get going. -Let's get busy.
-[Mark] It's the color of pineapple. -[Digger] It is.
What proof do you think your stuff came out at?
I'm hoping somewhere around 40.
You think that a lower proof's gonna affect it?
No, it should be appropriate for the style.
[Mark] Smells like pineapple sherbet.
[Tim] Yeah.
-[Mark] Mmm-mmm. -Oh, my.
He said he was shooting for 40,
I'm gonna say he's 40 to 50, somewhere in that neighborhood.
-'Cause you can still get a little bit of alcohol. -Yeah.
-He nailed it, I am really impressed with it. -[Digger] Yeah.
[Tim] Me, too, I like it.
[Digger] Let's taste this. Moving on.
[Mark] Our man, Matt.
-Strawberry lemonade? -Strawberry lemonade.
It's a big thing.
-I think mine was right at about 100, 105. -[Justin] Yeah.
-I'd rather be higher on proof than lower on proof. -[Justin] Gotcha.
-[Digger] It got some alcohol. -It got some alcohol in it.
-You get the alcohol, strawberry, and lemon. -[Mark] Ooh.
-I mean, it's got some sizzle in it. -I mean, it's tasty.
Matt was about 95.
Matt's 100. What are we gonna do here, boys? We've got a pickle here.
What we always say is marketability.
The one that sells the most, they have a story behind it,
and there's one jar on the table that has a story that hasn't been told.
-You are exactly right. -[Mark] You're right.
-[Mark] Let's go. -[Digger] Let's do it.
[Digger] All right, guys, come up and get your jars.
All right, men, here we are once again.
I'm gonna cut to the chase.
Matt, you said lemonade and strawberry,
boom, I love 'em both, and you brought the flavor to the table.
Didn't get as much of that mint,
but it really didn't have time for it to really pull out.
Plenty of alcohol.
Matt, you threw me a little curveball,
because I'm looking at strawberry, I'm tasting lemonade.
I think a little bit less, maybe about ten points less,
will be on the money. But, outstanding jar.
Justin. You said pineapple cream,
that's an understatement.
If that came straight out of a freezer and eat it with a spoon,
it'd be something else. Damn fine jars, two of them.
Justin, sipping creams are very popular in our area.
Really good jar.
But, Army, Navy, here we are.
We gotta make a decision.
There's always a story behind every jar.
Justin,
we need to hear your story.
You're gonna be the next Master Distiller.
-Thank you. -Dude. Congratulations, man.
[Justin] It was a tough competition.
I've been very humbled.
Competing against Airforce is just a pleasure.
It's brotherhood, and you can't break that.
and that's the common ground we stand on,
is our, is our service to the country.
Now, y'all get on outta here before we start squabbling.
[Tim] All right.
-[Mark] Great job, fellas. -[Digger chuckles]