[country music playing]
United base of America.
[narrator] George Thorpe was the first American
to distill corn liquor.
You get something to shine through
and not just taste corn in this,
they're really gonna have to know what they're doing.
[narrator] And his base recipe spawned
1,000 flavored shines.
Hot apple. Ain't heard of it.
[narrator] Now, three distillers
will use the same heritage corn...
[Mark] It's a really pretty mash.
[narrator] to create their own moonshine legacy.
I'll have to say, that is a beautiful color.
It's got legs to stand on its own.
[country music playing]
Gentlemen, I wanna welcome y'all
to the most historical Master Distiller to date.
We're gonna give you the first liquor
supposedly run in these United States,
George Thorpe's original recipe.
[Mark] This is a choose your own adventure.
You guys are all starting on the same page
but where you take it is entirely up to you.
We want to see how just like George Thorpe
you can take simple ingredients
and old-school distilling knowledge,
and create a new classic spirit.
As you can see, each one of you
have the ingredients for mash base.
This is the first ever recipe made in the United States,
in Virginia, in 1620, and it's simple.
It's Indian corn, spring water, and yeast.
Tickle, tell 'em a little bit about it.
Well, Tickle from yesterday, tell us all about it.
George Thorpe was an investor
in the Virginia Company of London.
In 1619, a company of settlers
sailed to Virginia, and George Thorpe,
well, he set out to build a college there.
The college didn't last
but George Thorpe gave us an even better legacy,
when he distilled the very first corn whiskey.
It's not a hybrid, it's a straight Indian corn,
the same ones they used back in 1600s.
So you mean this is George Thorpe,
-this guy standing here? -[man] Oh, yeah, that...
That's a picture of him.
He's the master distiller [indistinct]
-[man 1] That's a still? -[man 2] That is a still.
[Tickle] When George Thorpe swapped Old World grains
for New World corn, he started a tradition
of using a corn base with local ingredients
to create entirely new American spirits.
Here's to you, George.
Hmm, now, that's corn liquor.
Guys, this is what you're gonna be working with today.
You guys will go to the farm stand
to choose your ingredients to add to this base
to make this spirit your own.
Now, George Thorpe couldn't have the still corn
if he didn't ferment it first, so the highest ABV mash
will get the first pick of still parts for their run.
Just like George Thorpe's original variation
has spawned 1,000 recipes.
We can't wait to see what you guys bring to the table.
Y'all fellers come on with me.
All right.
[country music playing]
[Tickle] United base of America.
Now, you've got your base of Indian corn,
that's just your base.
We're here to build up on that.
I'm gonna give y'all five minutes.
Johnny, your time starts now.
All right, Johnny. You got some honey there,
that's a darn good start.
My name's John Cumberland, I'm 52,
I'm from Dandridge, Tennessee.
Come here. Gracie, come here.
I am a concrete masonry contractor.
Ain't that like putting the moonshine still together?
I started moonshining five or six years ago.
It's pretty simple setup.
I really don't have any special tricks,
going straight old-school.
I think it's made some good batches.
I'd love to carry on the tradition
of making moonshine.
-That is damn good. -Yeah.
[Johnny] It's a big fat science project to me
and I have a good time doing it.
I think I can win 'cause I can make
some pretty smooth liquor.
This is the best.
I am very confident in myself.
What kind of base are you gonna build in there?
All right.
Oh, it just depends on what we got going.
[Johnny] George Thorpe gave us a base to work with.
All of us have Indian corn in our base
and I'm trying to get peaches.
[Tickle] You're gonna go and getting sugar
and you've got some peaches.
What I like about peaches
is it breaks down easier than apples
and some of the harder fruits 'cause they're softer.
They just ferment pretty good.
You can take this lost boy right there.
-[Johnny] I'm done. -[Tickle] Oh, you're done?
-I'm done. -All right.
I think they're gonna love this peach moonshine
'cause it's a recipe that I've done several times.
Johnny come through in plenty of time.
Jason, You are up next.
And your time starts now.
[Jason] My name is Jason Biaggi.
I am 35 years old from Clover, South Carolina.
Make sure I can still hit something.
My career is HVAC.
I'm a installer, putting heating and air.
So this is a four-grain mash.
I got into the moonshine world,
really, I like to drink moonshine.
I haven't ever ran a four-grain
moonshine before, I've done three-grain.
I've been doing it for five years.
This is just corn and malted barley.
Something I enjoy doing,
experiment with different things.
Nothing too fancy.
I'm excited to produce alcohol
based off of George Thorpe's original corn recipe.
You can smell the oat.
[Jason] I really like to win Master Distiller,
take that back home,
maybe help push my product a little better,
people will have more confidence
in what I'm putting out.
There you go.
I think I deserve to win
because I've got five people at home depending on me.
I've been doing it for a short period of time
but I've put a lot of heart and soul into
what I do, and make good product.
This is, like, medium to heavy toast.
[woman] Yeah.
[Jason] An incredible opportunity
to have our product out there on the shelves
and legal stores, not just backwoods.
What are you looking at?
-All right. -Some apples.
I did try a couple of runs of Indian corn,
didn't have any fruit or anything,
but it turned out really good.
Apples, now I tell you what,
you know they take a long time to work off.
I really wanna do some apple infusion into it.
You got four minutes left.
And it's gonna complement the corn real well.
[Tickle] Sugar? Hey, hey, wise choice.
-I think I'm done. -[Tickle] You're done?
-[Jason] Yeah, I'm done. -[Tickle] Satisfied.
Okay, fellers. That is two mash builds down.
Nate, you've got five minutes.
Your time starts now.
Come on in there, Nate.
[rock music playing]
My name is Nate Newbrough,
42 years old, I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Just mixing grain with hot water
to make some whiskey.
I distill for Great Lakes Distillery.
New product. Gotta push the new products.
Started helping them out,
kind of like a apprenticeship.
"Show up one day and you help bottle,
show up tomorrow and help us bottle and sweep the floors."
And then, it snowballed into 2015,
I took over production.
I got interested in moonshining
'cause of the process, taking the ingredients,
creating a recipe, and be able to preserve that
for years to come.
Pushes you back a little bit that this George Thorpe
corn whiskey is almost 500 years old,
gives you a little perspective on how a lot
of people have been doing this in America.
[Tickle] What are you... What are you...
What you are looking, at some of them grapes?
-I'm just getting a snack. -You're just getting a snack?
Well, you only got five minutes.
Now is not the time to snack.
Going in third, I tried to calculate a mash
using ingredients that are up there.
[Tickle] Corn. All right. And some sugar and some honey.
We got some brown sugar.
Are you gonna look at putting any fruit in there
of any sort of kind?
Nate's really more interested in eating.
The main idea is to taste them
and just gonna take what tastes better.
You've got four minutes left, Nate.
Four minutes left.
I'm looking for malt...
[Tickle] Okay. He's got rye malt,
very good choice.
[Nate] ... to take off of the corn a little bit.
That malt really helps that fruit
break down in your mash.
[Nate] I'm looking for some kind of aromatics.
Now with the addition of that rye malt,
any fruit in there is gonna turn into mush.
[Nate] Red muscadine work better than the green.
Look, first time ever I've ever seen anybody
put an ingredient back.
Okay. And add some maple syrup.
Time is ticking down.
We're not gonna have a farm stand left
if I keep letting Nate...
No, you might oughta take that one.
All right.
[laughs]
You still got two and a half minutes left.
Have you figured out everything you need?
All right. Done with two minutes.
All y'all guys really look like y'all know
what y'all were doing.
Let's get back in there and see
what kind of mash still y'all gonna make.
[dramatic music playing]
[Digger] All right, guys.
Hopefully, y'all found enough stuff in that farm stand.
You're gonna have one hour to build the finest mash
of your liquor making careers.
We'll give you five days to ferment.
Then we're gonna test your mash,
we'll see which one has the highest ABV.
That will determine the order
in which everybody goes to the still hatch.
Anybody got any questions?
-No, sir. -[Digger] All right.
Your one hour starts now.
Good luck, guys.
[dramatic music playing]
[Nate] It's hot.
[dramatic music playing]
[Digger] There you are.
You're in business, boss.
[dramatic music playing]
Oh, those are muscadines.
They're pretty muscadines.
What are you doing over there, Nate?
[Nate] Doing a little honey, muscadine, kind of a blend.
There's not a whole lot I haven't fermented.
Fruits, grains, molasses, all of it.
Looks like he's eating about as many
as he gets in there.
Now, Johnny over here...
[Mark] Peaches.
it's gonna be a peach rum.
[Jason] Johnny, what's your recipe down there?
Oh, it's my old lady's granny's stuff.
I'm gonna try to sweeten it up just a hair
and keep the proof right.
[Jason] What's that consist of?
Oh, it's got peaches, honey, corn.
Right on.
-[Mark] Johnny. -[Johnny] Yes, sir.
I tell a lot of people this,
this really ain't the time to experiment,
do what you know.
Have you ever worked with any of the Indian corn before?
[Johnny] Yup.
[Mark] It makes a really pretty mash, don't it?
Hope it tastes good.
Well, it will.
Good look to you, man.
All right, buddy.
[Johnny] Jason, what are you making?
I'm gonna do a little apple and honey infusion
along with my corn.
I'm looking to bring to the table
something that the judges haven't ever had before.
I feel good about where we're heading
and I think all my flavors are gonna complement really well.
-[Mark] Jason... -[Jason] Yes, sir.
what do you got going on here, boss?
Just cooking down some apples.
Have you ever worked with Indian corn before?
-A couple of times. -[Mark] Okay.
This came out pretty good.
Never tried apples in with it, so this will be something.
Well, the thing about it is you can't go wrong
with an apple.
And you put your corn in your mash barrel,
so you're just gonna steep it?
Yes, sir.
That's probably a good move, I like that.
Yes, sir. I don't want any spores.
All right, boss. Looking forward to tasting it.
Nate, you care to share some of that malt?
[Nate] Here you go, bud.
[Johnny] Thank you, brother.
-Be careful here, Johnny. -Mmm-hmm. That's about right.
Proof of 30 gallon of rum,
make sure to make it all right.
[Nate] Johnny, you're gonna use all them peaches?
[Johnny] Yeah, get your handful.
-Go ahead. -Thank you.
Here you go, brother.
Appreciate it.
You're gonna overflow that thing.
-Yeah, probably. -[chuckles]
[Mark] Big Nate.
Yellow.
In addition to the corn,
you've put muscadines.
I've got some honey in there.
[Mark] Honey, yeah, I saw some honey.
[Nate] Everything else kind of threw there on the fire.
You and John both put your corn in your cooking pot.
Yes, sir.
You know, that's all well and good,
but be very careful,
and you know what I'm talking about.
You're talking about scorching the bottom?
Oh, yeah, with the bottom-fired pot.
Good luck to you, big man.
Thank you.
And you got 10 minutes, guys.
[grunts]
[Digger] Ooh.
-Easy now. -[Nate] You're all right.
[Digger] Yup. There's that tell-tale charcoal.
A little bit of scorch.
I mean, hell, we're not a stranger to it,
we've scorched our share of liquor.
Yeah.
[Digger] Time is closing in, guys.
You got less than a minute to finish your take
on George Thorpe's original corn mash recipe.
[dramatic music playing]
[Digger] Three, two, one.
You guys are done, gentlemen.
All right.
[dramatic music playing]
[Mark] Welcome back, gentlemen.
We gave you George Thorpe's
1620 Indian corn recipe for you to make your own.
If you can make good mash right there,
it'll turn out good liquor,
and that's what we're gonna test first is that mash.
If you would please, go ahead and strain us
off a jar and bring it to the table.
We're gonna test everything from taste to gravity,
and we'll give you all a true reading
on your ABV when we get back.
[dramatic music playing]
Here, boss.
All right, Johnny.
And Nate brings it in hot.
Pretty jar of mash.
-Bring it in here, Jason. -Here you go, gentlemen.
Jason.
All right.
And we'll be back here just shortly.
Good luck, fellers, all of yous.
[dramatic music playing]
United base of America.
-George Thorpe. -George Thorpe's
original Indian corn base.
This is the original moonshine recipe
in this country.
And I'm glad to see people going back to it.
What's to say, you know, you add other grains to it,
you can get a George Washington rye.
-Or add fruits to it... -[Tim] Yeah.
-You got a brandy. -[Mark] You get a brandy.
You know, if you love your country,
you've gotta love this recipe right here.
I heard a feller say that one time.
I've heard him say it two or three times.
[chuckles]
So let's taste it and see what it tastes like, Tim.
You know, boys, George Thorpe discovered
that corn makes good liquor 'cause it makes a good mash.
Let's see which one of these followed in his footsteps
and got the highest ABV and the best flavor.
[Mark] That's Nate?
[Tickle] That's Nate. It's a nice looking mash.
-[Mark] Yeah. It's pretty. -Yeah.
That smells scorched corn.
-Yes, I do too. -A nice, fruity smell.
It's been overcome a time or two.
[Jim] And it tastes really good.
I mean, can you all taste the fruity taste?
[Tickle] On the...
You know, on the back, I'm starting to get
some of that peach and, uh, orange in there.
[Digger] You can tell there's a little bit
-of alcohol in there... -[Jim] Not much.
[Digger] but not a lot.
And he has completely zeroed out, so he's at .9990.
See? See?
As he's starting gravity of 1.035,
he's got 5% ABV... Potential ABV.
If you look at it, back in the day,
when George Thorpe was doing this,
it's very possible about what he might have been getting.
Move on to Johnny.
I mean, really, it's got a good corn mash taste.
[Tickle] I smell peach, but I taste corn.
And I'm not upset at that.
[Jim] Going by the taste, he's gonna have a little bit
-more alcohol in it. -[Mark] I think so.
[Digger] Might have a little more.
But, you know, he used 14 more pounds
-of sugar than Nate did. -[Digger] Yeah.
And used .990...
[Tickle] Like measured that out.
Basically zeroed out too, didn't he?
Johnny 100% zeroed out, rock bottom at .990.
What does that mean?
What kind of percent has he got?
-With his... -[Digger] Beginning gravity.
.052.
And he's between 7% and 8% ABV...
-[Mark] Closer to 8%. -so he's closer to 8%
than he is 7%, so we'll go with 8%.
[Mark] Okay.
[Digger] There's a good jar of liquor
-in there somewhere, I'm sure. -Sure they are.
[Digger] I say we move on and taste Jason's.
[Mark] Jason's.
I'm getting the apples.
Getting the apple on the mash, not so much grain.
Boy, now that's a good jar of beer right there.
[Tickle] Mmm-hmm.
[Digger] That's some alcohol.
He hit the bottom pretty quick,
so I'm gonna say he zeroed out pretty good, too.
So at his starting gravity of 1.038,
so his potential ABV is 5% as well.
All right, guys. At the end of the day,
the numbers don't lie.
That's why I rely on 'em.
Uh, I can't see any other way to judge it, Mark.
I think that that's good.
Two of you guys had identical potential ABVs.
I mean, exactly the same.
One stood out just a little bit more.
And the two with the identical ABVs,
it simply came down to one flavor
was just this much better.
Nate, and you have a 5% potential ABV. All right?
Johnny, and you have a potential ABV of 8%.
Jason, your potential ABV was also 5%.
Johnny, you're going in the stillhouse first.
Jason, you're going second. Nate, you're going third.
You guys are only gonna get one run,
so make this one count.
Now comes the part where you get to take
a ride with Tickle, which is always an adventure.
All right, fellers. Y'all come on with me.
[dramatic music playing]
All right, fellers.
You guys are here to pick your still parts,
to make George Thorpe's recipe your recipe.
Johnny, you're up first, right?
Yes, sir.
You've got three minutes,
and your time starts now.
Johnny, you're not in there yet?
Nope.
My plan going into the stillhouse
is I'm just gonna build a real traditional still.
All right. Well, we've got a pot, right?
[Johnny] I've got a condenser,
a thumper for flavor, and a pot.
One and a half minutes left, Johnny.
I can put this together pretty easy, I think,
so I don't think it's gonna be too hard.
We're still missing one key component
that I can see right here.
All right. One key component.
If you don't know what it is,
you don't belong in this competition.
Oh, [bleep].
[Tickle] But you have got one minute left.
-Now, what's going on? -All right.
There we go, Johnny. All right.
-[indistinct] -[Tickle] Fort-five seconds left.
Are you good?
-All right. -I think so.
-Was I a big help? -Yeah.
-[Tickle] Oh, was I? -[Johnny] Is that right?
[Tickle] All right.
-Jason, you are up. -All right.
You've got three minutes
and your time starts now.
Come on, Jason. Show us what you got.
I definitely just wanna get the base components.
If I can get a thumper, I would definitely
like to get a thumper.
Okay.
[Jason] The reason I like to use a thumper,
not just to infuse flavors into your final product
but also it's another distillation process.
[Tickle] You got 45 seconds left.
Forty-five seconds left there, Jason.
I'm used to running all small pot systems,
I'm used to direct flame.
It's what I'm comfortable with.
-[Tickle] All right. -All right.
You got everything you need in there?
-I think I am good. -All right.
Well, take your stuff, Jason, and set it over there.
All right. Nate, you've got three minutes,
your time starts now.
So the first two guys,
they took the thumpers in there,
just like I thought they would.
[Tickle] All right. Let's see what you got.
Uh-oh. All right. Well...
So I just got everything.
[Tickle] Two and a half minutes left.
[Nate] Figured something would fit together.
Well, you have got a pot and we have got a condenser.
You know, I was looking for extra copper
because I don't have the thump keg to rely on.
[Tickle] You got a minute and 45 seconds.
A minute and 45 seconds left, Nate.
Need more surface area to get a cleaner product,
so I had to figure something else out.
[Tickle] All right, all right. Well... Oh, oh, oh.
There we go.
All right.
Nate's got [bleep] to build something.
All right, fellers.
You all have got y'all still parts,
let's get it on back in there so y'all can make
y'all's take on the very first moonshine in this country.
All right.
[Digger] Guys, I hope you got everything you needed.
It looks like Nate got all the pots.
-Yes, sir. -[Digger] All right, men.
You're gonna have one hour to get your still assembled.
Anybody got any questions?
All right. Your time starts now.
Good luck, get with it, men.
There's so much in there, you got so many options.
It's overwhelmin'.
[Jason] I got my pot, my thumper, my worm,
I know I have all my parts.
I'm ready to build a still.
[Johnny] I'm just gonna build a real traditional still.
I got a thumper, a condenser, and a pot.
I don't know what Nate is doin',
but I guess he's got a plan.
He's doing good.
Maybe he's got an idea.
[Nate] The box was about 80 pounds.
Might have overdid it a little bit,
but I wanna be sure
I had something that made a good product.
[Jim] I think he had to put a couple more of 'em.
Well...
I got a little bit of a gin basket in there
just to get a lot of surface area,
and I just gotta figure out how to, uh,
how to fit it all together.
[Johnny] What you got going on, Nate?
Just need it to connect.
And there we go.
Couldn't have measured it any perfect?
[Tim] No, I'm sure you could not have, could you?
Yeah. The eyeball calibrated that one.
I'm not sure...
what Nate has got going on here
in this column but it appears he does.
Nice.
Should be all right.
All right, men. It looks like everybody's ready to run liquor.
Sir, you feel good about that?
You know what, sir? I'll take some more time.
[Digger] I couldn't agree more.
You realized that rascal is upside down, hadn't you?
Yes, sir. [chuckles]
It looks like everybody's ready to run liquor.
You know what, sir? I'll take some more time.
[Digger] I couldn't agree more.
You realized that rascal
is upside down, hadn't you?
Yes, sir. [chuckles]
[Tickle] I think he's missin' a few little pieces.
You can miss one small part
and have to rethink everything.
[Tim] I know that'll work.
Yes, sir.
-Sorry, guys. -[Johnny] All right.
[Jason] Took too long.
Nate, looks like you've got a rig
that will safely operate, you satisfied?
95% confident...
-[chuckles] -Well, it's time to get busy then.
Looks like we're about to have a contest, guys.
Your mash is right over here where we put it.
You got four hours, bring us your best jar.
Fellers, you got anything you wanna say?
-Yeah. I always got somethin' to say. -[Digger] Yes, you do.
[Mark] This is where you're gonna share with us
how you can take the oldest corn recipe in America
and turn it into a unique, modern,
marketable, hundred-proof spirit.
Good luck.
Your four hours starts now.
Good luck, guys, and get it with it.
My mash is still workin', is y'all's?
[Jason] Mine's still workin'.
Deader than a doornail.
Peach wine.
[Jason] When it comes to makin' a good jar,
my beliefs are, you gotta take pride
in your ingredients, you want it to be fresh,
a jar that somebody...
Someone out there who wanna come back and get more of.
[Tim] Johnny is pouring his in,
-a jar at a time. -[Digger] One at a time.
That's gonna take a while, man.
[Johnny] My mash tastes real good because, uh,
it just tastes like peach wine, really.
I know my first jar is gonna be high proof.
I know my second jar is gonna be pretty high proof.
And if I get eight to ten jars,
I'm gonna go to my middle.
I'm gonna go to jar five or six,
blend probably those two.
Nate's gonna be harder
in runnin' liquor before Jason and John.
[Digger] Yeah. Maybe, maybe not.
He's got a tremendous amount of copper to heat up.
That's gonna reflux back in that pot.
[Nate] What I'm runnin', I have like a 65-gallon,
and also about 260-gallon still,
so my problem goin' into this,
is makin' sure that I keep this small still running
like I know how to run those stills.
[Mark] Now see?
There's Jason,
before he ran his hot mash out,
he killed his flames.
He won the safety award.
[Jason] I put hot corn mash
and apple slaw into my thumper.
I think it's gonna carry over the flavor real well
and hit what flavor I'm trying to hit.
Men, you've burned one hour.
You got three left.
You guys got that keg in the middle,
that surface area of copper,
and you charged a little extra,
I'm basically counting on this
-and this and this... -Just make sure--
-the biggest camp I can find.
All the surface area are for vapors to hit copper.
-[Nate] Yeah. -Yeah.
-I got... -[Johnny] Come through there and--
this one filled with mash.
-Oh, you did fill it? -[Nate] Yeah.
-[Jason] Oh, you got some mash in there? -Yeah.
And it won't take long when it gets up to 100 degrees,
it's going somewhere.
You're right about that.
-It's goin' up. -It's goin' up.
[Jason] Woo! Here we come.
Oh, it's not gonna long, boys.
[Tickle] We got liquor, boys.
[Jason] Mine's basically fixin' to start--
-[Tickle] There it goes. -[Johnny] It's actually comin' out of this one too.
-[Jason] We runnin'. Nice. -[Johnny] There she is.
[Jason] I'mma cut mine back just a hair.
[Digger] All right, guys. You got two hours left
in your run.
Yippies.
[Jason] Where you on, Johnny?
Number four?
I'm on number 14.
Comin' off the still,
I was gonna get a lot of brandy flavor first
with my high alcohols,
then it would move into a sweeter
where the corn would come out,
and then the honey would come on the back end,
so I needed that, I needed to blend down a jar
of all three of those components.
All right, men. You got one hour left.
Plenty of time to bring us that perfect jar.
Don't lose track.
We wanna taste the evolution of George Thorpe's base recipe
in the new top-shelf spirit.
[tense music playing]
Tryin' to get my proof right,
that's about, really, my only concern.
[Nate] It's so confusing.
That's a zipper on a rocking chair, that's what that is.
The jar I'm going to turn in is going to be
90% based on flavor.
Fifteen minutes, men.
If you ain't got pinky liver,
you probably ain't gon' have it.
[Nate] Got it, fellas.
-Bring it in here, Nate. -Here you go.
[Nate] It might be a little under proof, that's fine,
it still tastes good.
[Digger] Good luck, my friend.
All right, fellers.
Feel like that's a winner?
-I feel pretty good about it. -[Digger] Good deal.
[Mark] Yeah. Good luck, boss.
Ten minutes, Jason.
[tense music playing]
[sighs]
All right, gentlemen.
[Digger] Good luck to each and every one of you guys.
Fellers, looking forward to this.
[Tickle] I've been looking forward to tasting this the whole time.
[Mark] All right, guys. Based off of George Thorpe,
they put their own touch on the original recipe.
To get somethin' to shine through
and not just taste corn in this,
they're really gonna have to know what they're doing.
All right. This is Johnny.
-Good-lookin' clear jar. -[Digger] Yeah.
He strained well, filtered well.
I don't know.
I'm pretty confident with this.
-Ninety? -[Digger] Yeah. He did--
I'm not going to disagree.
He did a good-looking proof.
I don't know about you all, but I've took enough sifts,
I could feel that sweat on my head.
-[laughs] -I'm sweatin' out here.
It is definitely a little peachy.
It takes a lot to overcome corn.
I'm pickin' up both corn and peachy.
[Tickle] I'm pickin' up both right there.
I'm tastin' both too.
-And they bounce really, really well. -[Tickle] Very nice.
Pretty pleasant drink, ain't it?
Smooth on the back... On the back end.
[Mark] No fire.
Well, it's got just enough bite too
to let you know you're drinking a good liquor.
Yeah. I like it.
Let's move on to Nate.
You ever had a scorch run
all the way through your distillation?
-No. -No? Hmm.
-[Digger] Pretty good clear jar. -Looks clean.
I don't know if there's enough brandy in there,
but it tastes good.
-Proof look a little low. -[Digger] Yeah.
Tried to catch up to you two in the copper.
[Tim] There's definitely honey in this jar.
Nate scorched the hell out of his mash.
Maybe he was tryin' to influence the flavor?
-I'm not tastin' it. -I'm pickin' it up.
[Tickle] Are you?
[Digger] Maybe he noticed it too
and that may have been why he tempered down slow.
I'm gonna get the muscadine flavor on the back end.
I am.
It helped him on that scorch.
-It helped him. -Yeah.
I don't think the scorch is the deal killer here.
I honestly think that it's somewhere around 80 proof.
But in George Thorpe's original recipe,
the benchmark's 100.
It's really good and smooth but it is... It's lower proof.
I think that's simply the reason it is so smooth
and the flavors are because it is 80 proof.
Yeah. This is Jason.
How you feeling over there, Jason?
Good. Quiet but confident, I guess.
It's a nice clear jar.
[Johnny] You feel good about your proof?
Ah, I feel like mine's a little high.
That's a little low too, I'm afraid.
[Jason] I'm used to using the hydrometer, so.
Same here.
Now you're showing your skills.
Plenty of alcohol on the nose.
[Tim] Got a nice nose.
I can't really pinpoint anything.
I'm getting a subtle hint on that apple.
I'm not getting any corn, just a subtle, subtle hint.
-Take your second drink. -[Tickle] I'm getting honey.
Mmm-hmm.
Honey on the nose.
Nice flavor.
The second drink really opens the flavor up.
Apple honey.
Again, I think because the flavor is so good,
because the proof is a little low,
but it's a killer, killer good flavor.
[Tim] He's got all the three flavors in there.
-Right. -Honey, he's got apple...
-Mmm-hmm. -and he's got the corn.
Yeah. He's married them together very well.
The bead might have been misleading on that.
It's still got plenty of alcohol.
[Tickle] I'm feeling a good punch from it. It's getting--
I mean, it's got legs to stand on too.
[Tickle] It's an excellent drink.
Oh, we've got three good distillers here.
They've all done an outstanding job
running their stills.
This is all good spirits
but one of them stands above the other two.
I couldn't agree more, but here's what we gotta do.
We gotta figure out the one that stands out the least.
I think we're all right there
on the same pew singing the same song.
[tense music playing]
Well, I just wanna commend all of y'all for making
y'all's own rendition
of George Thorpe's original corn liquor,
and putting your own spin on this.
Now, you got the notes of the peaches,
the apples, the muscadines.
That's no easy task right there,
because let's face it,
corn liquor is corn liquor up one side
and down the other,
and it's hard to make it anything else.
And all I can say,
is it's a damn shame we've gotta let one of you go.
Jason, really nice, clear, clean jar.
Apple finishes really well to me on the back end.
It don't outrun the corn.
You know, corn's the dominant flavor here
and that was George Thorpe's original recipe.
But I think you made wise choices at the farmstand.
And then the end brought us a nice jar,
a good drinkin' liquor.
-Good job. -Thank you.
Nate, outstanding job of assembling your still
differently from the other guys.
You brought the flavor through.
It's hard to get that flavor to come through
with the setup of still that you had.
And because of your column setup,
I think you got the cleanest jar.
A little bit lighter proof than Jason.
We set a benchmark of 100 proof.
We got you in the low 80s.
[Tim] But still, outstanding.
It's a nice, clean jar.
Nice, good flavor.
Johnny, I'm from Virginia.
I'm like Tim.
What can I say about peaches
other than we love 'em?
We call this a cut brandy.
And you did a fine job
of bringing that peach level out
and it's giving you the alcohol.
And you have a little bit of the corn in there.
I believe one of your best moves
was barring a little bit of that malted rye
and throwing it in with your peaches
to really kick off that fermentation process.
All in all, every one of y'all,
fine jars of liquor.
I'd love to sit on my back porch and sip in any of 'em.
At the end of the day,
we can't move forward if somebody doesn't go home
and it was just a...
Just the slightest difference in proof.
Just a few drops of water would've made the difference.
And Nate,
sorry but that jar bought you a ticket home, old buddy.
-But you did a damn fine job. -Okay.
-Yup. -[Tim] Fine job.
[Nate] Being here,
I showed these guys
I'm willing to get down and do
back porch distilling just like everybody else.
All right, guys, here we are, last challenge,
final flavoring.
Somebody gets to be Master Distiller
after this challenge.
Don't let your guard down.
You two have come a long way
with a recipe that's come a long way.
[Tim] You started off with the Indian corn
and the spring water and yeast, plain-Jane.
You added your apples to it. You added your peaches to it.
Now it's time to add that a little bit more
that's gonna make you master distiller.
Enhance the flavor but don't destroy it.
Good luck, guys.
All right guys, you got 30 minutes.
Your time starts now.
Good luck, and get with it, guys.
[Tim] They're gonna warm up a pot of water.
[Tickle] I believe they are.
[Tim] You know that's a good peach when you can do that.
We're making this stuff up here.
We're gonna post-distill this stuff
and I'm squishing my peaches up,
cooking it, throw a little water in there,
a little sugar, little honey.
Take it away from just a classic corn liquor
just to give it a little different flavor.
[Jason] So we only got 30 minutes
to do our post-distillation flavoring.
I know what I'm gonna do,
you know, keep it simple.
I got some water in my pot,
apples all mashed up.
-[Tim] We got a block of wood down. -Uh-huh.
Really you get a lot of your flavor outta that peel.
[Jason] Some honey in there,
some brown sugar, some white sugar.
The entire place is smelling good.
I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out.
[Digger] And Tim, it looks like they both went
with just enhancing their original flavors.
-[Mark] I think you're right. -I like it.
-I mean-- -Jason's sticking with apples and sugar and--
Jason doing some sugar.
He may be even gonna make an apple pie.
[Tim] Johnny's stickin' with peaches.
Looks like they both put in some honey.
[Mark] You know you gotta be a little careful
with that honey in post-distillation.
[Digger] I just saw Johnny pick up
a jar of high proof liquor.
I watched him beat it and it flashed off real fast.
[tense music playing]
[Tickle] Look like Jason's setting up
for some kind of filtering process here.
Jason's going through some straining there,
some hot apple.
[Mark] And honey.
Men, you got 15 minutes, you're halfway there.
[Jason] Smells really good.
What you think?
-How's it taste? -It's all right.
Definitely worried about Johnny over there.
Presentation-wise, he's got a beautiful peach hue.
[Johnny] I'm not used to flavorin' this stuff.
Oh, Johnny has got him some canned peaches.
[Tim] Oh, is that canned peach or pineapple?
Oh, I'm just gonna try to keep my proof up
and just mix as good as I can.
Well, Johnny, I see you're going with just peach.
How's it going over there?
Yeah, I'm good with it.
What proof do you think you got there?
I know it gets difficult when you start adding fruit.
I think it's close to 100.
Jason, so what is your profile you're going for here?
Like a honey apple crisp.
Okay.
[dramatic music playing]
Five minutes, gentlemen.
[Johnny] I'm done with it.
-[Digger] Here comes, Johnny. -Bring it in here, boss.
You got peaches in it.
Hope you got your best in there.
I get them.
[Tim] Bring it in here, Jason.
-Yes, guys. -[Mark] Yes, sir.
We've got both jars.
Now all we gotta do is name us the Master Distiller.
You know what we ought to do?
You take a drink of mine,
I take a drink of yours.
Yeah.
You wanna go from the top, high test?
-[Jason] That's fine. -All right.
Burn your face off.
-All right. Good luck. -To Master Distillers.
To me, they both tastes good.
They're good.
Just hoping that my proof is high enough,
to satisfy 'em.
Did you mix any of your top jars?
The highest I went was five.
Maybe.
I'mma take another drink 'cause yours is good.
[chuckles] Back at you.
Both of these spirits started out with flint corn,
George Thorpe's base recipe.
Now we have to pick the spirit
that took that legacy corn base
and turned it into a new classic.
And you know, you always hear people
comparing apples and oranges,
-we're comparing apples and peaches. -[Tickle chuckles] Yeah.
All right. That's Jason with his apple.
-I think that he said those are honey crisp apples. -Mmm-hmm.
Worried that my proof might not be high enough.
-[Tickle] Well, it smells good and he's... -[Tim] He did.
got apple and he's got alcohol.
-[Mark] He did. -[Digger] He does in fact.
He got the right smart alcohol.
I think overall, I had a really good flavor.
He didn't oversweet,
he didn't put too much apple in there
and he didn't take anything away
-from that good spirit he had. -I'm picking up a little bit of honey on it.
He put a lot of honey in.
-He put a lot smart honey in there. -[Tim] Yeah.
But that right there is a fine drink of liquor, guys.
[Tim] Fine drink.
Johnny's gonna have to bring it.
So, you have any concerns at all?
[exhales] Just if mine's better than yours?
Well, Johnny put some peaches in it.
[Mark] He did.
[Tickle] I'll have to say that is a beautiful color.
I didn't wanna change mine up too much at all...
-[Jason] Yeah. -because I was happy with it just the way it was.
It looks a little thick and so it wouldn't wanna come out.
Them peaches is pluggin' the hole.
Mmm-hmm.
[Digger] He's got alcohol in there.
What do you think, Jason,
here making George Thorpe liquor,
both of us come outta the damn sticks?
Getting to do a spin on an old time recipe.
Original moonshine.
-Yup. -The OG.
It's been awesome.
[Tickle] You can taste the corn.
-It's a nice drink and jar of liquor. -[Mark] Yeah.
-[Tickle] It is real good. -[Mark] It is really good drink.
[Tickle] I'm not upset at that at all.
He's got a good flavor front to back.
It don't break down. It holds up in the alcohol.
-The alcohol's spot on. -Yeah.
The peach flavor is still there.
It's just not the flavor in the original jar.
-[Tim] He's got... He's... -I mean, he's done a great job.
He took some high shots and put it in, is what he did.
You got the notes of the corn,
every bit of that came through.
Both guys done that recipe proud.
I mean, he took a spirit that's already wonderful
and maybe enhanced it a little bit.
[Digger] It is extremely hard
to make corn liquor taste like anything but corn liquor,
both of them jars to infuse your flavor in there
where it didn't just completely cover up the corn.
They've both done a fine, fine job
but, you know, that we can't name
both of them Master Distiller.
Argh!
[intense music playing]
[Digger] All right, guys.
We finally made it back.
We told you to make it a tough one
and I damn sure got my wish.
I'm impressed with both of these jars
as I was your original spirits that you turned in.
Jason, you said you was kind of going
for a honey crisp apple,
and that's what you did.
I mean, it's really a nice, nice drink.
You maintained your proof,
you blended it very nicely.
You made the best of both worlds
and I think you made it work for you.
-Good job. -Thank you.
When you were mixing up apples over there,
I thought, "Here we go, just another apple pie."
And it is not.
You sweetened it up but you didn't overpower it.
Got just enough apple, you can tell it's there.
It tastes really good.
I think you tried to influence it with the honey,
and you did. You did.
Your proof is there.
It's a very good flavor profile on it
and all in all, a great jar of liquor.
Johnny, I would've stayed away from the canned peaches.
You know, you came in first.
I saw you, you started crushing up,
you know, fresh peaches in the pot
and cooking them down.
I think that fresh peach in a jar
would've been better than opening up a can
and putting it in because, you know,
I'm thinking about going back to original, originality,
go back to George Thorpe back in the day,
they didn't have canned peaches.
-No. -But now I love peach brandy.
So, you know, you got my heart there.
I think your proof is right on it.
You know what you're doing.
You and Jason, both are outstanding.
You took your Indian corn,
you added your own twist on it.
And both of y'all did a great job.
All in all, I am really, really proud
of both of you guys.
I know George Thorpe would be too.
Thank you.
All right, guys.
The sorry part of the job comes to me.
At the end of the day,
there can only be one Master Distiller.
Nobody here has anything to be ashamed of.
Two damn fine jars of liquor.
Mmm-hmm.
And, um, as it stands now,
Jason, you're the next Master Distiller, young man.
-Congratulations. -[Jason] Awesome.
There you go, brother.
[Jason] Throughout the process,
everybody kind of looked at me
as the quiet, shy one.
-Good job, young man. -[Jason] Thank you.
Definitely didn't think I was gonna win at first,
but it's like I tried to tell everybody, you know,
I was in deep thought.
I just wanted to try to stay focused
and put the best jar on the table
at the end of the day.
Y'all leave a jar in here, all right?
[laughter]
All right.
-Take that jar. -No.
Congratulations, men.