Damn!
[jeremy] this time on master distill.
Fire in the hole.
[jeremy] rise and shine.
Gonna make a little breakfast-influenced liquor.
Anyone donut?
[jeremy] the legal and illegal liquor market
Has been cashing in on everyone's love of breakfast.
Blueberry pancakes.
He tried to hit you right in wheelhouse.
[jeremy] now three distiller will turn america's favorite meal...
Breakfast liquor.
Sounds like something tickle would dig.
[jeremy] ...Into a backwoods breakfast of champions.
Makes me want to get out of bed.
They make you want to get back in bed.
[jeremy] to determine who has what it takes.
So you get some competition ahead of you.
[jeremy] to be named master distiller
I didn't bring no b game.
Bon appetite.
He's on the money.
All right, men, welcome to master distiller.
We're going to find out at the end of this competition
Which one of you all truly is the master distiller out of your flight.
If you win, you're going to get your bragging rights.
And you'll also get a limited run
Of your liquor at a major distillery.
It's a pretty big deal.
Good as gold.
We're gonna make a little breakfast-influenced liquor.
And make breakfast good all day long.
Now, when you think about it,
Whiskey is made from cereal to begin with.
So it was just a matter of time
Before folks branched out from there.
So backwoods distillers and legal distilleries,
They're taking a love of breakfast
And they're distilling it.
Tickle, tell us all about it.
They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Whether that's true or not, america loves breakfast.
We have breakfast for breakfast.
We love brunch.
Then you got my personal favorite,
Breakfast for dinner.
Liquor makers are paying attention.
From bacon washed vodka to maple whiskey.
Breakfast flavors are a growing market.
Distilleries and home distillers are coming up
With their own take on breakfast spirits.
Using mash is made with cereals and baked goods
And even infuse them with breakfast flavors after distillation.
Now that's the best part of waking up.
You guys have all brought your own special mash recipe.
I'm really excited to see what you guys bring to the competition.
All right, guys, time's come to build that signature mash.
You have one hour to put your mash together.
You look around,
We don't have anything around here to make any mash with
Because we're going outside, old school.
Come with me.
Breakfast liquor.
Yeah. Sounds like something tickle would do.
All right, guys, we're outside, old school.
Build us your best mash in one hour.
Your one hour starts now.
Good luck, guys.
Fire in the hole.
Here we go.
I've just got to cook this corn down.
You got a whole bakery over there.
And, dude, I am, man.
Smells good from here.
Yeah, tastes good, too.
[steve] my name is steve townley.
I am from golden, colorado.
[steve] I've been distilling about two and a half years.
I do about 20 to 30 batches a year.
So there's always something fermenting in our basement.
You love this part, don't you, guys?
Because you know parts are going to fall on the floor
And you're going to get treats.
I love the process from the mash, to the fermentation,
To the distilling and the flavoring.
So I'm a jack of all trades.
I've done some crazy stuff. I've made a moonshine.
[steve] I have some Halloween candy, a pumpkin beer.
Got my handy dandy drill.
Winning the title of master distiller
Would be just a game changer.
Hopefully get a career in the distiller world.
Anybody want a donut?
There's never too many donuts.
All right.
My specialty, believe it or not, is my donut moonshine.
[steve] that is breakfast.
Get in there.
The key ingredient is donuts.
[steve] so I try to stick to the neutral ones.
More like the glazed, maybe the devil's food.
My favorite, believe it or not, donut uses like the sprinkles.
That's where you get the flavor.
Stay even.
Mr. Digger, how are we doing, sir?
Well, I'm still above ground. How about you?
Hey, living the dream, my friend.
Tell me about this mash, bill.
Well, it's donuts from one of my local bakeries, at home in colorado.
It's got some brown sugar in it,
Some cane sugar, some sugar in the raw.
And I'm going to top it all off with a little oats.
-Cool. -And if you like donuts, you're going to.
Hey, you can't beat donuts. You just can't.
Somebody don't like donuts, I don't like them.
Still cold, tim.
-Gotta get some steam rolling off. -Yeah, dude.
Going to scorch my corn.
What do they say, the watched pot never boils?
My name is bryan hamner. I'm from gardiner, maine.
[bryan] and that's where we get all our malt from, big ass silo.
I'm the head distiller at maine craft distilling in portland, maine.
I run the entire production side of the distillery.
We age all our stuff, minimum of three years.
[bryan] I've made 700 gallons of whiskey
And then I've made numerous other spirits, gins
To vodkas, rum, single malt, highland style whiskey.
[bryan] so I'm very confident in my distilling.
I've never produced a spirit that I didn't like.
This is how we stoke our fires here.
Why work harder, when you can work smarter?
I put out a lot of bottles that are on the shelves,
But none of them with my name on it.
[bryan] so it would be really nice to have a spirit
With my name on it.
And they're going to call me master at my work.
-Bryan! -Hey, how's it going, digger?
Oh, I'm still going. How about you?
I'm doing all right.
Just trying to cook this corn down.
Tell me about your grain meal.
So it's got equal parts corn and malted barley,
Buckwheat roasted and raw buckwheat in there.
So what I'm going for
Is a buckwheat pancake flavor with blueberries,
And I've got a maple syrup at the end.
Well, good luck. I'm going to move on down the line.
Oh yes, bro.
How's it going, brother?
How are you, man?
Just trying and get this water to heat up as fast as I can.
[erasmo] my name is erasmo woods. I'm from beeville, texas.
This bad boy right here, I call this my copper cadillac.
I learned how to make moonshine, a long time ago,
Back in my late teens, working in farm fields,
Kind of hung out with country people
And started doing some country things.
All we do is open the top, fill our chamber.
[erasmo] I realized I had a talent for it.
I've been distilling now for about 20 years
And I actually started making breakfast style spiri
About a year ago.
And it was because, you know you wake up the next day
From drinking, you know, it's the hair of the dog kind of thing.
They want something that's got a good taste to it
But still makes them feel a little better.
That's really smooth for 140.
Well, tell me about your mash meal.
We got 60 pounds of raw cane sugar,
So we're going to start off with a silver rum.
Yeah.
And then I'mma make a sweet pea rum.
And then we're going to make some good sweet peas bloody marys.
We're talking about bloody marys.
You're in my wheelhouse.
Ain't nothing better to scab over with.
That's for sure, hair of the dog!
Yeah, boy.
Sweet pea bloody mary. It's definitely unique.
And anybody that's ever tried it,
Has told me it's memorable.
There's so much dramatic difference here.
I mean, it's going to be a tough contest.
Y'all better have your a-game out.
I didn't bring no b game.
Attaboy.
[erasmo] if I win, it would definitel be some good bragging rights
And we're going to plan on opening a distillery in fort worth, texas.
It's a breakfast of champions.
We got some donuts over here,
That we got buckwheat pancakes.
I did just add my blueberries.
I was wondering what was floating on the top, I saw.
Then we got a sweet pea bloody mary,
That takes some breakfast worth getting up for, don't it?
It makes me want to get out of bed.
Yeah.
May make you want to get back in bed.
-Yeah. -Yeah.
After you done.
Wait a minute, gentlemen.
Thank you. Thank you.
Sounds like your flame just went out.
Turned it off.
I'm done with heating it up.
Oh, nice.
I know things are on a time limit and what not.
That's something most of us aren't used to.
I know I'm good at what I do.
And I feel confident doing something that I know.
Keep it as simple as possible.
That's the problem with working with this course corn.
You really got to cook it down to make it work for you.
[bryan] buckwheat is the same way. I'm taking a chance
Because I don't really have much time to cook my corn down,
But I feel like it's a chance I'm willing to take,
And I think it's going to pay off in the end.
I picked the probably the hardest mash.
It's tricky.
5 minutes, boys.
Time limits are not my friend.
You'll be just fine
Until you get one of the big donuts hung up in that spigot.
Yeah.
It's hopefully not going to happen.
I think I got them ground up pretty good.
Boys, you're down to one minute.
All right. Gives me time to stir this 15 more times.
Well, you hope so. Yeah.
Whenever you're ready you dump it in your barrel back there.
-Ready? -Yep.
Nice and slow.
15 seconds, boys.
Five. Four, three, two, one.
Step away from the kettle.
We'll see you all in five days.
Y'all chase on that. We'll take you from here.
-Sounds good. -Good luck.
Thank you.
All right guys, are your mashes ready?
You're going to run it on a basic pot still.
It's just your still and your condenser.
Oh, nice.
We want you to distill it.
You're going to bring that flavor through.
We want that breakfast flavor.
We want to keep it at above 80 proof.
But remember, if you get too high, you lose that flavor.
We don't want water.
Well.
Winner of this challenge gets first pick of still parts from the still house.
It's awesome.
Now, if you need a thumper or any particular part
To improve your run on the next challenge, you better win.
Sounds good.
All right, guys, you heard everything we got to say.
It's time to make some liquor.
Got four hours to complete it.
We want your very best jar on this table before that time passes.
Your four hours starts...Now.
Good luck, guys. Get on with it.
Rock and roll.
Get busy, guys.
Oh, yeah.
-Fire in the hole. -Here we go.
All right.
I need a strain, strain, strain.
[steve] all my competitors were actually scaring me
Because one of them works at a distillery.
He does it for a living.
And the other gentleman,
He makes 50 gallon mashes at a time.
[steve] but my donut moonshine.
This is a tried and true recipe.
Can't wait to come out on top.
Wow.
Let me ask you a question. Did anyone see any
Pancakes going into the mash?
We got buckwheat flour.
Corn and barley.
And buckwheat and blueberries.
Like a buckwheat pancake.
There you go, tam.
That's what we're looking for.
Bryan, is this a regular recipe that you normally use?
No, it is not.
It is a recipe that I converted into a breakfast recipe.
But you've never actually ran this this batch.
You know, as a rule, we always say this honestly.
It's not the time to experiment.
If it tastes like it does right now,
When it's distilled, it should be good.
It ain't going to taste like that.
Yeah, I know.
I'm not too worried about the spirit I'm producing.
I know I can produce some good liquor.
You've burned one hour of your time, got three left.
-Oh. -Was that yours?
There she goes, dripping.
Yeah, she's running.
[erasmo] there is a risk making a silver rum
For breakfast right now just because it's not breakfast flavors in it.
But I know that if I can mak a good base
That leads into a breakfast at the end,
I just got to make it to the end.
You got a nice flow going on?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, look at me go.
Just started dripping.
What temperature you guys at, 180?
It's 182.
It should be good. It should be dripping.
I'm gonna crank this up.
At home I'm used to running on a stainless steel still.
[bryan] this is literally the first time
I've run on a copper still.
And I'm looking at the other guys
And everybody running before me.
You keeping an eye on that pancake, ain't ya?
Crank it up a little bit more.
-Oh, it puked. -[erasmo] what's going on?
Oh, I feel that's puking, bro.
This is literally the first time I've ever puked.
That is not what you want to see coming out your worms.
Yeah, it's coming out too fast.
It's just cause I was overcompensating.
Because you guys are running already.
That didn't help you a damn bit, did it?
[bryan] if I don't fix it,
I will not have a nice clear jar to turn in. Screwed myself.
Crank it up a little bit more.
Oh, it puked.
Well, that sucks, doesn't it.
That didn't help you one bit, did it?
Ah, that sucks.
Just pop that top off real quick.
Dump some water down it.
-Just to flush it out? -Yeah.
Ras had a good plan to clear out my condensing arm.
Just pour it in.
[bryan] I've never seen anybody do that before.
I wouldn't have thought about it.
-It's a great idea. -There you go.
I'm just glad I had erasmo there to help me fix it.
Dude, it cleared right up, though.
-No problem bro. -Thanks for the help.
Man, you burnt two hours.
-You're halfway there. -Right on.
It's going too quick.
How you doing there, brother?
I'm going too slow or I don't know, I'm nervous.
This competition means a lot to me
And I just want to do the best I can.
Donuts is something a little new to me, man.
Digger made wedding cake liquor one time.
We're looking for wedding cake.
Look here at these little fellers.
Those are cake balls.
We'll take some of them.
Taste that.
Mother of pearl.
That's the best tasting mash I've ever tasted in my life.
Around here, people save their donuts for bear bait.
I don't know anybody around here
That'd surrender a donut from their own belly.
All right guys, got one hour left.
-How many jars you getting? -Looking good.
I told you boys I brought my a-game.
I did not bring no b game.
For the stripping run,
I'm looking for a good, deep rum flavor and quantity
Because quantity is what gives you a good selection of hearts.
[erasmo] that's the liquor the judge wants.
They don't want it to be like liquid fire.
Erasmo had some powerful mash evidently.
He's got enough damn liquor to stock the liquor store.
I see he's got a whole lot of jars over there.
You guys, you may have more distillate,
But you got some competition ahead of you.
Five minutes, boys.
All right, I'm ready.
This shine right now, tastes like you're sipping on a donut.
It's sweet and sugary, and it's amazing.
Here we go, gentlemen.
-All right. -All right.
You head on out.
-Sounds good. -Thank you.
We'll come get you when we reach a decision.
Here comes another.
I know I've got enough liquor in there with a good amount of flavor,
And I feel very comfortable about the jar I laid out.
You head on out, bryan.
-Thank you. -Good luck. I'm done.
[erasmo] my rum was definitely good.
I got a good quality rum out of it.
This has got potential to make a good bloody mary.
All right erasmo, we're going to sample and taste a little bit.
We'll come get you all whenever we get that done.
-Good luck. -Appreciate you.
All right. Whiskey, push. Let's get started.
I hope one of them makes you want breakfast three times a day.
Let's get this first. Joe.
Bryan, blueberry, buckwheat whiskey.
Pretty clear jar.
Getting about a 100 on that.
Look good.
Low point was that little bit of puking I got at the beginning.
My second jar was mint, so thank you, ras,
For helping me rinse that out.
Smells like alcohol and buckwheat.
Yeah, it's got a buckwheat taste.
I get a little hint of blueberry.
I didn't taste the pancake.
Not unpleasant, is it?
Erasmo, this is texas silver rum.
You got a good amount of jars.
Judging by your yield,
Yeah, I think you got nothing to worry about.
Yeah. So I'm definitely happy.
Yeah.
All right, here we go.
Hmm.
I think it's low proof.
It smells good 'cause I can smell it already.
Smells nice. Smells like a good rum.
Bit low.
Yeah, pretty low.
Yeah, maybe 60 proof, maybe.
That you've got some sweet note.
I'm assuming that's coming from those sugars he used.
You know, he made a rum base.
Now it's supposed to be a breakfast drink,
But that could probably be something
To build a bloody mary on.
Just needs some alcohol.
Steve.
All right. Here we go.
Yeah, it's kind of on the low side.
It ought to have a lot of flavor.
I'm smelling a donut.
It smells a little cakey.
It smells like breakfast.
It's almost like the glaze on the donut.
It's creamy.
Honestly, it's got a pretty decent taste, a good flavor.
You just need some alcohol to give it a backbone.
He gets a thumper in there,
This right here, he's going to do something.
And I've never used a thumper and I am dying to use a thumper.
All right boys, we're all in the front seat together.
-Yeah. -I'm gonna go fetch him.
Go get him.
All right, guys. Welcome back.
Nobody goes home.
Simply a pecking order, how are you going to the stillhouse.
If you're bringing up the caboose,
Chances are you're not going to get everything you need.
So keep that in mind.
-Steve? -Yes, sir.
Plenty of flavor in that drink right there.
Proof's a little bit low, but you got the glaze
Off the donut right on your palate.
-Good job. -Thank you.
Donut flavor is good,
But you need about 30 more proof on your jar.
Okay.
I'm just tasting the glaze on top.
Very heavy glaze.
And we want both.
We want taste and we want proof, too.
Bryan, you did a good job.
Good tasting jar.
You was almost spot on on your proof, flavor was really good.
-Good job. -Glad to hear.
For your's, I'm tasting buckwheat.
I didn't taste the pancake.
I didn't taste the blueberry.
But I can taste the buckwheat.
I know this is your base run
And you definitely do have something to work with.
Erasmo, your rum, spot on, it's good.
Just a little bit more on your proof.
There's a lot of jars is on that table.
You may have higher proof liquor
That you just simply didn't use.
I don't know. But all kinds of flavor.
I'm telling you, it's in there.
Hell of a job.
All right guys. I'mma give you your pecking order
And get you a ride to the stillhouse.
Bryan, you're number one in the stillhouse.
Woo!
Erasmo, you're going in number two.
Steve, unfortunately, your low proof jar brought you in third place.
Fair enough.
-All right. -Get your boy in here.
Let's go.
-Hey, buddy. -How's it going there?
Look at him, damn, he's still sober.
I'm glad you brought the truck this time,
Because all three of these guys,
They need to go out to the stillhouse,
Enhance their flavor profile, up their proof a little bit.
All right, well, it just so happens
I know where a whole bunch of still parts are.
All right, y'all, come on with me.
Fellas, the whole key is to make them think it was their idea.
Then you get your way.
All right, gentlemen.
You all are going to have 3 minutes to go in here
And pick your still parts.
Bryan, you're up first.
You have three minutes, starting now.
Go get 'em, buddy.
[bryan] I have first pick of still parts.
I'm just super pumped,
And I'm going to be able to go in there and get what I want.
Seeing anything you recognize in there?
Yeah.
All right. We have got a pot.
All I need is to get a thumper
So that I can infuse those blueberry flavors that I'm looking to do.
Okay, well, we have got a thumper.
We've got a condenser.
All right, we've got a pipe.
-I think I'm good. -All right.
Erasmo, you're up, starting now.
Buddy.
[erasmo] I know I got a good flavor profile out of my liquor,
So I'm choosing to stay with only a pot and condense
Okay. All right.
Well, look, erasmo is coming out very quickly
With some good parts, all right?
And I'll get all the flavor out of the sweet pea juice
That I'm introducing to it and not be lost in the thumper.
Very quick time for erasmo.
All right, steve.
Three minutes, starting now.
Let's go.
All right, steve.
Knowing I have to get my proof up,
I have to get a thumper.
We have got a pot, we have got a thumper,
And hopefully we got a condenser.
Do we? Yes, we have got a condenser too.
I grabbed almost everything that was left.
So I'm hoping the spare parts
Are going to help me dial in the perfect proof
So you can have a good end product.
There we go.
Are you good, steve?
I think so.
All right, fellas, now that we got our still parts,
Let's grab them and move on with this challenge.
Well, these fellas have got them some still parts.
Steven over there.
He's got a few extras.
Got everything but the kitchen sink.
Everything.
-Good luck, fellas. -Thank you.
Thanks.
All right, guys, you have one hour to put that rascal together.
Your time starts now.
Good luck. Let's go.
Get with it.
The still I'm building is very similar
To the still I have at home.
I'm extremely looking forward to being able to operate
On something I feel very comfortable working with.
Erasmo is done.
You happy erasmo, the way yours was?
Keep it simple. I'm going for flavor on this one.
Okay.
33 minutes left.
Like a jigsaw puzzle.
Ta da!
Looks good.
You guys are done already?
Sometimes when you get so much stuff,
You can't see the forest for the trees.
I had to put it together and it's starting now.
I know the right piece, I do.
I just got to make it work.
We're not making you nervous, are we?
Because we only got everybody looking at you.
For sure it was working earlier.
I'm gonna say good luck with that.
-Now, steve? -Yes, sir.
Just because that's together and it works may not be the best.
Just depending on what you're trying to do.
I know you need to up your proof.
Of course the thumper will help you with that.
Yeah, the thumper will help you.
Best advice I can give you at this point is stop overthinking it.
I'm done.
Good move.
That was fun, not gonna lie.
You guys made a great breakfast based spirit.
The next step is your flavor run.
Now you've had a chance to build your stills like you want.
Hopefully you'll be able to enhance your breakfast flavor.
Also, this is a chance to up your proof if you need it.
Be careful.
Don't get more flavor and not enough alcohol
Or get too much alcohol and it takes away from your flavor.
Somebody's going home on this one, so make it count.
You got four hours.
We want your best jar up here before that passes.
Your time starts, now.
Good luck. Get with it.
Well, good luck, fellas.
Ditto.
It's gonna be awesome.
That smells real good.
Is that a secret ingredient?
-Yes, sir. -Pure sweet pea juice.
Really?
Sweet pea in moonshine.
Sweet pea.
I do know sweet peas aren't typical breakfast foods.
End up with the best bloody mary you've ever had.
But I do know I could come out with a good
Sweet pea rum, to balance out that tomato juice.
It'll make a good bloody mary.
That's good stuff in the thumper right there.
It's rich.
Steve, you're gonna charge your thumper with anything?
Maybe a little of your mash.
Not all of it.
Going into the second run, I know I have to get my proof up
If I want to get a chance to win this competition.
But I'm not worried about the flavors
Because it's got incredible flavor.
Bryan, did you put all your distill back in your mash?
Yeah. My strategy for the spirit run,
My proof was all working out according to plan.
So I'm looking to infuse that blueberry flavor
With actual blueberries.
Yeah. Mash them up before you put them in the thumper?
I don't think so.
If I get to the end, that's where I'm going to put that maple syrup in there.
I'm basically trying to stack up my flavors like a pancake.
I got a fair amount of blueberries,
So it should put some good flavor in there.
You burned one hour of your time.
Got three left.
Ooh, we're running, boys.
Oh, look at me go.
It started dripping.
Is that your first jar?
Yeah, you?
Got a nice, steady drip.
Ooh, we got that blueberry in there.
You got 2 hours left in your run.
Damn.
This is legit, man.
-How's yours? -Tastes real good.
And I got no complaints.
[steve] I'm mixing and tasting and tasting
And tasting then mixing, then tasting again.
Like I'm tasting a little bit too much.
[steve] but my run's going great.
I'm collecting numerous jar
And they're tasting phenomenal.
Bumbo!
Almost.
I think that guys has been sampling a little bit too much.
That's highly possible.
I'm just trying to pick the right jar.
I've got these flavors stacked up pretty well so far.
I got that buckwheat in there.
I got that blueberry in there.
I'm bringing up my a-game.
It's good.
30 minutes left in this run.
I feel great.
The liquor looks very clear. Has a great smell.
[erasmo] I'm getting a real good, sweet pea flavor.
It's exactly what you would want it to be.
All right gentlemen, two minutes left on the clock.
Here we go.
I hope we're as happy as he is.
I'm looking forward to it.
-You sure about that? -Yes, sir.
Will you chase all out?
When we reach the decision, I'll be there to get you guys.
Appreciate you guys.
Think I'm ready.
This is mine.
-All right, bryan. -Thank you.
You chase out back with steve.
-Good luck. -Been fun.
Eight, seven, six.
I'll be the one.
Five, four, three, two, one.
All right erasmo, as soon as we reach a decision,
I'll be there to get you.
-Yes, sir. -Appreciate it.
Good luck boss.
Jamie, it's time for breakfast.
Now, this first one, bryan.
Looks like close to 100.
Feel pretty good, man.
I feel like I blended jars pretty good.
Bryan's got a nice nose on it.
So that buckwheat is what's coming in.
Get a little blueberry in the middle.
It's like pancakes with the blueberries on top.
It's just a little fiery for me,
But this may be exactly where bryan needs to be.
Think about it.
If he's going to use it for something down the road,
He's on the money.
Yeah. Yep. Moving on.
Steve.
My proofs way up.
It's like a little proof in there.
Yeah, I believe it has.
Maybe 120.
It's going to have to be something really special
With that proof to taste the donut.
I feel good. I'm doing donuts.
Who doesn't like donuts?
Yeah.
It smells really, really good.
I'm not getting those donuts.
Oh, boy.
Yeah.
That's hotter than a [bleep] wolf in a forest fire, ain't it?
He left the flavor in the other jar I believe.
He said it was going to taste like donut, glazed donut?
He must have used the hole of the donut, not the donut.
You know, you can't have the flavor and high proof.
Usually you get one or the other.
Let's try erasmo's.
Clear jar.
I'd say one thing, he put a lot of effort into his labeling.
I think he solved his proof problems.
Yeah, he came in a little low on the first.
He wanted to make sure he made up.
I think erasmo is about at 130 now.
I was low on my proof last time.
I shot a little higher this time,
So hopefully not too high.
Me as well.
Well, I don't know what sweet pea rum's supposed to taste like.
It's the first time I smelt sweet pea moonshine.
It smells a little pea.
I believe it's the first time I've tasted sweet pea moonshine.
That's quite nice.
Even though looking at the bead, it's 130 proof. But
When you taste it, it's really not too strong.
No, not for the proof, it is.
It almost tastes good for you.
I can see that being a bloody mary.
I like it.
We've never, ever had three complete different profiles
To this extreme.
My jars are amazing, I think.
All right, that's what's up.
Make it hard for them.
Make it hard for them to figure out.
Exactly.
It'll be a hard decision for sure.
I know where I'm at.
-Jamie. -I'm good.
Here we go. I'm gonna go fetch them.
All right men, welcome back.
We sampled a lot.
Pretty tough decision we had to make right here.
Unfortunately, one fell a little short
Than the other two, somebody's got to go home.
We sampled a lot.
Pretty tough decision we had to make right here.
Steve, good drink of liquor.
I think you could have brought a little more flavor in there
Had you gone more into your later jars.
I think it was a little too high proof,
But all in all, a damn fine drink.
Very clear jar.
But I didn't get a whole lot of the donut taste
That I was expecting.
You already got a good base.
All you got to do is just influence a little bit more.
-Fair enough. -Bryan.
Again, I believe you were a little bit too high of a proof
To really bring all the flavors you needed too to the party.
The buckwheat comes in as a dry finish,
Kind of like a, a rye or a wheat.
But the blueberry, you got it on the nose and you taste it.
I think you brought us something.
The breakfast.
It was almost like pancakes with the blueberries on top.
Yeah.
Erasmo, sweet pea liquor.
It's different. I know
I've never tasted anything like it.
It brought a lot of alcohol to the party.
I think he did an excellent job.
High proof, I'm putting it at 130,
But even though it is a high proof, it tastes really good.
Little strong up front then goes away.
I think you got a good jar.
-Appreciate it. -Yeah.
You got a lot of room for breakfast flavoring.
-And that was the plan. -Good job.
And I want to commend all three of you.
Thank you guys for letting us taste your spirits.
That being said, somebody's got to go home.
Steve, unfortunately, that jar bought you a ticket home.
-Awful sorry. -All right.
That's tough.
-Thank you, sir. -It's all good, man.
I'm kind of bummed.
[steve] I thought my alcohol was right where they wanted to be,
But it turns out it was just too high a proof
It just wasn't my day.
But the experience on this whole journey was amazing.
So I would do it again if I could.
That's the sucky part of our job.
All guys, here's what y'all been waiting for, this do-all, end all.
One of you two is going to be named the next master distiller.
You know, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
This is going to be the most important flight yet for y'all.
Adding flavors after distillation is tricky.
Now you both came into this challenge
With good base spirit, high proof.
But, you know, in one second, you could ruin that
If you make the wrong choices.
I'm a breakfast kind of guy here.
I can't wait to taste both of these drinks.
You have one hour to bring us your best breakfast liquor.
Your hour starts now.
Good luck, men.
Good luck, bro.
I wanted to get to this point.
I feel like I'm going to win due to the fact
That all my liquor is a winner.
They can use any of their jars.
I'm feeling pretty pumped to be going to the next round.
This is the real exciting part.
Taking my sweet pea rum
To make one of the best bloody marys I've ever had.
All right, guys, you got 20 minutes burned up,
40 left to go.
That's not walnut syrup, is it?
No, it's maple syrup that I made at home.
I tapped trees on my property and my parents' down the road.
I put it in a barrel, aged it for about a month.
I brought some oak aged maple syrup.
That's going to be my secret weapon.
That'll put the edge on that I need to win this.
You took a whiskey barrel?
Yeah.
Hoping to pull some of that spirit flavor
From the other liquors that were in the barrel.
Hopefully not too much where it drowns out the rest of my flavor.
This process here is pretty cut and dried.
Over here I'm kind of interested now.
Toothpaste, but it's not. Tomato paste.
What is that?
Clam juice.
Cloves.
Celery salt.
White pepper.
Black pepper.
Erasmo has got way more moving parts than bryan does.
I was wondering if that would go in there or not.
Oh, yeah, you got to mix it up real good.
Get all those flavors at once.
Oh, yeah.
My recipe, it's something unique and memorable.
As long as I don't take away the actual flavor of the sweet pea rum,
It's just going to be an awesome drink coming out the end.
How's it going, ras?
I'm trying to get it balanced just right.
I still taste the earthiness from the sweet peas,
But want to get that little bit of pepper in there, too.
This is two of my favorite things here.
Damn pancakes, syrup and bloody marys.
Maybe just take a drink of one of them
And chase it with the other one.
That's what I was kind of thinking.
While you guys are going it,
I can't see why a man won't eat breakfast three or four times a day.
Tempering down a little?
Yeah, very little.
That ain't gonna do much.
I'll tell you what, though.
In that amount I tell ya it don't take that much.
You'll knock the proof down in a hurry.
And I can't judge it by the bead now
Because all the sugar content in there.
So I got to go by flavor alone.
Luckily I drink, so I've got a pretty good idea.
What I made is as close to a breakfast drink
As you could possibly get.
It is literally blueberry pancakes in a jar.
And if I don't win, it's definitely not
Because of the fact my liquor doesn't taste good.
It's because the other guy's,
Like, it tastes a little bit better than mine.
15 minutes left.
Let it sit, see what those flavors come out like.
That's the thing about a bloody mary.
You wait a little longer,
The one flavor will come out a little more than the other.
Probably tastes better even the next day.
-Sometimes. -Yeah.
Looking over at bryan, seeing what he was doing,
He was really coming along good with his run.
But I know I did everything I need to make a good bloody mary,
So I'm pretty confident.
Erasmo putting peppers and stuff in it,
Probably will sway tim a little bit
Because he hates anything spicy or hot.
Oh [bleep] no.
You know, bacon would go good in either one of these drinks here.
If he had a stick of bacon to lay in,
Then he'd be on time.
That should be the next challenge.
But I can't tell with bacon.
Then you got to keep the bacon fresh and good.
I wonder how much trouble it'd be
To make bacon flavored ice cubes.
They would be good in that or that.
Did y'all hear about the shortage in hams?
-In hams? -Hams.
There's only two places you can get ham now.
-Ham? -Ham, yeah.
Country or city ham?
No, just each side of the hog's butt.
But erasmo putting peppers and stuff in it
Probably will sway tim.
He hates anything spicy or hot.
It's got black pepper,
But it ain't got no tabasco or anything.
Okay. You got five minutes left.
I'll give this one last taste.
Tickle says there's a lot to be said
For quality control, don't it, tim?
The heat quality controls himself into a coma.
Tastes a little different when it's cold.
It tastes better.
All right. Here you guys go.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed making it.
Bryan, you chase on out.
All right, thanks, guys.
It's been awesome.
That's it. Proud of that.
-There you go. -Bring it in here.
Once we reach a decision,
We're going to come and get you guys.
All right. Appreciate you.
Good luck, brother.
Get started there tim, any one you want.
This one's closer to me, no ice.
Bryan. Just a light honey color.
I don't know if we can do anything with the proof.
No, we just have to do the best we can tasting it.
Bon appetit there, haddy boy.
-Wow. -Oh, yeah.
It's got a little slurpee.
Slurpee there.
Little slurpee.
I don't know what that tastes like.
I get a little blueberry pancakes.
It's kind of smooth. It kind of rolls right off.
It is good.
It's smooth, it's buttery.
I believe that syrup's what gave it
That nice little buttery mouthfeel.
I think you brought us breakfast drink.
Got a little bit of bite at the back of your throat
When you swallow a bit.
It's got a little fire in it.
He's got alcohol in it.
That's a good 100 proof there.
And he ain't ran away with the flavor on the maple syrup.
I mean, you get it,
But it don't overpower the rest of the liquor.
Yeah.
I tried to make something that does scream maine,
But isn't necessarily something that's already on the shelf.
Let's move on to the bloody bloody.
No doubt we know who this is.
Well, that's definitely not a good clear jar.
Came out what I was aiming for.
Tastes like a good bloody mary,
And it still has that earthy sweet pea.
Looked pretty in the jar.
Oh, boy. That's bloody mary.
Yeah, boy. And it's a dandy.
I can see that being a breakfast drink.
It's almost like a vegetable.
You get that pleasant, sweet taste like you've eaten sweet peas.
But the sweet pea is kind of clouded a little bit
By the black pepper.
I like the way it, you know,
All these spices he's got in there.
They're suspended, ain't they?
This is a bloody mary to go.
It's already pre-made.
You just buy it and chill it and pour it out.
This is marketability.
Yeah. I'm definitely happy. I'm proud of what I did.
Win, lose or draw. I'm glad I made it here.
Got to meet you guys.
Wouldn't trade it for the world.
If you all are good, I'm going to go fetch him.
I'm going with.
-Ten-four. -I'm riding with you and tim.
Here we go.
Hi, guys. Welcome back.
Had some really good drinks we had to finish off here.
One of y'all will be named master distiller
And you can win a limited run
Of your breakfast themed moonshine
At sugar land distilling company in gatlinburg, tennessee.
Bryan didn't fail us in too many different ways.
Maple, smoky from that charred barrel.
It actually kind of gave you a few notes,
Like a good aged bourbon.
Still had plenty of proof, plenty of backbone.
You can build a cocktail on, really, really good.
I have to give you that.
Bryan, I thought it was just a little bit hot,
But all in all your jar, I think the maple comes through as well.
It didn't cloud or hide your original base flavor
And very good job.
Thank you.
Erasmo, bloody mary. That's right in my wheelhouse.
You had plenty of alcohol in there,
But it wasn't so powerful that it overran the tomatoes.
You know, you might have went a little too powerful
On black pepper for my taste.
Still, it was a bloody mary and a fine one at that.
That right there is one ready to go drink.
What stands out in the jar is we let it sit on the table for a little while.
Everything that you put in it, it's still floating,
You know, it's not like falling to the bottom.
So good job on that.
I like them both a lot.
You both are master distillers,
But we can't crown but one.
And unfortunately it falls to me to be the one
That gets to swing that axe.
There can only be one master distiller.
Bryan, you're the next master distiller, my friend.
Whew.
[bryan] it's almost surreal
This is like a dream come tr
For my liquor to be on a shelf with my name on it.
Nice.
And show what us maine moonshiners can do.
[bryan] I'm now a master distiller.
Feeling good.
Erasmo, you know mark ramsay feels honored
To got to taste your product.
Even though I didn't win the competition,
We got to run some legal liquor.
And this definitely been an amazing experience.
It's been a blast, guys.
Sorry, y'all chase on out and have a drink.
Thanks for having us all.
What do you say, we head over to one of them 24 hours breakfast places
And see if they'll mix us a drink like this.
-Let's go. -Let's go.
Tim's buying. Come on, timmy!
I'm always buying.