MythBusters - Thirteenth Season

Remember kids,

Don't try anything you see on this show at home.

We're experts. And this was like this when we got here.

On this episode of "mythshiners"...

The team gets loaded with a double shot of moonshine myths.

Okay, go ahead and fire it up.

First, could your hooch house be blown to bits...

This entire house is gonna leap five feet in the air.

...By an exploding still?

And could a tank of that old white lightnin'...

I think this thing is running on moonshine and a prayer.

...Have enough juice to run your car?

This is what moonshine is all about!

Find out as the mythbusters hit the hard stuff.

Whoa, nelly!

Who are the mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

I got the chicken! Ha!

...And Jamie Hyneman.

I'm ready.

Between them, more than 30 years

Of special-effects experience.

Together with Grant Imahara...

R-a-a-a-a-h!

...Kari Byron...

Always makes me feel dangerous.

...And Tory Belleci.

There's something you don't see every day.

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

Captions paid for by discovery communications

Deep in the appalachian mountains,

The moonshiners battle the elements...

...Each other, and the law...

You never know when you got to run.

...To continue the proud tradition of moonshine.

It's a tradition steeped in legend,

And where there's legend, there's the mythbusters.

So, first up, Adam and Jamie are starting with a bang.

You ever tried moonshine, Jamie?

Do you think I should answer that?

Eh, probably okay.

Well, then I probably have.

Have you ever made moonshine, though?

Do you think I should answer that?

probably not.

Well, then I probably haven't.

But you are familiar with the idea

That moonshining carries with it some dangers

That can achieve mythical proportions.

You mean like it can burn more than your throat?

Exactly. What we've got here is a story

About a moonshiner makin' moonshine

When something goes wrong

And blows his entire moonshining shack to smithereens.

That sounds great.

According to this legend,

A moonshiner is distilling his liquor,

When suddenly...

No more shack.

But could a still really blow your hut to high heaven?

How do you think the best way to tackle this story is?

Well, this story's about an exploding moonshiner shack,

So we're gonna have to build a shack.

Of course.

But if you're gonna make moonshine,

You're gonna need a still.

Well, maybe that's where we start.

Just go downstairs, make a still,

And start brewing our own alcohol.

You betcha.

Adam is testing his "metal"

by building an authentic copper still...

It's important to really get into your work.

...And it's a "riveting" process.

What am I doing, you ask?

I'm having fun.

Fun, but every last joint and bolt

must be carefully sealed...

Beautiful.

...to ensure it's airtight,

and the moonshine vapor will have nowhere to go but up.

I feel like a drink.

From there, it's the job of the condenser...

That's the last time I make everyone slinkys for christmas.

...To twist that vapor back into liquid hooch.

Well, that was easier than I thought it would be.

While Adam's scratch-building his still,

I've got ahold of this stainless steel milk canister,

which has been modified just for the purposes

of using it as a still.

There's the heating element.

It's the same thing they use in a water heater.

It's perfect for this.

And there we go. Ready to start shinin'.

But before they shine on,

they'll need the most important ingredient -- the mash.

So, this is the stuff we're gonna get alcohol out of.

Absolutely. What is it, exactly?

Uh, it's a good, old-fashioned corn mash.

This is predominantly about 65% corn

and malted wheat, malted barley.

A little messy but it works.

Mix those together, end up with about 10% alcohol

that we can then distill out to a higher proof.

Normally, when we say, "don't try this at home"

there's a safety issue involved.

In this case, you shouldn't try this at home

but for a different reason --

it's illegal to distill on your own.

So, we went ahead and did it right.

We got a permit, that's what you need to be able to do this.

Wow, it's actually working.

Yeah, it looks like we got something. Mmm, it tastes dangerous.

That's high proof.

Yeah, that is high proof.

We should, uh, grab a hydrometer, give it a test,

see what we're coming out at.

I thought it was gonna be a drip, drip, drip, but that's a faucet.

Looks like we got about 156 proof.

We now have a couple of working alcohol distillation machines.

Now it's time for us to go out into the field

and see how these working stills can fail.

Next, Kari, Tory, and Grant

are fueling up for a moonshine run.

I'm really excited about this whole "Moonshiners" crossover episode.

What are we testing?

Well, we've got a myth that's really common.

I mean, it's been on "Back to the future,"

"Lawless," "Dukes of hazzard."

And that is that you can run a car on nothing but moonshine

without any modifications, and it'll be totally fine.

Well, this gives a whole new meaning to driving under the influence,

which is illegal. But, I guess they're moonshiners, so they don't care.

Contact.

There's a reason the moonshiners

call their stuff "white lightnin'."

That's some fine sippin' liquor.

Randy, you could run your car on that.

But could you really run your ride on that old mountain dew?

All right, so I get the concept.

Can an unmodified car run on moonshine?

But it's a little vague, right?

True, I mean, they don't say what kind of car,

what kind of moonshine, or even the definition of run.

All right, well, why don't we start off simple?

Let's get three different cars from three different decades.

We'll get a carbureted one,

a fuel-injected one, and a brand-new car,

And we'll fill it up with the most typical type of moonshine

and see if the cars even drive.

Okay, so it's not just one for the road, it's three.

All the cars are the same make and model,

but Grant's flashing back to the '90s

and Tory's groovin' in the '70s.

You guys ready to party?

Whoo!

So, this is our course for today's experiment.

It's designed to put our cars to the test in various ways...

...Including starting from a stop, acceleration,

Precision maneuvering, and three-point turns.

Now we're gonna put moonshine in and, assuming they start,

We'll put each vehicle through three laps and score them.

And based on that, we'll find out which era vehicle,

If any, performs the best on moonshine.

What I have here is traditional moonshine.

Now, this is what we're gonna be using to fuel our cars.

Now, this particular moonshine's about 192 proof,

which means it's about 96% ethanol.

That goes down smooth.

Now, ethanol is the fuel that race cars use,

so there is a chance that this could work,

However, our cars are far from race cars.

They're not tuned up for this kind of fuel,

so is this gonna be an effective fuel?

We're about to find out.

First to cruise on the booze, it's Tory's '70s car.

I'm driving a '73 vehicle which, by the way, has a carburetor.

Now, a carburetor's job is to mix the fuel and the air together

so that the engine runs smoothly.

Now, if there's not enough fuel and too much air,

the vehicle is gonna be running lean,

which means it might not run at all.

Okay, here we go. This is moonshine in a carbureted car.

In three, two, one...

Oh! Oh, my god. Here we go.

Let's do it!

Whoo-hoo!

I think this thing is running on moonshine and a prayer.

I think it's just running on a prayer at this moment.

Is that stalled? I think it's stalled.

Oh!

It stalled.

Oh, started again.

I'm not getting away from any cop

If I'm driving that car on the moonshine.

So, after less than one complete lap...

Man, moonshine in a carbureted car --

Not the best gas.

...it's clear the carburetor can't handle