On tonight’s episode of Moonshiners on Discovery, a new twist of moonshine is being experimented with and it is fraught with danger and uncertainty.
Can the non-high chemical component and matrix of marijuana — known as CBD — be safely infused into a high percentage alcohol base? The guys are literally playing with fire here.
Watch in our exclusive clip as Tickle and the Laws infuse anxiety-reducing CBD into their shine, but they are afraid of any mishaps, most notably a fire or explosion.
Concocting a volatile mixture
First, understand that CBD is legal. Cannabidiol (CBD’s formal name) is sold to people for a variety of ailments, acute and chronic pain to epilepsy to multiple sclerosis.
CBD does not get users high, unlike another compound from the marijuana plant, tetrahydrocannabinol, THC’s formal name. But is there a real effect when added to alcohol? The results are inconclusive.
Once burned, twice shy as we find out the guys have all suffered burns doing this stuff later in the clip.
We find ourselves in Franklin County, Virginia as Tickle opens our clip and compares the ethanol and hemp mixture as “green as a frog’s butt.” Joining him are Kenny and Henry.
He says: “Well, I tell you, what that stuff looks, it’s green as a frog’s butt…all right and you gonna go ahead and strain her?”
Tickle explains the action unfolding, and adds, “We’re to the point now that we need to get the ethanol that should be laden with CBD off of the actual hemp itself.”
The three mix the ingredients and joke about the color green also being the color of money — which is why they are doing this in the first place.
Then their safety is discussed, as the men move outside to diffuse the aromatic and explosive and volatile compounds to ensure they stay in one piece.
Henry says, “Let me tell you one thing… you better be scared because I’ve seen too many people… I’ve been burnt before, kids been burnt before and this right here is something beyond that we’ve ever dealt with before. I’m extremely nervous about it.”
The men proceed with caution but you will have to tune in tonight to see if this moonshine CBD infusion is worth the extra caution and risk.
Exclusive Moonshiners clip
After the excitement last week, on tonight’s episode we see the CBD experiment — where the science is anything but stress-free.
Also, Josh digs into his secret stash to cure his underground blues. And a “mystery bootlegger” dominates Mike’s turf and it’s about to get all aggro up in here:
Moonshiners airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on Discovery.