When local moonshiner Tickle accidentally ordered $1,800 worth of blueberries for his restaurant, his wife, Carol, was less than pleased. With the perishable fruit threatening to go to waste, Tickle turned to his outlaw partners for a creative solution: converting the costly mistake into profitable blueberry brandy.
“I told her I was going to handle it,” said Tickle. “But if something went wrong, I knew my wife wouldn’t be happy at all.”
Determined to make the best of the situation, the team set out to build a traditional “dead man” still—a wooden contraption dating back to the days before Prohibition. Moonshiner Henry, an expert in old-school distillation methods, explained the design: “It’s basically a rectangular box, kind of like a coffin. That’s why they call it a dead man still.”
The team milled their own lumber using a state-of-the-art sawmill, utilizing white pine, which expands when exposed to moisture, sealing the structure. Despite their confidence, the untested still left room for doubt.
“This is a steel we’ve never built,” admitted Tickle. “I need this to come together quick, and I need this to come together right.”
As the mash fermented, anticipation built. On the morning of the distillation, the team rushed to test their new contraption. But as soon as they fired it up, problems arose—leaks sprung up around the wooden structure. “It started as a tiny leak,” Henry recalled. “Then next thing you know, all hell breaks loose.”
Tickle, Henry, and their partner Kenny scrambled to plug the leaks, using rags, knives, and paste to patch the still before losing valuable liquor. “I can’t afford to lose none of this,” said Tickle. “Believe me.”
With the makeshift repairs holding, the team finally saw results. “There she goes!” Tickle exclaimed as the first drops of distilled brandy emerged. As they sampled the batch, relief washed over them.
“It actually tastes like blueberry pie,” Tickle said, grinning. “I was worried to death about this, but it made some good brandy.”
The final yield? 15 gallons of high-proof blueberry brandy, a batch that Tickle is confident will sell fast. More importantly, it means his costly error won’t bankrupt his business.
With his restaurant’s finances back on track, Tickle can finally breathe easy—at least until the next unexpected challenge arises.
