'Moonshiners' Is About the Alcohol Bootlegging Business — How Legitimate Is It?

Discovery has aired Moonshiners for more than 10 years and across 14 seasons. And, despite the illegal nature of what the cast members appear to be doing in each episode, the series remains on the air. So, is Moonshiners real? And if so, how can it still be on television if the cast is illegally making and selling alcoholic beverages?

Although Moonshiners has a solid fan base, there are still those who question the authenticity of the show. And can you really blame them? The show focuses on people who produce illegal moonshine in multiple states that include the Appalachian Mountains, including Kentucky and Virginia. And in those states, it's against the law to make and sell these distilled beverages the way they do on the show. So, what's the truth?

The people featured in Moonshiners are really in the business they claim to be in. And the inner workings they share with viewers appear to be the real deal. However, it's unlikely that anything illegal is technically taking place on the show, which is why Moonshiners is real, to an extent, but also not illegal to produce for Discovery.

In 2011, at the start of the series, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control released a statement about Moonshiners. Apparently, the way Moonshiners gets around breaking the law is by not actually showing real alcohol being made by professional moonshiners and bootleggers in the state. At least, according to the department.

"Virginia ABC agreed to participate in an informative piece that documents the history of moonshine and moonshine investigations in Virginia," the statement said at the time. "Virginia ABC did not participate nor was aware of the false depiction of moonshine manufacturing, distribution and/or transportation in the filming, and would not have participated in the `documentary' had it known of this portrayal."

The fact that the show still films in Virginia shows that it's unlikely that illegal moonshine is actually made on-camera during filming. But that doesn't mean everything else about the show isn't real. And some of those associated with the series have come forward to contradict what the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said.

According to one of the show's stars, Tim Smith, the law actually states that moonshiners have to be caught in the act with real proof. In December 2011, he told BourbonBlog.com that he was within his rights to participate on the show by making actual moonshine.

"With the laws in Virginia, and I'm pretty sure around anywhere else, you must be witnessed and physical samples of what you're producing have to be taken and analyzed," Smith said. "All of this has to be produced in a court of law and then that arresting officer has to testify. How are you going to arrest me for moonshining I did five years ago… What I did yesterday, doesn't mean I'm going to do it tomorrow."

Watch Moonshiners on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. EST on Discovery.