PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

As a devotee of salty, sour foods, I believe Pittsburgh Pickle Co. products are heaven-sent.

A decade ago, brothers Joe Robl, John Patterson and Will Patterson took a leap of faith and launched the business from the basement of Verona United Methodist Church. Using all-natural ingredients, the Oakmont natives transformed small batches of kirby cucumbers into delectable pickle chips.

These days, they operate out of a 10,000-square-foot facility on Wildwood Road in Verona, bottling and selling their divine brine as Picklexir. The label claims that the mix of water, vinegar, salt, spices and turmeric soothes muscle cramps, aids in weight loss, boosts belly health and eases hangovers. Although the statement hasn’t been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, it has been tested by this food editor.

The puckery liquid made for a great “pick”-me-up the morning after I had a few beers on my balcony, so it’s a miracle cure in my book.

JOHN PATTERSON, CO-FOUNDER OF PITTSBURGH PICKLE CO. | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Truth be told, I’ve always revered pickles. I still have the Heinz pickle pin I received during a Mass at St. Ferdinand’s Church in the ’80s. Our priest invited all fidgety kids to the front so he could speak to us directly. After the sermon, we were sent back to our pews with iconic, pickle-shaped accessories. I felt compelled to bring mine with me when I made the pilgrimage to Pittsburgh Pickle Co. in May.

The brothers were busy preparing for Picklesburgh, the Steel City’s annual celebration of all things dill. For four years in a row, it’s been named one of the nation’s Best Specialty Food Festivals by the readers of USA Today. From July 18-21 (expanding to a fourth day this year), a Downtown section of the Boulevard of the Allies will be a pickle lover’s paradise, complete with food, beverages, vendors, activities and a pickle-juice drinking contest. Last year’s winner, Dan Kopa, downed a 32-ounce jar in 7.3 seconds. He won $500, a championship belt and was named Mayor of Picklesburgh.

Related: Jenny Lee Prepares for Picklesburgh and a Future Chain of Sandwich Shops

Joe, John and Will are the undisputed Pickle Kings.

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Their chips are ridged on one side, flat on the other, so they resemble tiny crowns. The royal snacks are available in a variety of flavors, including Original Dill, spicy Brimstone, sweet and tangy Dagwood and deli-style We The Pickle. (I ate an entire 24-ounce jar of the all-American chips as I wrote this story. Where’s my championship belt?)

The company also sells an outstanding Bloody Mary mix made with their signature pickle brine. Briney Mary won Double Platinum at The Drunken Tomato Awards, a worldwide Bloody Mary competition. It’s non-alcoholic, but there are cocktail recipes on the jar. You can buy it online or in Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores. Just look for the mermaid label designed by Sara Eve Rivera-Federoff, owner of PMA Tattoo in Stowe. It’s bound to become a permanent fixture in your liquor cabinet.

The guys at Pittsburgh Pickle Co. are no strangers to the booze business. That’s what got them pickling in the first place.

In 2011, they quit their corporate jobs and opened The BeerHive at 2117 Penn Ave. in the Strip District. (A sister restaurant, The Coxcomb, opened in Murrysville last August. Their Cheeseburger Pizza — topped with pickles, of course — made my Best Burgers list in the March/April issue of Pittsburgh Magazine.)

In addition to offering a wide selection of brews, the bros were hell-bent on selling the best fried pickles in Pittsburgh. They experimented with store-bought brands, but the rubbery spears just couldn’t take the fryer heat, so the trio created their own.

Customers started requesting jars of the pickles to go. When The BeerHive could no longer keep up with the demand, the family’s prayers were answered by their church’s commissary kitchen.

As many boutique brineries around the country go belly up, Pittsburgh Pickle Co. continues to expand. Will attributes the growth to the team’s commitment to consistently delivering high-quality, great-tasting, chemical-free products.

“People are really focused on what they’re eating these days,” he says, “and we are obsessed with what we put out there.”

A lot of big pickle companies store cucumbers in giant vats of salt water for weeks at a time and then plump them up with preservatives such as potassium sorbate. When a 2,000-pound box of farm-fresh cucumbers arrives at 555 Wildwood Road, the veggies are dropped in a wash basin, crown-cut and packed in jars in 72 hours or less. The shelf-life is about two years.

Introduced in March 2022, automated machines helped the five-man crew go from hand-packing 350 jars a day to churning out 4,000 in about 3 hours. New equipment installed this spring is expected to double that figure. Pittsburgh Pickle also packages salad dressing and salsa for other companies.

The brothers recently hired a broker to market their products to more retail chains nationwide. Their sales are up nearly 50 percent from 2023, but now they’re finding themselves in … well, a pickle.

They’re outgrowing the building they’ve owned since 2016. Acclamation Brewing makes beer at the factory, but, this spring, they relocated the taproom to 10.7 Marina, a riverfront spot a mile away on Arch Street, also in Verona.

As the search for a bigger space continues, Joe, John and Will are contemplating their next career move. The bros plan to dip their toes in the condiment industry by making ketchup and mustard.

Critics might consider that a sin in the hometown of H.J. Heinz, but I, for one, think it’s a blessing.