Brothers Find Recipe For Success After Transforming Church Into Base For Pickle Business
VERONA (KDKA) -- Later this week, the Rachel Carson Bridge will be transformed into a mythical land called "Picklesburgh." The festival takes place Friday afternoon and all day Saturday.
Among the vendors are three brothers who recently formed the "Pittsburgh Pickle Company."
United Methodist Church in Verona doubles on weekdays as a pickle plant. The brothers started their pickle company last August.
Working in the church kitchen, it takes up to 20 hours to turn a batch of cucumbers into 500 jars of pickles.
"We'll pack the jars with the spears, then bring them in here, fill them with brine, and cap them and let that create a seal," says co-owner Will Patterson.
Youngest brother Joe Robl gets to slave over a hot stove, where six boiling pots are set to turn out jars of pickles six minutes apart.
"All right," he says, resetting a timer. "The 15 minutes are up. Time to take the pickles out."
The three work together like a well-pickled machine.
"We've gotten to the point where we don't even have to talk to each other anymore, which isn't necessarily a bad thing," Will smiles.
John Patterson labels the jars. He and his brothers work in the church where he and his wife, Whitney, were married.
John says Pittsburgh Pickles has a special recipe.
"The sugar delivers the spice in one way, and the salt delivers the spice in another way," he says.
The three co-owners came up with the idea in their Strip District tavern, the Beerhive.
"Really, initially, we were looking into brewing beer," John recalls. "And we thought, well, there's so many brewers popping up, and we don't know how to brew beer, so why don't we brew pickles."
They've cranked out 10,000 jars of pickles in 10 months, selling at bars and supermarkets from Cranberry to Deep Creek, Maryland.
Their pickles are a big "dill." But Will says what they relish the most is kinship.
"We work together as brothers, which is really what we wanted to do from the start," he says.
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter
