PHOTOS COURTESY OF LINKS BREWING CO.

Links Brewing Company wants to be the official brand of golf’s unofficial beverage. 

From its humble facility on the North Side, the business supplies suds to 16 local golf courses and makes private-label beers for Allegheny Country Club, St. Clair Country Club, Fox Chapel Golf Club and Oakmont Country Club.

Founder Jeff Becker’s goal is to see Links on tap at the top 50 golf courses in America. But, for now, he’s concentrating on his short-game. 

Early next year, Becker and his business partners Kylie Shevchik, Matt Mohn, John Bryan and Ed Kilpela will move operations to the Bridgeville area. Like the current space at 519 E. General Robinson St., the new site will be focused on the production of sessionable pilsners and ales (lower in alcohol but high in refreshment) meant to be consumed while teeing off.

That’s not to say they don’t welcome drop-in drinkers. 

The business is featured in the latest edition of the Pittsburgh Brewery Guide, a passport-style booklet released by the Pittsburgh Brewers Guild. Participants can earn prizes by getting the guide stamped at each brewery they visit. 

Links is in the rough, so to speak. 

Located in an industrial building that housed PFE Fire & Safety Corporation (Becker’s third-generation family business), the brewery on the North Side is open for online order pick-ups, special events and by-appointment visits. Guests can sip at The 19th Hole, basically a big sandtrap in the warehouse that’s dotted with Adirondack chairs.

You can enjoy the beer on tap at several eateries, including Mullett’s, Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room, BLEND Pittsburgh, and Sir Pizza, but distributing to a bunch of bars isn’t par for the course at Links.

They’re filling a divot in the saturated beer market by tapping directly into their demographic.

“It’s hard to make yourself stand out based on beer alone. We are the only golf-branded brewery in the country,” says Becker, who met Mohn, his future business partner, at the Highland Country Club in Ross when they were both 8 years old. The course closed in 2011.

Becker’s burning passion for making beer started in the basement of PFE Fire & Safety Corporation. He’s been president of the family business for the past two decades, following in the footsteps of his mom, Karen, and his late father, David, who died in 1992. (Although David wasn’t a golfer and preferred to drink Manhattans, Links releases a special bottled beer each year on his birthday. The latest incarnation of Ten-Ten Barrel Aged Stout, a boozy, 14% ABV warmer with hints of chocolate, bourbon and cherries, will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 10.)

In 2017, Becker set up a rudimentary 17-gallon brewing system and started attending brewers conventions and networking with golfers from across the country.  Like keg-hauling caddies, local brewers offered him help and guidance along the way.

When the pandemic hit and golfing was one of the few activities people could still safely do, sales increased. As demand for Links grew, Becker upped his barrel capacity and recruited Shevchik, PFE’s controller, to help with the day-to-day operations. 

Now she’s pretty much running the place. Becker believes hiring her was a hole-in-one. Within the last year, Shevchik has learned how to play golf and brewed her own beer, a cherry wheat ale called Balance. 

Links participates in more than three dozen events a year, including charitable golf outings and beer festivals, where they set up a chipping green next to their booth. 

They get mobbed by attendees who’d rather swig beers than swing clubs. (I enjoy the beer and have zero interest in the sport — although I do have fond memories of Mars-Bethel Golf’s putt-putt course and I own an autographed photo of legendary actor Richard Kiel, who played Adam Sandler’s iron-bending boss, Mr. Larson, in the golf-centric comedy “Happy Gilmore.”)

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTY GRAVER

Due to the popularity of the beer, the partners haven’t ruled out opening a traditional taproom in the future. Until then they’ll keep making liquid gold for the putting green. 

“Yes, we obviously align ourselves with the world of golf,” Becker says, “but we want everyone to love our beer.”