Drop the H Brewing Company
Craft beer. Craft pizza. Craft experience.
He studied beer in Vermont. Studied pizza in New York.
Mark McClain is serious about this stuff.
“It’s all about providing the best quality product to the customers,” said Mark, who co-owns Drop the H Brewing Company with his wife Cathy. “I know that sounds a little corporate or generic, but it’s the truth. We wanted to bring really good pizza and beer to Pittsburg.”
Drop the H opened in the fall of 2019 inside the historic building at 107 E. Rose. The name is a play on “that other Pittsburgh” in Pennsylvania.
“Our Pittsburg dropped the H,” Mark said. “We wanted to have fun with that while also paying homage to our history and the people who built this great community.”
Mark and Cathy are both retired members of the U.S. Air Force. Along with owning Drop the H, Mark is a pilot for Delta Airlines, while Cathy is an executive leadership coach.
The inspiration for Drop the H came from Mark’s passion for craft beer and the brewing process.
“I’ve been a home brewer for a long time,” he said. “One of my dreams was always to open a brewery and offer people some really good craft beer … the type of beer you don’t always find in local establishments.”
And if you’re gonna have great beer, you might as well also have great food.
“I’m not sure anything goes better with beer than a great slice of pizza,” he said. “Again, we wanted it to be the best, so we do a brick oven pizza using a top-of-the-line Marra Forni oven.”
Drop the H also offers a variety of salads, apps, desserts, and cocktails.
Craft breweries have been at the heart many rural revitalization efforts across the country, and Drop the H came to Pittsburg at the perfect time.
“Pittsburg has always been a cool college town, so it was on our radar as a place to open our brewery,” Mark said. “On top of that, we saw that the community was really starting to invest in downtown and enjoy a bit of a renaissance. We wanted to be part of that and hopefully contribute to the city’s growth.”
McClain said he’s seen firsthand how craft beer can enhance a community.
“Beer brings people together, it really does,” he said. “Friends, family, coworkers. It’s all about enjoying time together and making the most of each moment.”
Check out Drop the H online at droptheh.com.