Pacific Plate Brewing | Latino-Inspired Craft Beer In Monrovia | Tasting Table Los Angeles

We've been waxing poetic about breakfast tacos and modern Mexican cuisine quite a bit lately.

Now we've found their beer equivalent: the precocious lineup of inspired brews at two-month-old Pacific Plate Brewing, located in a Monrovia business park. Many of Pacific Plate's food-friendly beers are influenced by the Latino heritage of founders Jonathan Parada, Steven Cardenas and Stephen Kooshian. The trio are a group of former sales representatives who turned their homebrewing hobby into an upstart brewery and taproom, pouring growlers and pints to locals. On a recent visit, Parada showed us what's currently on tap.

Jonathan Parada pours a glass

Mango IPA ($7 pint, $13 growler) 

"We peel mangoes, purée them, and then blend them with our IPA. It compliments the tropical aromas in the hops while balancing out some of the natural bitterness. It's so popular we have a hard time brewing enough to meet demand."

Horchata Stout ($6 tulip, $13 growler)

"This is an incredibly smooth traditional English milk stout flavored with cocoa, vanilla and cinnamon. The horchata aromas blend well with the roastiness of the beer."

Cardamom-Ginger Saison ($6 tulip, $13 growler)

"We spice this farmhouse ale with ginger and Guatemalan cardamom. We grow individual yeasts for all of our beers, which allows us to enhance the tartness and complexity of our Belgian styles."

Widowmaker IPA ($7 pint, $13 growler)

"We tapped this special release last week. It's a double IPA brewed with five kinds of high-alpha American hops and then dry-hopped with two more pounds. It sounds intense, but the result is very floral."