Monrovia’s Pacific Plate Brewing Shakes Things Up at LA Beer Festival

Steve Cardenas and Steve Kooshian enjoy their newfound brews’ success on their fifth anniversary. – Photo by Terry Miller / Beacon Media News

Bronze medal awarded for their German style Kölsch brew

By Susan Motander

Monrovia’s first microbrewery, Pacific Plate Brewing, is going to celebrate its fifth anniversary next month, is still going strong, and is now even winning awards. There may be another microbrewery in town – with two more set to open this summer – but Pacific Plate will always be the first, with its signature Horchata Stout and its myriad of unusual brews.

Now, the little Monrovia Brewery is making a name for itself. Earlier this year the owners were notified that they were named the 26th fastest growing microbrewery in the country by the Brewers Association. This group of more than 7,200 small breweries annually names the 50 fastest growing microbreweries. The Brewers Association is dedicated to small and independent American brewers, their beers, and those who enjoy them.

It is no longer in question whether Pacific Plates brews are worth enjoying. They now have a medal to prove it. Recently they entered their Kölsch, a top fermented German style beer, in the Los Angeles Beer Festival; they won the bronze medal. It is the first time they have entered one of their brews into a competition.

The growth of the little brewery can no longer be in doubt either. Having added brewing tanks, Steve Kooshian, one of the owners, estimates they will be able to produce 700 barrels this year. This is a huge increase from last year’s 460 barrels. And to think they started with just one brew kettle and very small batches.

Look for information in this publication about Pacific Plate’s anniversary celebration coming at the end of August.

More from Business