MONROVIA >> A week before opening the city’s first microbrewery, the three brewers had heavy eyelids after staying up all night to hand-peel and puree 120 pounds of ripe mangoes for their Mango IPA. But their enthusiasm was not diminished.

Stephen Kooshian, Jonathan Parada and Steven Cardenas say they are dedicated to using fresh ingredients in each of their handcrafted brews at Pacific Plate Brewing Co. at 1999 S. Myrtle Ave.

In hopes of getting the freshest ingredients possible, Parada had a family friend bring in 20 pounds of cardamom from Guatemala, a top producer and exporter of the spice, for the brewery’s Cardamom Ginger Saison.

Their brews, paying homage to their heritage, are inspired by Latin American flavors.

“We thought it was cool to have a theme of flavors that we infuse,” Kooshian said. “I’ve always been a huge fan of breweries like Dogfish Head that throw all these crazy ingredients into beer. The experimental part is the romantic part of brewing.”

Pacific Plate Brewing Co. is Monrovia’s first craft brewery, but city officials are hoping it won’t be its last.

Los Angeles-based Eagle Rock Brewery has signed a temporary maintenance and license agreement with the city to house a storage facility in Hamby Park. Eventually, Eagle Rock would like to open a tasting room at the Monrovia location, co-owner Jeremy Raub recently told the City Council. Because the property is owned by the city under its former Redevelopment Agency, the state needs to approve the city’s long-range management plan for the property before a long-term agreement can be made with Eagle Rock.

Pacific Plate Brewing Co. chose to locate in Monrovia in part to avoid the red tape and expense of opening in L.A. and because the city was welcoming, Kooshian said.

The San Gabriel Valley is starting to emerge as a destination for craft breweries with Claremont Craft Ales, Dale Bros. Brewery in Upland and Alosta Brewing Co. soon to open in Covina.

The craft brewery trend began in L.A. about four years ago as a response to the high concentration of microbreweries in San Diego County.

Some cities require that alcohol license holders also serve food, but Monrovia permits a brewery as a manufacturer and the service of alcohol, in the form of a tasting room, is a secondary use, said community development director Steve Sizemore.

Breweries are emerging as a growing sector in manufacturing and the city is tapping into the niche market, Sizemore said.

“We’re continuing to have discussions with different breweries looking to locate in the city,” Sizemore said.

Nationally, the number of craft breweries, including microbreweries and brewpubs, grew by 20 percent from 2011 to 2012, according to the Brewers Association.

Craft beer accounted for 6 percent of the total U.S. beer market in 2012, with volume and dollar sales reaching record levels, according to the nonprofit trade group.

“American beer over the last 60 years has become bland and tasteless, and I think the craft beer revolution began from a bunch guys who were brewing it in their homes in their 50s and 60s and they said he wanted to be able to buy better beer,” Kooshian said.

Kooshian started home brewing when he was in college at UCLA. He met Parada while working at Legal Zoom, and after being laid off, the two decided they would turn their hobby into a business. Cardenas was brought in for his engineering and science background. He became interested in brewing during a biofuels class in college.

Over a year and a half they raised about $150,000 from friends, family and strangers to open.

They plan to brew about 20 barrels each month.

“It really is truly American,” Kooshian said. “Because it is a do-it-yourself, grab yourself by your boot straps, put something together and make something.”