Having won the #peterbsbrewsandbitescontest with my Legend of Laguna IPA-braised Carnitas over Polenta Cakes , I received 2 tickets to the 2014 Monterey Beer Garden, a night at Portola Hotel & Spa, and a growlette from Peter B's Brewpub. And thanks to a tag-team effort by my parents and the Novaks, we were kid-free for the beer garden portion of the day. Ulla offered to keep the boys all night, but I knew that I would not be forgiven for staying at a hotel without them...when it's not a birthday or anniversary celebration. But we thoroughly enjoyed our kid-free date to drink beer! We've been to a couple of other beer festivals and I have to say that this was the nicest one we've attended. The two main reasons: (1) it features truly local (at least Bay Area-local) breweries and (2) the crowd is comprised of actual beer enthusiasts. While people can drink as much beer as they desire within those four hours, I think attendees were there to really enjoy th...