As part of our mission here at Why Daddy Drinks to revel in the humorous lunacy that is fatherhood, and to promote the drinking of quality beverages, we bring you our weekly segment highlighting something that should be in your glass. This is The Drink Of The Weekend.

Sometimes, but not very often, the state of California is referred to as the “Bear Republic”. This comes from the fact that there is a big brown bear on and the words “CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC” across the bottom of our state’s flag. The name itself is a reference to something that happened almost 170 years ago up in Sonoma, in Northern California, that involved American settlers revolting against the Mexicans back when California was still part of Mexico and just before the Mexican War of 1846-1848.

And with that paragraph, you have probably just learned more about early California state history than the average California high school history student. Consider yourself educated.

Today, if you think about the “Bear Republic” at all, it is probably because you happen to have one of the beers from Healdsburg, Calif.-based Bear Republic Brewing Co. in your hand. And if you are smart, you will not have wasted any time in finishing it. And this pas weekend, for the first time in I don’t know how long, I had two of Bear Republic’s Racer 5 India Pale Ales.

[I have to give some props to my friend, Ryan Batty, who had left these at my house on Super Bowl Sunday. Ryan is a big Denver Broncos fan, and with my Beloved Hometown Seattle Seahawks bringing the hammer down on Denver in the Super Bowl, I think Ryan was too despondent to drink. And as he is a fan of good IPAs, that is saying something.]

The Racer 5 has one of the cooler IPA names and labels I have come across in a while, but it’s what’s inside the bottle that really counts. A 7% ABV IPA that has just enough hoppy bite to let you know there is some muscle in the bottle, but somehow it goes down easy like a lager. I put mine down along with a double cheeseburger I grilled up and was bitterly disappointed that Ryan hadn’t brought and left more of them behind.

Luckily, a trip to your local Trader Joe’s is all you have to make to find some Racer 5 IPA. It’s worth racing over there to get some right now.