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.

Sweet Baby Jesus! Has it really been a month and half since I wrote one of these features? Blame it on a combination of laziness and having to take my daughters to a birthday party nearly every weekend this month. And with two weekends to go, there is at least one more pre-school shindig on the horizon.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t had anything to drink. On the contrary, hauling your kids around the expanse that is Alameda County is enough to make you want, and even need to drink more than usual. Just looking at all the crap they bring back in their gift bags is enough to make you camp out in the garage and not leave your beer fridge for several hours.

This installment of the Drink Of The Weekend is something special, so I’m just going to get right down to it: Kona Brewing Co. Castaway IPA. Yeah, I know this is the second time in a row I have given a shout out to one of Kona’s beers, but so what. It’s my space here, it’s my palate that’s doing the drinking and it’s my liver that’s thanking me for all of the Castaway IPA goodness.

I discovered Castaway IPA two years ago on a trip to Kauai. My wife likes to give me grief because she says that I used to always “fight” her on going to Hawaii. Trust me, I never “fought” her on this idea; I just had other places in mind to visit first. Like Australia, Costa Rica, Paris, Cancun and my grandmother’s place in North Carolina. I knew Hawaii would be there and we would eventually get to it.

And once we did, in 2010, I kicked myself for not getting there sooner.

On that trip, we took my mom along as a birthday present to her. We also took along our then-18-month-old daughter, Maddo, who used me as a jungle gym for nearly the entire flight to Kauai. And in a way, we also took our younger daughter, Little Sis…Who still had three months of cooking to go inside of my wife. Even with Maddo throwing up on me during a helicopter ride over Kauai, it was awesome.

So, we went again in 2012. This time, in addition to taking Little Sis for real [and having to pay for two extra plane tickets for her and Maddo] we also brought along mom, again, and her, twin sister, as a birthday present for the two of them. One afternoon, my aunt and I decided to go on a helicopter ride that we got a discounted price on. Again, it was great.

After we landed, my aunt and I decided to cool our heels for a few minutes in a bar outside the helicopter tour office. And as we sat at the bar inside, and took in the view of the nearby beach, I ordered a Castaway IPA. And like the Bible says, “It was good.”

After I got home, I tried in vain to find Castaway IPA. The reason why my efforts failed me was simple: While Kona offers several of its beers on the Mainland, Castaway wasn’t one of them. In fact, even in the Islands, Castaway was only available on tap. I was disappointed, and the I downed a few Longboard Lagers to ease my pain.

Fast-forward to April of this year. By some Act Of God, Kona chose to send Castaway to the Mainland, in bottles. I found this out via Kona’s Facebook page, and marked my calendar for Castaway’s debut here. I used Kona’s handy Beer Finder on its website, and I was soon off to a local store where, for $11, I got a six pack. I know…11 bucks for six beers isn’t cheap, but remember my last Drink Of The Weekend cost $11 each at the Oakland Coliseum.

Castaway comes with a respectable 6% ABV, so a few of them will get you where you need to go. It’s not the hoppiest of IPAs, but it doesn’t need to be. The fact that it’s available is what matters. That, and the memories of Kauai that it brings back. Go find yourself some, and then book your flight to the Islands. You won’t regret either move.