Philadelphia

Philadelphia Brewing Company

Produces a variety of beers. if you can't make it to the brewery or find it in a bar you can pick up a sampler pack 24 bottles for around $30 at a beer distributor.

Because of the state's complicated liquor laws, supermarkets won't sell beer or spirits, although some small neighborhood convenience stores might. State-sponsored liquor stores are all over the place but don't sell beer, and beer distributors sell beer only in bulk and are scattered in inconvenient locations, and neither will be open late or on Sundays. Thus, even for locals, the most convenient way to get a drink is to find a local bar or restaurant with a liquor license. In part because of this complicated setup, Philadelphia has a visibly strong, public beer culture, celebrated in events such as the annual summertime Philly Beer Week (http://www.phillybeerweek.org) or the Philly Craft Beer Festival (http://www.phillycraftbee...) in March.

Local beers include Yuengling, Yards, or Troegs, just to name a few. Many bars will have a varied selection of beers you already know and love alongside ones you've never heard of. If you're ever stuck on a choice but don't want to look out of place, just ask for a "lager", which in Philly specifically means the Yuengling Traditional Lager.

Primarily, most of the nightlife scene takes place in Center City West and East and in Old City. The areas around Rittenhouse Square in Center City, and Headhouse Square and Penn's Landing in Old City, are popular destinations that have a large concentration of bars and clubs, many of them attracting the hip, young, pretty people of the suburbs or the universities. Slightly further out, the rapidly-gentrifying Northern Liberties district is another solid nightlife destination with more of a "yuppie" or "hipster" vibe. Yet another area that has a vibrant nightlife is the Manayunk neighborhood (http://www.manayunk.com/d...).

However, bars can be found in just about every corner of Philadelphia, and nothing is more characteristic of Philly than the local bar as a default place for social gathering; every neighborhood's got one or two just around the corner, even if it's a dark, run-down dive without proper signage and a crowd of blue-collar regulars, or a new-but-looks-old pub attracting the yuppies with outdoor seating and live music. Any major street or well-known district is going to have its own selection of watering holes, and each of these establishments will cater to a crowd, whether it's students, sports fans, hipsters or clubbers. In particular, streets and neighborhoods with a notable collection of drinking locales, not including Center City, Old City or Northern Liberties, include University City and West Philly; South Street and Passyunk Ave in South Philly; and the Art Museum District.

In the summer, the Center City District sponsors Center City Sips (http://www.centercityphil...), a downtown-wide Happy Hour every Wednesday from 5PM-7PM where many bars and restaurants all participate in drink specials: $2 beers, $3 wines and $4 cocktails, and usually some selection of food specials.

quizzo

It's been said that Philadelphia invented, or at least popularized, the popular pub trivia event that is known here as Quizzo (http://www.quizotrivia.com), which are called by other various names such as "quiz nights" by the time they expanded to other parts of the United States. Philadelphia native Patrick Hines first began running Quizzo games at the New Deck Tavern in University City in 1993 though he spelled it with one 'z', as in "Quizo", and began a second one at Fergie's Pub in Center City in 1995; there are now plenty of other bars running their own Quizzo nights throughout Philadelphia, and while Hines has moved to Ireland, he still writes the questions for several local bars. If you're able to find yourself in a game you'll have to have a team and needlessly long and/or hilarious team name, or see if you can join one as a free agent it's a fun way to spend a night, but be prepared to be completely left in the dust by trivia buffs who play regularly.