With 95% of the world's bourbon made in Kentucky, it's no surprise that Louisville takes its whiskey seriously. But there's plenty of fine local ales and craft cocktails to be found too

Jack's Lounge

Jack's Lounge is tucked away off a busy commercial thoroughfare in suburban St Matthews. It's worth the trip. Bar manager Joy "Bad Girl of Bourbon" Perrine literally wrote the book on bourbon cocktails (The Kentucky Bourbon Cocktail Book), and her influence is evident in the bar's unfussy yet intelligent approach to Kentucky's native spirit. The crowd is older and affluent, and the lounge's warm, low light can make anyone look like the good half of a power couple.

• 122 Sears Avenue, +1 502 897 9721, equusrestaurant.com. Open Mon-Thurs 4pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 4pm-12am, Sun closed

Garage Bar

Garage Bar, Louisville

This lively hangout in the art gallery- and boutique-lined NuLu neighbourhood mixes high and low with ease. Housed in a former filling station, vintage tyres line the walls while the bar serves house-made tonics and craft cocktails, hangover-curing oyster shooters, farm-to-table pizzas and a variety of artisan hams. At night, the overhead doors roll up and the patio comes alive, with fashionable assistant curators battling it out for table tennis bragging rights.

• 700 East Market Street, +1 502 749 7100, garageonmarket.com. Open Mon-Wed 5pm-11pm, Thurs 5pm-12am, Fri 4pm-1am, Sat 11am-1am, Sun 11am-10pm

The Holy Grale Inside

Holy Grale, Louisville

In this renovated church in the thick of the hopping Highlands, the city's beer geeks gather for evening services. Owners Lori Beck and Tyler Trotter might as well be monks, as seriously as they take their beers (and they are observant – no wine or liquor served). The curated, constantly rotating taps lean toward the fanciful and cover the entire world, ranging from inventive session lagers to strong, smoked porters and barrel-aged ales. Tasting pours are available if you can't decide.

• 1034 Bardstown Road, +1 502 459 9939, holygralelouisville.com. Open Mon-Thurs 4pm-1am, Fri-Sat 1pm-2am, Sun 1pm-12am

Nachbar

Nachbar, Louisville

The traditionally working class (now artisanal-hip) Germantown/Schnitzelburg neighbourhood boasts a pocket bar on every other corner. Nachbar started out appealing to the musicians and artists who flocked to the area's affordable shotgun houses, but now draws a cross-section of locals, especially on the dog-friendly patio. The worn wood panelling and thrift store decor are balanced by none-too-shabby craft beer picks (including local favourites New Albanian Brewing Company and Bluegrass Brewing Company on tap). Generous pours and budget-friendly prices don't hurt, either. Locals order Old Forrester (Ol' Fo') on the rocks.

• 969 Charles Street, +1 502 637 4377, facebook.com/pages/Nachbar/. Open Mon-Thurs 6pm-2am, Fri-Sun 4pm-3am

St Charles Exchange

St Charles Exchange, Louisville

Don't let the Jazz Age opulence of this upscale downtown newcomer fool you – St Charles Exchange doesn't take itself too seriously. The inventive craft cocktail list includes locally sourced and house-made ingredients and changes frequently (up now: contemporary spins on classics like hometown favourite The Old Fashioned), but the bar stays grounded in Louisville's heritage as a working river town with a list of playful boilermaker pairings, all named (for some mysterious reason) after Replacements songs. Try the I Will Dare, a North Coast Scrimshaw pilsner with a chaser of smoky Vida mescal.

• 113 South 7th Street, +1 502 618 1917, stcharlesexchange.com. Open Mon-Thurs 4pm-12am, Fri 4pm-2am, Sat 5pm-2am, Sun 5pm-10:30pm

Big Bar

The joke is in the name – this jewel box packs a nightclub complex's worth of party spirit into a diminutive corner bar. Crowds of up to 100 have been known to squeeze into the tiny patio, and everyone's going to be great friends by the end of that sort of night. The clientele is predominately gay, and the scene is upbeat and inclusive. Look for Technicolour slush cocktails and service hours that run all the way up to Louisville's liberal last call. The daily happy hour runs longer than most (4-8pm; all day Tuesday).

• 1202 Bardstown Road, +1 502 618 2237, bigbar.co. Open Mon-Sat 4pm-4am, Sun 2pm-4am

The Silver Dollar

Silver Dollar, Louisville

This nouveau honky tonk housed in a rehabbed historic fire station owes a stylistic debt to the Bakersfield Sound, that dusty California country music scene that spawned icons such as Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. You can hear them on original vinyl, spinning from behind the bar. In addition to the ubiquitous quality bourbons and beers, the bar boasts a series of craft moonshines and an admirable selection of tequila and mezcal. The kitchen is open late, featuring American South-by-Southern California-inspired fare like fried chicken livers and black bean molletes.

• 1761 Frankfort Avenue, +1 502 259 9540, whiskeybythedrink.com. Open Mon-Fri 5pm-2am, Sat-Sun 10am-2am

Bourbon's Bistro

Bourbon Bistro, Louisville

Ninety-five percent of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky, and Louisville takes its bourbon very seriously. Some say there are more barrels aging in the Commonwealth than people, and when you visit Bourbon's Bistro, you believe it. More than 130 bourbons line the upscale-casual bar, including rare and limited-edition reserves, ready to be compared in a tasting flight or sipped neat and slow. Master distillers from around the state host monthly bourbon dinners.

• 2255 Frankfort Avenue, +1 502 894 8838, bourbonsbistro.com. Mon closed, Tues-Thurs 4.30pm-11pm, Fri-Sat 4.30pm-12am, Sun 4.30pm-11pm

Magnolia Bar and Grill

Magnolia Bar and Grille, Louisiana

The last thing you expect to find in the country's largest residential Victorian preservation district is a dive bar classic like the Mag Bar, but grand Old Louisville is full of surprises.

There's no kitchen and no cocktail programme, just cheap, stiff drinks and the occasional very loud band. In this late-night haunt, you'll find leather jackets rubbing shoulders with tweed at the jukebox (widely recognised as the best in the city), arguing over which Clash song to play next.

• 1398 South 2nd Street, +1 502 637 9052, no website. Open Mon-Sat 2pm-4am, Sun 4pm-4am

Against the Grain Brewery and Smokehouse

Against the Grain Brewery, Louisville

Located inside Slugger Field, the minor league baseball stadium home of the Louisville Bats, Against the Grain brews its own flamboyant, hop-forward beers in-house, and they rarely make the same brew twice. The names are silly (Dork Lard barleywine, Kentucky Rye Chiquen imperial amber ale), but the beer delivers. They're passionate about their smoked beers, an influence that weaves its way through the pub grub menu as well (smoked wings come in chicken and vegan).

• 401 East Main Street, +1 502 515 0174, atgbrewery.com. Open Mon-Wed 11am-12am, Thurs-Sat 11am-2am, Sun 10am-10pm

Erin Keane covers arts and culture for 89.3 WFPL, Louisville's NPR station

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