The 7 Apps You Need for a Night of Drinking

The tech you need to booze better is right in your pocket.

Right now, reach into your pocket and grab your smartphone. Just take a moment and look at it. That little box is changing the way you do things in ways you never thought possible—everything from finances to restaurant recs, and perhaps most importantly, helping you expertly embrace an evening of imbibing.

Check out these 7 apps that are here to turn your Friday night barroom quandaries into weekend masterpieces. It’s a brave new world, guys.

Drizly


The folks over at Drizly are finally perfecting the art of at-home booze consumption by offering door-to-door beer delivery. It’s like Peapod, but with booze. Download Drizly; add your favorite beer, wine, and spirits to your cart; check out; and wait for the good stuff.



Beer Buddy

Beer Buddy pulls from the massive database over at RateBeer.com to give users access to detailed information on over 300,000 beers from all over the world. Use its scanner to snap a picture of a beer’s barcode, and you’ll instantly receive reviews and detailed specifications (ABV, full descriptions, website links, overall ratings, etc.). It also keeps track of your personal tasting history, so you’ll never mistakenly try the same brew twice. It is absolutely essential for every adventurous hophead.



Mixologist


Though newer cocktail apps are always arriving on the scene, after thoroughly testing it out (and we do mean “thoroughly”), we’re sticking to the original — Mixologist.

Looking for some pre-game action before hitting the town, but only have bourbon, Maraschino cherries, some Red Bull, and fruit punch? Mixologist will crawl through a database of thousands of drink recipes to see what your options are. Keep track of your personal inventory, submit your own boozy concoctions, find nearby bars, and more with this app. Mixologist may not be new, but if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

UNTAPPD


Facebook for people who like beer. Check in at your favorite bars and breweries, find out what new beers are trending, which ones you need to sample, and even see where your friends are holed up for the night. Our favorite feature of Untapped is that it will make beer and bar recommendations to you based on your preferences and physical location. And when you get there, you can snap photos, share them with friends, and rejoice! 



BeerMenus


Find out where to score your favorite beer on the go, or check out the newest offerings at your go-to watering hole. This sleek and intuitive app is the best way to keep tabs on all your favorite bars, and can even help you find new ones. Big fan of a hard-to-get craft brew? Add it to your settings and get notified if and when it’s added to the roster at your local bar.

Drunk Mode


Sometimes, we get irresponsible. We drink too much, make some regrettable decisions, lose some stuff, and usually spend the morning/late afternoon after asking ourselves, “What the hell happened last night?” These things happen.

But Drunk Mode makes being responsible easier. This app will hide selected phone contacts so you’ll never drunk text She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named again, GPS track your crew’s resident drunken globetrotter (we all have one), leave breadcrumbs to help trace where you were the night before, and most importantly, find you a safe ride home. It’s like the Swiss Army Knife of drinking. 



Happy Hour by Hotspot


It’s always Happy Hour somewhere, and with over 30,000 Happy Hours in well over 100 cities, you’ll always know where “somewhere” is. This app’s expansive database gives users access to their city’s best Happy Hour deals, drink and food specials, and more.

Photos by Getty Images

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