Be-costumed Beer Drinkers

Photo pilfered from Two Cicerones.

Today is Eccentric Day, the day when Larry Bell releases his annual Eccentric Ale at the Bell's Eccentric Cafe in Kalamazoo. Many hundreds of raving mad beer drinkers — including plenty from our area — converge on the cafe to try the new beer, whose recipe varies from year to year, and celebrate with a party that is, well, eccentric. You see, would-be attendees have to dress in some seriously goofy duds or else be denied entry to the popular event (see above).

But if, like me, you didn't make the trek west this year, there are a couple more opportunities to get dressed up and drink beer closer to home. First is the Krampus Costume Ball taking place Saturday, Dec. 11, beginning at 8 p.m. at the Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti. In lieu of the usual Winter Shadow Art Fair, the organizers decided an event in honor of Krampus, the Central European anti-Santa Claus, would be the ticket. Here's the poster:

DJs, specially brewed "naughty and nice beers," and a roomful of people dressed up in strange costumes await you. Start working on that costume now. Admission is two cents (yes, cents as in pennies). More details are here and on the Facebook.

If you can't make the Krampus ball, or you find the idea of celebrating a demonic creature who punishes children distasteful, you can go the more traditional route on Saturday, Dec. 18, with Detroit Santarchy. This is an annual bar crawl in The D featuring literally hundreds of people dressed up as Santa Claus. If your sleigh's in the shop, not to worry: The organizers send a bus out to Ann Arbor (rumor has it there will be an Ypsilanti stop this year, too) to pick up a load of Washtenaw Santas. Details are still developing, but you can watch the Detroit Santarchy web site as well as the event's Facebook page for breaking news.  For more general information, I recommend this article from last year by a talented and well respected writer.