Spending the holiday season drinking alone in a Santa costume would be sad. But do it with others and it's a socially acceptable bar crawl. Inebriation loves company, so hop one of the sleighs (aka party buses) with the seasonally besotted masses to any of the eight bars on Saturday's St. Paul Santa Crawl. Don your gayest apparel — from ugly sweaters to reindeer antlers — you don't mind spilling beer on and enjoy a drunken gift-wrapping contest, "carol-oke," a puppy kissing booth and more. Hit each of the bars, including Amsterdam Beer and Hall, O'Gara's, Billy's on Grand and Shamrock's, for a chance to win free beer for a year — or score a free drink by bringing a toy to donate to Toys for Tots.

5 p.m. to midnight, Sat., 21-plus, $20,

www.stpaulsantacrawl.com

Eastlake taproom opens

Eastlake Craft Brewery hung its figurative "open for business" sign Thursday in its separate-entrance Midtown Global Market space. If his "postmodern" American and traditional European beers are half as good as his baseball-cap collection, owner/brewer Ryan Pitman's 75-seat taproom will be a hit. It doesn't hurt that the taproom-focused brewery is surrounded by food vendors of all stripes, including Manny's Tortas and El Burrito Mercado, which will offer late-night menus after market hours. While the market closes at 8 p.m. every day except Sunday (6 p.m.), the taproom will stay open taproom will initially stay open until midnight Thursday through Saturday.

920 E. Lake St. #123, Mpls., 612-524-9765, www.eastlakemgm.com

Pip mixes an album

Evidently, mixmaster Pip Hanson's prowess isn't confined to spirits. Last week Marvel Bar's beverage director released an electronic album he made while teaching and honing his shaker skills in Japan in 2006 and 2007. The album, titled "Mutant Love Songs," is available at Askov Finlayson (the Dayton bros' boutique connected to the Bachelor Farmer and Marvel Bar) in a limited run of CDs. Considering his EQ-like approach to drink-making, he probably made an impeccably balanced record.

Benefit at Insight

In other music-meets-drinking news, Minneapolis' second-youngest brewery, Insight Brewing, hosts a benefit concert for the 30-Days Foundation, which helps people in financial crisis. Twin Cities rocker Tim Mahoney performs along with Carl Torgerson, Dan Ristrom, Max Krauth, Mick Sterling and Cate Fierro. It's a free show, but donations get you a karmic high-five.

4-9 p.m., Sun., 2821 E. Hennepin Av., Mpls., 612-722-7222, www.insightbrewing.com

MICHAEL RIETMULDER