I'm a bit of a craft beer snob.

I only started drinking beer a couple years ago (I'm going on 30, so I started later than most), and I've only drunk craft beer since. That's mostly by principle -- I'd rather support local, independent businesses, brands and products than big corporate monsters. To be honest, I could probably only count on one hand the number of commercial (that is, non-craft) beers I've actually had in my life. If given the choice between free commercial beer or paying for craft beer, I'll choose paying every time.

Last night I made an exception.

My sister Annabeth invited our other sister Abigail, brother-in-law Micah and me to attend a St. Paul Saints game with her. It was a company outing, and we had access to an upper deck with free food and drinks. True to principle, I announced that I was going downstairs a buy a craft beer.

"You're going to pay $8 for a beer when you could have free beer here?" Micah asked incredulously.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Have you ever tried a Bud Latte?" That's what he and Abigail call Bud Lights for some reason -- "Bud Lattes." "Just try a latte; if you don't like it I'll drink it."

"Alright, fine," I agreed.

"And get me a Michelob Light!" Abigail called after me.

Returning with my two cheap commercial beers, I cracked open the "latte," and took a sip. Micah looked at me expectantly.

"It's not bad, right?"

I said the first thing that came to mind.

"It taste like pennies. Like, if I put a handful of pennies in my mouth, that's what this tastes like." Micah buckled over with laughter.

"I could think of a lot of ways to describe that beer, but 'pennies' isn't one of them!"

"Try this one," Abigail prompted, pushing her Michelob my way and joking, "It tastes like nickles!"

She wasn't far off.

"I don't know about nickles, but it's also tasteless and metallic...like tin, or something."

We went on to have good conversation about the differences between commercial and craft beer. I opted for a Summit EPA (I only enjoyed it a little better than the latte and Michelob, but it was free).

All that to say, I'm sticking to my guns. I'm a craft beer snob. Actually, I prefer to say "enthusiast," but I'll also respond to "snob."