Just from observing the tightness of my jeans, you might be able to tell that I enjoy Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

For several years now, PBR has enjoyed enormous cult success as the official drink of the hipster culture, namely around the Chicagoland area.

Well, as “official” as one can say, anyway. An attempt to brand it as such might alienate the company’s strongest market. In addition to being the perfect middle ground between “this is drinkable” and “this was what was cheapest at the liquor store,” part of PBR’s massive appeal over the past 10 years has been due to its lack of mainstream commercialization. The organization has kept itself both in business and good standing with the viable “trendy 20-something” demographic.

But, all of that might be about to change: The Pabst Brewing Co. recently announced that it would be moving its corporate headquarters from the Chicago suburb of Woodridge to Los Angeles, CA.

When I heard about the move, my first thoughts were swayed heavily by brand loyalty. I took a similar stance to my opinion of the Anheuser-Busch buyout of Chicago’s Goose Island Brewery: don’t change, and we won’t have a problem.

As I learned more about the deal, however, I began to grow wary.

Daren and Evan Metropoulos, whose father bought Pabst in 2010 and has subsequently given them control, have expressed interest in launching celebrity-soaked ad campaigns in addition to the relocation.

As much as I hate to sound pretentious, part of the reason I started drinking PBR was because of its inoffensive presence. I saw other people like me enjoying it, and I didn’t have gaudy, sexist ad campaigns telling me that I’d be the life of the party if I partook in their product. Pabst has managed to sell not only a beverage, but a sense of freedom.

But, in an effort to distance myself from my personal criticisms, I tried to remain steadfast in my support; I tried to remain hopeful. Maybe this change would be to my liking. Maybe I’d get some funny, subversive commercials out of the deal, and I wouldn’t feel out of sorts drinking a beer that I’ve come to enjoy the taste of.

But the bad news wouldn’t stop coming.

Not only is Pabst relocating and re-branding, but the move welches on a deal made with the State of Illinois when the company moved its headquarters from San Antonio, TX to Woodridge in 2006. The Illinois government promised tax breaks and other incentives in exchange for the jobs that Pabst promised to keep running for at least 10 years.

It is clear that the Metropoulos brothers have no idea what they are doing. What could we have expected, though? Daren is most well-known for buying the former Playboy mansion, and Evan was featured on MTV’s True Life: I’m the Youngest Tycoon in the World. These two are not businessmen; they are spoiled man-children looking to play brewery. This change in business practice will ultimately spell doom for the company that some people worked incredibly hard to build and defend. The Metropoulos brothers are more interested in hanging out with Snoop Dogg, who endorses the new (and fairly racist) Blast by Colt 45, another name in the Pabst family. Cubs fans: Your beloved Old Style, a Pabst beverage, may be going a similar route. The Metropoulos brothers are considering severing ties with the Northside baseball team in a quest for bigger names.

I cannot speak for everyone in the Chicagoland area, but I for one am giving up on my beloved PBR, as well as Old Style, Schlitz, Stroh’s, and all other brews distributed under the Pabst banner. I’ve seen video of the Metropoulos brothers trying to do business in liquor stores, and it boarders on sad, from plugging Blast with large cardboard cutouts of Snoop Dogg, to incorrectly identifying themselves as “the owners of the Pabst Blue Ribbon company.”

With one fell swoop, the days of the PBR-drinking hipster have begun their final descent.

If you need me, I’ll be out buying a six-pack of Hamm’s.