Kirk Bangstad has spent years turning Minocqua Brewing Company into a political megaphone. In January, the brewery promised free beer on the day an unnamed target died.
Later posts made clear President Donald Trump was the target.
On Jan. 22, the Minocqua Brewing Company appeared to suggest it would give free beer to patrons if Trump was killed, and while not explicitly using his name, posted on Facebook, “Free beer, all day long the day he dies.”
The post continued, “Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we’ll make good on that promise.”
The post was updated to say, “we meant the Madison Taproom because that’s open all year, if he dies in the summer, then it’s gonna be the Minocqua Taproom.”
In reply to comment on the post, the company also did not refer to Trump by name but said that the post hinted at a high-profile figure when asked whether the timeline for the deal could be moved up earlier.
“Well that’s up to you and your ability to act like a cia [sic] agent,” the company wrote.
Following the April shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner where Trump was present, the company wrote on Facebook, “Well, we almost got #freebeerday.”
“Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination to get a positive news cycle,” the post added. “We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.”
Bangstad, the owner of the brewery, is also the founder of the Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC, which “aims to remove Republican federal and state elected officials who perpetuated the election lies that caused the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, and whose downplaying of the seriousness of COVID-19 caused so many unnecessary deaths in our country,” according to the brewery’s website.
Anybody who speaks that loudly should expect every part of his own operation to face close examination.
Learn More: Minocqua Brewing Learned That the Rules Apply to Left-Wing Loudmouths Too
Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue has now issued notices revoking brewer’s permits for the company’s Minocqua and Madison locations, along with a warehouse permit for another location.
WPR:
Kirk Bangstad, the controversial liberal owner of the Minocqua Brewing Company, has had his brewer’s permit revoked by the state.
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue confirmed to WPR that it had issued a notice of a brewer’s permit revocation for two Minocqua Brewing Company locations. The business has locations in Minocqua and in Madison.
“The business has until Aug. 4th to appeal and can operate during the appeal process,” the Department of Revenue wrote in an email.
Additionally, a notice of an alcohol beverage warehouse permit revocation was issued for one location, according to the department.
Bangstad, in a post online, claimed the DOR has been investigating for multiple months, and questioned the abilities of the investigator.
“As you can imagine, I’m not taking this lying down,” Bangstad said.
The revocations take effect Aug. 4 unless Bangstad appeals. His brewery may continue operating while an appeal proceeds.
The cited problems include operating an unauthorized retail outlet, violating shipping laws, possessing untaxed beer, and storing beer in an unpermitted warehouse.
Bangstad admits that taxes were owed, though he claims the amount was less than $500, calling the revocation excessive and blaming political enemies, beer distributors, Republicans, and figures inside Democrat Gov. Tony Evers’ administration.
Minocqua Brewing Company statement:
Our state’s major league baseball team is called the Milwaukee Brewers, Wisconsin practically invented the term “craft beer,” yet Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue is trying to shut down the state’s most progressive brewery for violations that can only be described as laughable.
Two weeks ago, I received this letter from Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue, telling me that they plan to revoke my permit to operate as a brewer in Wisconsin on August 4th—a little over a week from now.
I couldn’t believe it and neither could the law firm that handles my liquor permits. Both my liquor lawyer and his law partner give talks at conferences that help train the Department of Revenue’s alcohol enforcement officers on how to interpret Wisconsin’s complicated liquor laws, and both said they’ve never seen the state come down so hard on a brewer before. They both believe that someone in Wisconsin’s government is trying to make an example out of me, and they’ve told me to fight this with everything I’ve got.
No public evidence currently ties the revocation to Bangstad’s Trump comments. The brewery owner’s own explanation still confirms missed taxes, late permit applications, and activity the state considered unauthorized.
Calling violations minor doesn’t make them disappear.
Wisconsin requires anybody operating as a brewer to obtain a permit from the Division of Alcohol Beverages. Retail sales away from brewery premises require separate qualifications and authorization.
Rules also govern where beer may be stored, transported, and sold. Those requirements apply whether a brewery sells progressive beer, conservative beer, or beer without politics attached.
Bangstad has made a similar political-retaliation argument before. A separate dispute over county zoning and an outdoor beer garden reached the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in November 2025.
The court found that the brewery admitted violating permit conditions, ignored a 90-day suspension, continued operating without approval, and publicly promised to remain open regardless of the government’s decision.
The judges ruled that county officials would’ve denied the permits even without Bangstad’s political speech. His brewery offered no evidence that comparable businesses had received special treatment after repeated violations and promises to keep breaking the rules.
Karma is a powerful thing; Bangstad welcomed attention when political outrage helped him sell beer and merchandise. Now that regulators are examining his permits, taxes, storage, and shipping practices, he wants everyone to believe attention itself proves persecution.
He can appeal and present evidence; until then, the record shows a business owner who repeatedly treated compliance as optional and enforcement as political warfare.
Bangstad’s megaphone couldn’t hide his permit problems; it simply ensured that everyone heard about them.
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