Kirk Bangstad, the owner of the Minocqua Brewing Company
and a liberal activist, wrote a lengthy Substack post on Sunday, July 26,
opposing the department's attempt to "shut down the state's most
progressive brewery for violations that can only be described as
laughable."
According to Fox News, Bangstad's brewery is known for its anti-Trump social media posts. One of the company's posts, made in January 2026, reportedly made the free beer offer, which read: "Free beer, all day long, the day he dies. Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we'll make good on that promise."
In his Substack post, Bangstad has called the post
"a joke." The revocation of Minocqua's beer license will come into
effect next week, on August 4.
According to Fox News, three months later, after the shooting attempt at the WHCD, the company posted: "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. We'll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens."
When the news outlet reached out to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue about the revocation, a spokesperson said: "We can confirm that the Department of Revenue has issued notice of a Brewer's permit revocation for two Minocqua Brewing Company locations and notice of an Alcohol Beverage Warehouse permit revocation for one location. The business has until August 4th to appeal and can operate during the appeal process."
The revocation of Minocqua Brewing Company comes a month after authorities seized canned beer from the brewery in June, claiming that it had been transported from Illinois without the required permits and taxes.
In his Substack post, Kirk Bangstad made it clear that he
intended to challenge the Wisconsin Department of Revenue's decision to revoke
his license. He wrote:
"As you can imagine, I’m not taking this lying down.
We’re going to fight the state of Wisconsin tooth and nail, and once again,
they’ll have to pry me out of my taprooms before I stop selling beer to thirsty
progressives who come to visit us."
Bangstad also requested his readers to support the legal fees he would incur in the process: "As usual, fighting to keep my business alive means I have to pay lawyers, and that’s never cheap. Every time this [happens], I rack up $100K in legal bills before we even see a judge. If you can help chip into the Minocqua Company’s legal defense fund, I’d really appreciate it."
The brewery has also dropped merchandise opposing the
revocation, with its links attached at the bottom of Bangstad's post.
