A Wisconsin brewery notorious for pledging free drinks on the day President Trump dies now faces the loss of its Madison taproom after state regulators revoked its alcohol permits over alleged tax and licensing violations.
Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Co., said the Madison location will likely shut down by the end of the year as the company fights the state's decision. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue pulled brewing permits for both the Madison and Minocqua taprooms, citing beer transported from Illinois without the required permits or tax payments. Fox News Digital reported that the revocation does not take effect until the brewery exhausts its appeals, with a hearing scheduled for November 18.
Bangstad claims the state targeted his business because of his politics. The Department of Revenue says otherwise.
Minocqua Brewing Co. is not a typical small-town brewery. On January 22, the company posted on Facebook: "Free beer, all day long the day he dies." The post did not name Trump directly but left little doubt about the target. It added: "Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we'll make good on that promise."
An update to the post clarified the logistics: "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."
That was not a one-off. After a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April, an event Trump attended, the brewery posted on Facebook: "Well, we almost got #freebeerday."
On Instagram, the company went after Sen. Mitch McConnell, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican who had been absent from the Senate for months after a fall at his home. The brewery wrote: "When they announce that McConnell's Faustian dance has finally ended, we're gonna start serving our beer at 'half price,' because we promised #halfpricebeerday on the day they unplug the ventilator."
McConnell returned to the Senate last week ahead of key votes.
When Fox News Digital reached out for comment, the brewery responded with disparaging remarks about Trump and reiterated its pledge to host a "#freebeerday" when the president passes. It added: "Reminder, however, no red hats allowed."
Bangstad's political activism extends beyond social media taunts. He founded the Minocqua Brewing Company SuperPAC, registered with the Federal Election Commission under committee number C00765529. The brewery's own website describes the PAC's mission: it "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."
The permit revocation, however, is rooted in alleged regulatory violations, not speech. The Washington Examiner reported that the action followed a raid that seized products allegedly transported from Illinois without the necessary permits and taxes. Bangstad confirmed the revocation himself in a Substack post.
The Department of Revenue told Fox News Digital on Thursday that the hearing on the company's appeal is set for November 18. A spokesperson offered a measured statement:
"DOR is dedicated to fair and consistent enforcement of alcohol beverage regulations in Wisconsin and takes action when the laws are not followed, as occurred here."
The New York Post reported that the revocation takes effect August 4 and that Bangstad has asked supporters to donate to a legal defense fund, estimating $100,000 in legal bills before his case reaches a judge. Bangstad vowed to fight:
"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."
The brewery's defense rests on a claim that regulators singled it out for its outspoken opposition to Republicans. That argument may play well with the company's progressive customer base, but it does not address the substance of the state's allegations: beer moved across state lines from Illinois without the permits and tax payments Wisconsin law requires.
Bangstad has not publicly detailed any specific legal arguments beyond the political-targeting accusation. The DOR, for its part, framed the action as routine enforcement, the same rules that apply to every brewery in the state.
Both the Minocqua and Madison locations had their permits revoked. Bangstad identified the Madison taproom as the one most likely to close by year's end, though the status of the Minocqua location remains unclear from available statements. The revocation stays suspended while the appeal process plays out, meaning the brewery can continue to operate in the interim.
Minocqua Brewing Co. spent years cultivating a brand built on political hostility, celebrating the prospect of a sitting president's death, mocking a hospitalized senator, and running a SuperPAC dedicated to unseating Republicans. Bangstad made his brewery a vehicle for progressive activism first and a business second.
None of that is illegal. Obnoxious, tasteless, and deliberately provocative, but not illegal.
Transporting beer from Illinois without the required state permits and failing to pay the associated taxes, on the other hand, is a straightforward regulatory violation. The DOR says that is what happened. Bangstad says the state is out to get him. A hearing in November will sort it out.
But the brewery's predicament carries a certain irony that Bangstad may not appreciate. He built a business around the idea that rules exist for other people, that the right political stance entitles you to say anything, target anyone, and treat basic decency as optional. Now a state agency is telling him the rules apply to him, too. And he does not like it one bit.
If you want to run a brewery, follow the brewing laws. It should not take $100,000 in legal fees to learn that lesson.
