There’s a heaping dose of schadenfreude in Wisconsin today. For years, Kurt Bangstad of Minocqua Brewing prided himself on his far-left bona fides, going so far as to celebrate the death of Charlie Kirk last September and to offer free beer if President Trump is assassinated.
During the 2025 Supreme Court race, Elon Musk attended a rally for conservative candidate Brad Schimel. Bangstad wanted to stage a citizen’s arrest of Musk during that event.
Last September, Bangstad wrote on his “progressive beer” company’s Facebook page, “F**k Charlie Kirk … my heart is hard for men like Charlie Kirk simply because I spend all my empathetic reserves trying to keep it soft for folks who are hurting because of men like Charlie Kirk.”
Bangstad also called Kirk’s public funeral service “propaganda” and that he hoped Kirk’s soul “may … never find peace.”
And, yes, Bangstad wrote on Facebook back on April 25, “Well, we almost got #freebeerday. Either a brother or sister in the Resistance needs to work on their marksmanship or he faked another assassination attempt to get a positive news cycle. We’ll never know. Regardless, we stand at the ready to pour free beer the day it happens.
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About a week later, Bangstad likely committed a serious crime by doxxing a Secret Service agent who called to investigate the aforementioned free beer post, sharing the agent’s voicemail and phone number on Facebook.
Now it turns out we won’t get that free beer from Minocqua Brewing, as it’s reportedly lost its liquor license, or more technically, his permits to brew beer.
Dang, I guess this is actually happening.
The Minocqua moron lost his liquor license. pic.twitter.com/8JhTi0jEJK
— Jocular Josh 🇺🇸 (@lifeasjosh) September 26, 2026
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) revoked brewing permits for the company’s Minocqua and Madison locations after alleging violations involving beer transported from Illinois without the required permits and tax payments. The brewery has disputed the state’s action and accused officials of targeting it because of its political views.
The department told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday that there is a hearing on the company’s appeal on Nov. 18, and that the revocation does not take effect until appeals are done, adding that the “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.”
Bangstad’s breweries have made headlines for offering free beer if President Trump dies.
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.”
Bangstad’s legal problems go back ages. In June, agents with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) seized $25,000 worth of canned beer from the Minocqua and Madison taprooms, claiming the beer was brewed in Illinois, brought into Wisconsin without proper permits, and sold without the Wisconsin excise tax. The brewery was also cited for an unpermitted warehouse and unauthorized retail activity.
🚨Good News: The Minocqua Brewing Co. Madison taproom will likely close by the end of the year after the Wisconsin Department of Revenue revoked the company’s alcohol permits.
The owner of the bar Kirk Bangstad offered free beer on the day that Donald Trump dies and he tried to… pic.twitter.com/JTDY5ZmnFv
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) September 28, 2026
The following month, the DOR revoked permits for both taprooms and a warehouse. Bangstad appealed, and both can remain open while the case is pending. A hearing is scheduled for mid-November. Bangstad has said he can keep the Minocqua location open, but will likely have to close the Madison taproom if he can’t make money.
The owner of the anti-Trump brewery that once offered free beer when President Trump dies says the company’s Madison, Wisconsin, taproom will likely close by the end of the year.
The announcement comes after the Wisconsin Department of Revenue revoked the company’s brewing… pic.twitter.com/ibeNV8rmKr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) September 26, 2026
As always, Bangstad is not taking responsibility for his actions, claiming his legal and business troubles are all retaliation by the Trump administration for his anti-Trump, anti-MAGA views. He even blamed Democrat Tony Evers, saying the seizure of his beer was “political payback” for criticizing Evers and the Tavern League of Wisconsin.
It’s deliciously ironic that Bangstad’s company is likely to go under before President Trump leaves office in 2029.
It takes tremendous incompetence and mismanagement to ruin a beer company in Wisconsin, where beer is one of the major food groups and part of the state’s national identity. Yet Kirk Bangstad has managed to do just that. Rules and laws exist, and Bangstad has refused to abide by them. Yet, like all the leftists, Bangstad somehow thinks his political views make him immune from those laws and a victim of political targeting when those laws are enforced. He’s not. Everything that’s happened to him is self-inflicted and driven by his chronic case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
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