MINOCQUA, WISCONSIN, July 28 (Nationwide Times) — Wisconsin regulators have moved to revoke brewing and alcohol warehouse permits tied to Minocqua Brewing Company, the latest step in a dispute that has also included a June seizure of canned beer and a public fight over the company’s Trump-related social media posts.
This is a state licensing action, not a criminal charge. The available records do not include a court filing or criminal complaint. Instead, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue says it has issued notice of permit revocation and given the business until Aug. 4 to appeal.
What the state did
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue said it 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.
According to the department, the company may keep operating while any appeal is pending. The appeal deadline is Aug. 4.
Kirk Bangstad, the brewery’s owner, said in a Substack post that he received the state’s letter and would fight the action “tooth and nail.” In the same post, he said, “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.”
Why the state is acting
The Department of Revenue’s enforcement action follows earlier allegations that beer brewed in Illinois was transported, sold, or stored in Wisconsin without the proper permits and without paying required excise taxes.
In June, state agents reportedly seized canned beer from the company’s locations in Minocqua and Madison. The Department of Revenue has described the matter as an active law enforcement action.
The records provided here do not show the department’s full legal file, the specific administrative findings, or a case number. They also do not show a court hearing, because the dispute appears to be playing out through the state alcohol licensing process.
How the dispute grew
The permit fight comes after Minocqua Brewing Company posted a message on Facebook saying, “Free beer, all day long the day he dies,” referring to President Donald Trump. The company later updated the post to say it meant the Madison taproom in the summer and the Minocqua taproom at other times of year.
Bangstad’s later posts tied the permit dispute to that broader political fight and said he would continue to contest the state action. He also said legal costs would be part of the battle.
What a revocation notice means
A permit revocation notice is a formal step by a regulator that can lead to a business losing the right to operate under a state-issued alcohol license. In this case, the Department of Revenue says the business can keep operating during the appeal period.
That means the notice is not the same as an immediate shutdown. It does, however, put the company’s Wisconsin alcohol permits at risk unless the appeal succeeds or the department changes course.
For now, the key date is Aug. 4, when the appeal window closes under the department’s notice.
