The individual who owns Minocqua Brewing Co., which became internet famous after the establishment went viral for posting that it would provide free beer after the death of President Donald Trump, said that it will likely close up shop by the end of the year after state officials revoked the company’s alcohol permits. The bar continued its anti-Trump messaging, which came back to bite it in the backside.
Kirk Bangstad, the owner of Minocqua Brewing Co., revealed that the company is continuing to fight back against the state’s decision. The brewing permits were revoked by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR), alleging that the company was in violation of laws and policies concerning beer transported from Illinois into Wisconsin without proper permits and tax payments.
The brewery says this is untrue and is disputing the action taken against it, claiming it’s because of the political views that were often posted on its social media accounts. The DOR gave a statement to Fox News saying that a hearing for the company’s appeal was scheduled for November 18, noting that the revocation of the licenses does not officially take effect until all the appeals are done.
According to Fox News, the statement then said, “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.” As previously noted, Bangstad’s breweries found themselves in headlines after offering beer if President Trump should pass away.
On January 22, 2026, the Minocqua Brewing Company seemingly suggested that free beers would be handed out to patrons should Trump be killed, though they didn’t explicitly use his name, writing on Facebook, “Free beer, all day long the day he dies.” The post then added, “Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we’ll make good on that promise.”
The staff later updated the post by saying, “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.” The company didn’t refer to Trump by name, but said the message referred to a high-profile figure when asked if the timeline for the deal could be moved up earlier.
Making it crystal clear they were talking about the president and not someone else, following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner assassination attempt, where Trump was present, the company took to Facebook and wrote, “Well, we almost got #freebeerday.” As if that wasn’t disgusting enough, the brewery also promised half-price beer when Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
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“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,” the brewery said in a post on Instagram. The brewery owner also established 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.”