Bitterness Brewing: Anti-Trump Beermaker Loses Liquor License

He built his brand on political spite. The state just turned off the tap.

There’s your average, unhinged, hate-spewing liberal who’ll slap a stranger for wearing a MAGA hat and sue the federal government for not keeping their murder conviction a secret, and then there’s Kirk Bangstad.

Bangstad is a busy dude. When he’s not working the taps over at “Wisconsin’s most progressive brewery,” he spends his time whining about government heavy-handedness, posting anti-conservative rants to social media, being arrested, running for Governor, losing $750K defamation lawsuits, and begging folks to donate to his pet projects and legal fees. His Minocqua Brewing Company isn’t just a local pub you can pop into for a cold Fascist Tears IPA, either; it’s an entire ecosystem—complete with podcast, super PAC, and merch store—where craft beer meets performative outrage and also you can purchase twine-wrapped cork coasters lovingly inscribed with, “In this house, we say please, thank you, and f*ck Trump.”

The brewery owner—who also sells koozies and t-shirts online that insist EMPATHY IS EVERYTHING—recently took TDS to exotic new heights by promising patrons “free beer all day long the day Trump dies.”

Complete with “I wish it was free beer day” t-shirts, of course.

And then he lost his liquor license.

Although the two events were reportedly unrelated—the revocation was a result of tax and permit violations—the beer maker is pulling a Fauci, insisting he’s the victim of, among other injustices, “false complaints made by MAGA trolls.”

“[My attorneys] believe that someone in Wisconsin’s government is trying to make an example out of me, and they’ve told me to fight this with everything I’ve got,” Bangstad wrote. “Everyone reading this, Democrat or Republican, should recoil at the thought of a small and thriving business being destroyed by their state government over such small violations.”

I have no words.

You want to know what I recoil at, sir? People who applauded when folks got fired for refusing to take part in a grotesque, forced medical experiment. People who call parents who show up at school board meetings to protest gender-inclusive bathrooms and sexually explicit curricula domestic terrorists. People who are objectively awful and then play the martyr card while soliciting donations. People who cheer when rioters slash ICE tires and smash storefronts and call it “resistance.” People who preach tolerance while wishing actual death on their political enemies. People who don’t even have the decency to be… decent.

Doubling down on evil.

This isn’t Bangstad’s first brush with the legal system—nor is it the first time his operating permit has been revoked. He’s faced criminal defamation charges and a string of failed lawsuits, all while running a super PAC that funnels beer profits into progressive causes. Bangstad has also been formally accused of defrauding donors by using funds to pay himself nearly a half million dollars.

“The lawsuit alleges that two entities that received payments from the super PAC of more than $300,000 in the last two years are fronts for Bangstad’s personal expenses,” Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

“Effervescent Blue and NCPS received payments of $333,890 in 2023 and 2024. The entities are not registered businesses in Wisconsin and they do not have any storefront nor online footprint. According to federal data, Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC is the only political group to pay either during the two-year period.”

“The lawsuit also alleges other misuses of donors’ funds, including to pay for personal legal expenses and bankruptcy counseling. A 2024 payment disclosed to the FEC showed a $10,000 payment to a Madison-based bankruptcy attorney that ‘has never established an attorney-client relationship with the MBC Super PAC.’”

Let the record show that according to the guy who’s definitely not defrauding anyone, the super PAC scandal is another right-wing smear campaign. Your money’s safe with him. Really.

I’m not saying Bangstad couldn’t have been targeted this last time around. Maybe the state is being unusually aggressive as a result of his political proclivities. Maybe the alleged violations wouldn’t ordinarily justify this response. Maybe his activism has earned him a few powerful adversaries. But if that’s his big argument, welcome to the club.

Shocker.

Conservatives have spent the better part of the last decade listening to liberals explain that government investigations, regulatory scrutiny, lawsuits, de-banking, and de-platforming are necessary civic protections. That free speech stops at “dangerous rhetoric” and whatever they subjectively label “misinformation.” That if you vote a certain way, you deserve to be canceled. That this is all just about accountability. That nobody is above the law.

Now we’re supposed to be horrified that a business owner who built his entire brand around political provocation feels targeted after years of boasting about being one of the most controversial activists in his state.

I found the sane guy who reads Kirk’s stack!

The actual paperwork that’s been filed against Bangstad by Wisconsin’s Department of Revenue tells a different version of events: unauthorized retail sales, violations of shipping laws, and possession of untaxed beer in an unpermitted warehouse. Bangstad admits he owes the taxes. But in his telling, the whole thing is a politically motivated hit job—one he is not taking lying down [*also, he really needs your financial support and will happily provide convenient donation links].

I’m all for creative capitalism. If consumers can’t get enough of your tasteless tees and offensive accessories, you have my hearty congratulations. God bless you and the free market system [*tips DEFUND THE MEDIA hat*]. But there’s a point where “edgy marketing” becomes genuine degeneracy. Unfortunately, some folks couldn’t find that point if St. Anthony himself handed them a map.

Normal breweries offer mug clubs. Military discounts. Trivia nights. Happy hour. Live music. Loyalty cards. Ladies-drink-free. The Minocqua Brewing Company offered a White House wake with an open bar, flouted a few rules, and got busted.

I hate to be the one to break it to you, Mr. Bangstad, but karma’s a bitch. And apparently, she drinks IPA.

P.S. Some generous supporters who aren’t fans of online payment platforms have asked if I could include a mailing address for donations, so here you go:

Jenna McCarthy, POPME
POB 342111
Lakeway, TX 78734

(If you mail a contribution, kindly DM me so that I can add you to the paid subs list!)

P.P.S. If you’re newish here, POPME is a title I gave myself in fellowship with lunatics everywhere. From the original post (which is a favorite of mine BTW):

Thanks to woke privilege, we’ve got aliens identifying as legal citizens, shysters masquerading as socialites, philanthropaths posing as health experts, demented old men pretending to be powerful world leaders, and AI impersonating pretty much everything and everyone (including demented old men pretending to be powerful world leaders). And so, in solidarity with delusional humans everywhere, today I am declaring myself Princess of Pretty Much Everything. (You can call me POPME for short. In fact, I demand it. And by the way, my pronouns are Where’s/Kate.) Anyone who fails to acknowledge my new royal title, position, and preferred-referential-parts-of-speech shall henceforth be considered—and angrily referred to—as fringy, racist, right-wing falafel. Feel free to tell the others.