Wisconsin’s Minocqua Brewing Company, whose owner once promised free beer on the day President Donald Trump dies, is set to lose its alcohol permit after state agents seized beer that was allegedly transported into Wisconsin from Illinois without the required permits or excise taxes.

Kirk Bangstad, the brewery’s owner, is a progressive activist who has built the Minocqua Brewing brand around his political views. According to the New York Post, Bangstad, a former Wisconsin State Assembly candidate, has repeatedly used the brewery’s platform to criticize Trump and Republicans.

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue has notified the brewery that its alcohol permit will be revoked effective August 4, 2026, according to a Substack post published by Bangstad.

The permit revocation follows a June raid in which state agents and local police seized roughly $25,000 worth of canned beer from the brewery’s taprooms in Minocqua and Madison. The Department of Revenue alleges the beer was brewed in Illinois and brought into Wisconsin without the proper permits and without paying the required state excise taxes.

Bangstad has called the state’s actions heavy-handed and vowed to fight the decision “tooth and nail.” He maintains the dispute stems from what he describes as a minor administrative or tax payment error rather than any deliberate wrongdoing.

The brewery has also been involved in separate legal disputes over conditional use permits and zoning compliance in Oneida County.

Bangstad has drawn national attention before. Earlier this year, FBI agents interviewed him over a social media post that appeared to reference an alleged assassination attempt against Trump following the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the interview came after Bangstad posted that the shooter “needs to work on their marksmanship” and added that he was “ready to pour free beer the day it happens,” referring to Trump’s death.

Bangstad has defended his political activism, saying it is central to the brewery’s identity.

“Our brewery is very popular among progressives throughout the Upper Midwest because we actively fight against right-wing authoritarianism and corruption,” he said. “As a result of our political activism, we’ve been boycotted by beer distributors and major grocery chains.”

Whether supporters see the brewery as a political movement or critics see it as a business gone too far, the loss of its alcohol permit marks the latest chapter in a long-running series of legal and political battles that have kept Minocqua Brewing in the headlines as much for its activism as its beer.