Overview
- The brewery posted on Instagram on Monday that it will offer a “half-price beer day” when Sen. Mitch McConnell’s death is announced and promoted related T-shirts to supporters.
- State regulators notified Minocqua in late July that they planned to revoke its brewer and warehouse permits, and the company filed an administrative appeal that has stayed the revocation for now.
- The permit action follows a June seizure of canned beer that state officials say was produced or contracted in Illinois and imported into Wisconsin without required permits or excise-tax payments.
- Owner Kirk Bangstad runs a politically active SuperPAC, has previously posted a similar free-beer promotion tied to President Trump’s death, and was reportedly interviewed by federal agents over earlier provocative social posts.
- If the agency upholds revocation after the appeal, the brewery could lose its ability to operate taprooms and distribute product, and the dispute could move to hearing examiners and courts with wider free-speech and enforcement implications.