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Brewery that offered free beer when Trump dies faces possible closure after state revokes alcohol permits

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Cite

Guidice, R. d. (2026, September 25). Brewery that offered free beer when Trump dies faces possible closure after state revokes alcohol permits. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/media/brewery-offered-free-beer-when-trump-dies-faces-possible-closure-after-state-revokes-alcohol-permits

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-09-25 · by Rachel del Guidice

Quick Summary

Minocqua Brewing Co., a Wisconsin brewery known for its political stances against President Trump, faces potential closure after state officials revoked its alcohol permits. The company disputes these actions and claims they are politically motivated. Channel 3000 reported that owner Kirk Bangstad said the Madison taproom may close by year-end due to ongoing legal battles over permit revocation related to alleged violations involving beer transportation from Illinois without proper permits and tax payments.
Written by AI on 2026-09-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Kirk Bangstad, owner of Minocqua Brewing Co., announced on Monday that his Madison taproom might close by year-end after the state revoked its alcohol permits. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) accused the brewery of transporting beer from Illinois without required permits and tax payments, leading to permit revocations for locations in Minocqua and Madison. Bangstad disputes these actions, claiming political motivations since his company gained notoriety by offering free beer if President Trump died, though he did not use Trump's name explicitly. The DOR said it is dedicated to fair enforcement of alcohol laws and scheduled an appeal hearing for November 18, with revocation not taking effect until appeals are resolved.

Written for “Brewery Faces Closure After License R…” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Brewery Faces Closure After License R…
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 13% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
13%
2 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
68/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6525 article(s) · 12 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 12 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Rachel del Guidice
26 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Also by Rachel del Guidice
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 26 articles by Rachel del Guidice →

Topics

DOR Facebook Madison Minocqua Brewing Co. Wisconsin

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 5× Madison GPE · 3× Bangstad ORG · 2× DOR ORG · 2× Facebook ORG · 2× Fox News Digital ORG · 2× McConnell PERSON · 2× Minocqua Brewing Co. ORG · 2× Senate ORG · 2× Wisconsin GPE · 2×

Narrative

The department told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday that there is a hearing on the company's appeal on Nov. 18, and that the revocation does not take effect until appeals are done, adding that the "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." Bangstad’s breweries have made headlines for offering free beer if President Trump dies. On Jan. 22, the Minocqua Brewing Company appeared to suggest it would give free beer to patrons if Trump was killed, and while not explicitly using his name, posted on Facebook, "Free beer, all day long the day he dies." "Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we’ll make good on that promise," the post continued.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-26
🔮 The owner of Minocqua Brewing Co. said Monday that the Madison taproom in Wisconsin will likely shut down by the end of the year after state officials revoked the company’s alcohol permits.

Claims (15 extracted, 2 hedged)

The owner of Minocqua Brewing Co. said Monday that the Madison taproom in Wisconsin will likely shut down by the end of the year after state officials revoked the company’s alcohol permits. asserted
officials → say → permits
Channel 3000 reported that Minocqua Brewing Co. owner Kirk Bangstad said the Madison taproom is likely to shut down as the business continues fighting the state’s decision. asserted
business → report → decision
The brewery has become known for its outspoken messaging against President Donald Trump. asserted
brewery → become → Trump
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) revoked brewing permits for the company’s Minocqua and Madison locations after alleging violations involving beer transported from Illinois without the required permits and tax payments. asserted
Department → revoke → permits
The brewery has disputed the state’s action and accused officials of targeting it because of its political views. asserted
brewery → dispute → views
The department told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday that there is a hearing on the company's appeal on Nov. 18, and that the revocation does not take effect until appeals are done, adding that the "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." Bangstad’s breweries have made headlines for offering free beer if President Trump dies. On Jan. 22, the Minocqua Brewing Company appeared to suggest it would give free beer to patrons if Trump was killed, and while not explicitly using his name, posted on Facebook, "Free beer, all day long the day he dies." "Show us this post when it happens in a few months and we’ll make good on that promise," the post continued. asserted
post → tell → promise
The post was updated to say, "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." In reply to comment on the post, the company also did not refer to Trump by name but said the message referred to a high-profile figure when asked whether the timeline for the deal could be moved up earlier. uncertain
timeline → update → deal
After the April shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner where Trump was present, the company wrote on Facebook, "Well, we almost got #freebeerday." asserted
we → write → freebeerday
The brewery also offered half-price beer when Sen. Mitch McConnell dies. asserted
McConnell → offer → beer
"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 an Instagram post. asserted
brewery → announce → post
McConnell, who is 84, was absent from the Senate for months after being hospitalized for a fall in his home earlier this year. asserted
who → hospitalize → home
The Kentucky Republican returned to the Senate last week ahead of key votes. asserted
Republican → return → votes
Bangstad, who owns the brewery, is also the founder of 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," according to the brewery’s website. uncertain
downplaying → own → website
Reached for comment by Fox News Digital, the brewery made disparaging remarks about Trump and again noted that it will host a "#freebeerday" when the president passes. asserted
president → reach → freebeerday
"Reminder, however, no red hats allowed," the brewery added. asserted
brewery → allow → ?
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