Swansenreport

Minocqua Brewing Owner Bangstad: Convicted, Losing His Taproom, and Now Accused of Defrauding His Own Donors

Kirk Bangstad, the owner of Minocqua Brewing Company and self-styled progressive activist, is having a very bad spring. He drew national condemnation this week for a social media post appearing to celebrate the assassination attempt on President Trump. But that’s just the latest chapter in a long and tangled story that includes a fraud lawsuit, a criminal conviction, a revoked operating permit — and a growing question about what happened to the $2 million his donors gave him.

The Minocqua Brewing Company’s social media page referenced the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, alluding to Bangstad’s standing promise of free beer the day President Trump dies. The post drew condemnation from both parties. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin called it “completely unacceptable.” Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said the reaction was “completely unacceptable” and denounced anyone who reacted to the shooting with anything other than outrage.

Lost in the national coverage is what Bangstad has been dealing with closer to home. A civil lawsuit filed in Oneida County alleges Bangstad defrauded donors to his Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC by funneling nearly half a million dollars to himself through two shell entities — Effervescent Blue and NCPS — that exist only as PO box addresses, have no online footprint, and are not registered businesses in Wisconsin. According to FEC records, the Minocqua Brewing Company Super PAC is the only political group in the country to have paid either entity.

When asked about his ownership stake in the two companies, Bangstad refused to answer directly. He has called questions about the entities “out of bounds” and accused Wisconsin Public Radio — which first reported on the irregularities — of being part of a Republican effort to damage his activism.

The lawsuit was filed by Gregg Walker and Heather Holmes, the publisher and general manager of the Lakeland Times in Minocqua — a newspaper Bangstad has feuded with for years. In 2023, a jury found Bangstad liable for defamation and awarded Walker $750,000, later settled for $580,000 — Wisconsin’s largest defamation judgment.

There’s more. In April 2026, Bangstad pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct stemming from a June 2025 arrest for yelling profanities at Walker outside the brewery. He was fined $500. The Oneida County zoning committee also declined this spring to restore the conditional use permit for Bangstad’s Minocqua taproom, meaning it will not be legally permitted to open this summer.

Bangstad has raised more than $2 million from donors who believed they were funding progressive causes in red Wisconsin. The fraud lawsuit is still pending.

Sources: WPR | Wisconsin Law Journal | Channel 3000 / WISC-TV | Primetimer / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | Heartland Post