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Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations

Minocqua Brewing Co. owner says Madison taproom likely to close pending appeal hearing.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published Updated
Minocqua Brewing Co.'s future uncertain as Wisconsin challenges its alcohol permits. | Next News Editorial Illustration

What this story says

  • Wisconsin's Department of Revenue has revoked alcohol permits for Minocqua Brewing Co.'s two locations.
  • The revocation is due to alleged tax and licensing violations involving beer transported from Illinois.
  • Owner Kirk Bangstad stated the Madison taproom will likely close by the end of the year.
  • The permit revocation is on hold until an appeal hearing on November 18.

Who covered it

Left 13%(1)Centre 0%(0)Right 87%(7)

Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .

Trust

78/100

Craft

95/100

Hype

30/100

8 sources · methodology

Thin on the left so far

Only 1 of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.

Wisconsin officials have revoked the alcohol permits for Minocqua Brewing Co.'s locations in Madison and Minocqua. The Wisconsin Department of Revenue cited alleged tax and licensing violations, including issues with beer transported from Illinois. Owner Kirk Bangstad has indicated that the Madison taproom is likely to cease operations by the end of the year. The revocation is not yet in effect, pending an appeal hearing scheduled for November 18.

Disagreement on timing of revocation

The Wisconsin Department of Revenue stated that the permit revocation does not take effect until the appeal process is completed. However, the New York Post reported that the brewery "could shut its doors after losing its alcohol license," and Next News Network stated the brewery is "bracing to lose its Madison taproom after the state moved to revoke its alcohol permits."

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated reports mention the specific dollar figure or the exact time period involved in the alleged tax and licensing violations. The reports also do not detail the brewery's formal response to the allegations beyond owner Kirk Bangstad's statement about the taproom closure and the company's dispute of the state's action, accusing officials of targeting it due to its political views.

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 26 Sept 2026, 02:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations
New York PostRight
Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations
nytimespost.comRight

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

We have not written our reading of the left coverage of this story. The left-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.

Centre

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.

Right

7 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports consistently highlighted Minocqua Brewing Co.'s pledge to offer free beer on the day President Trump dies. Several outlets, including Next News Network and the Washington Times, used this promise as a central element in their headlines and opening paragraphs. The New York Post and other reports also mentioned the free beer offer as a key aspect of the brewery's public profile. The New York Post provided extensive detail on the brewery's political messaging, including past social media posts about Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell, and the founder's Super PAC. Next News Network included an editorial section discussing the situation as a consequence for the brewery's marketing and political stances, rather than persecution. All reports mentioned the alleged tax and licensing violations and the potential closure of the Madison taproom. The New York Post and Next News Network reported that owner Kirk Bangstad said the Madison taproom is likely to shut down by the end of the year. The New York Post also included a statement from the Department of Revenue regarding the appeal hearing on November 18 and the condition that the revocation does not take effect until appeals are concluded.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations?
Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 13% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 87% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations left or right?
Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
Is the coverage of Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations biased?
Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Wisconsin brewery faces permit revocation over alleged violations?
8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
Why did Wisconsin revoke Minocqua Brewing Co.'s alcohol permits?
Wisconsin officials revoked the permits due to alleged tax and licensing violations. These issues reportedly involved beer transported from Illinois without the required permits and tax payments.
When will the permit revocation take effect?
The revocation is not yet in effect. It is on hold pending the outcome of an appeal hearing scheduled for November 18, according to the Department of Revenue.
What is the status of the Madison taproom?
Owner Kirk Bangstad stated that the Madison taproom is likely to shut down by the end of the year. This is expected to occur while the company continues to fight the state's decision through the appeals process.

Read it at the source

8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

1

Centre

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Right

7

Not rated

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Minocqua Brewing Co. permit revocation | MediaBias News