The Minocqua Brewing Company has filed suit against the state Department of Revenue, arguing the company is being blocked from selling its Illinois-brewed beer in Wisconsin. 

The lawsuit, filed Friday in Dane County Circuit Court, argues the state agency did not provide the brewery with an avenue to pay some $500 in outstanding excise taxes before agents seized 1,200 cans of beer last week.

Liberal activist and Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Kirk Bangstad owns the brewery. 

The lawsuit contends that DOR’s enforcement of state alcohol laws unfairly burdens Minocqua Brewing Company for working with an out-of-state contract brewer compared to an in-state brewer and that this violates the interstate commerce clause.

Minocqua Brewing Company is asking a judge to order the $25,000 worth of beer immediately returned to the brewery and for DOR to be prohibited from blocking the beer’s sale as the lawsuit runs its course. 

The lawsuit argues the seizure poses a “substantial risk” to the brewery’s finances, as it will lose “substantial revenue during the height of the summer tourism season” if the beer is not returned. 

A DOR spokesperson told WisPolitics that the agency does not comment on pending litigation. 

Bangstad wrote on Facebook and Substack yesterday that he believed the beer seizure marked the “first steps” toward revoking the brewery’s permit.

He repeated claims he made last week that he was being targeted for retaliation for bypassing politically connected alcohol distributors and for criticizing Dem Gov. Tony Evers “for being asleep at the wheel while Trump steamrolls American Democracy.” 

Bangstad has also begun selling t-shirts reading “I drank bootlegged beer at the Minocqua Brewing Company.” 

Bangstad announced a run for governor last month but was found ineligible by the Wisconsin Elections Commission due to numerous errors in his nomination papers. He has also said he plans to sue the elections agency to get on the ballot.