Photo via Facebook / Minoqua Brewing Company
Tammy Shandy, as its promo goes, is “a summery seasonal Weissbeer made with all natural lemonade extracts.” The latest specialty beer brewed by the Minocqua Brewing Company is scheduled for distribution during the last week of July. It is, no doubt the first and only beer ever brewed in commemoration of a sitting lesbian U.S. Senator.
It is not, however, the first beer dedicated to a progressive politician by Minocqua Brewing Company. Owner Kirk Bangstad cites his original change of life experience that led to his series of politically flavored beers. ”I had to close my brew club in Minocqua with COVID on the rise. The second round of stimulus was being held up by Mitch McConnell. For other restaurants, they could wait it out. But I was reliant on summer tourism and wouldn’t open to risk people’s lives. I had to close down and that started the wild progressive beer thing.”
When Biden won, “I told my brewer to use a Biden Beer label and we sold barrels of it. Once we did that, it clued me into the fact that I didn’t have to be on the sidelines politically and people would go crazy for it. No Up North small business had been so political before. It struck a chord and people kept buying the beer. I can’t keep up with the demand. We hear so much misinformation that people are yearning for authenticity and the truth. It’s a boon for their soul to know someone’s telling the truth,” Bangstad said.
Science and a Steady Hand
Other beers have been released, each with an appropriate tag-line (Bangstad has a degree in marketing from Harvard University). There’s Evers Ale, “made with science and a steady hand” and Fair Maps, “don’t let gerrymandering leave a bitter taste in your mouth with this balanced and un-rigged IPA.” Of course, Kamala Harris Beer “a strong vice presidential stout” and Bernie Brew, “a lovingly irascible democratic socialist milk stout” are on tap, too.
As for Tammy Shandy, Bangstad explains his choice for naming his latest brew. “I’ve respected her for years—there’s no negative news about her. I wanted to come up with a summer beer and ‘Tammy’ and ‘Shandy’ combined just rolled off the tongue. Then I started thinking about Tammy Baldwin. She’s been such a part of Wisconsin for as long as I can remember … always as an out lesbian, a progressive woman quietly trying to do things as a member of the minority. She’s happy being a senator doing the nuts and bolts stuff, like trying to help dairy farmers. She’s out but not using it as a crusade. She wants to be a representative of all Wisconsinites. I respect her for that.
“She’s fighting for us, not screaming craziness like Ron Johnson,” he continues., pointing out that Baldwin is “up north a lot even though there aren’t a lot of progressive votes to court but she’s listening to what Wisconsin needs. I respect her for that. She is part of Wisconsin, a treasure like beer, cheese and Wisconsin sports.”
Forward Northern Wisconsin!
And progressive beer isn’t just a sales ploy. Bandstad has formed a SuperPac and 5% of profits go to making northern Wisconsin more progressive. “We’ve erected billboards telling people the truth about Ron Johnson and the insurrection. We’re hoping to change Wisconsin for the better,” Bangstad said, adding, “my superPac will make Up North politics as clean as our water.
“People have compared me to Bill Penzy of Penzy’s Spices whose Milwaukee business went through the roof when he went progressive,” he continued. “If other small business were to stick their necks out, they might do better in their business but help bring about change as well. People who aren’t political may start thinking and listening a little more. Small businesses have billboards naturally to advertise. We can use that advertising to fight for our country and not be conned anymore.”
Chatting about the Tammy Shandy distribution in Milwaukee, Bergstad mentioned just of a few of his ever-growing list of retailers selling his progressively infused beer—Woodman’s, Discount Liquor, Outpost, Siegel’s Liquor Store (in Bay View), among others. I suggested Tammy Shandy be on tap in Milwaukee’s LGBTQ bars and gave him a list, starting with the logical first choice, Walker’s Pint, the city’s only lesbian bar and one of few remaining in the country. I’m presuming they’ve gotten a call in the meantime. I also suggested Minocqua Brewing Company become a member of the Wisconsin LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Hopefully, in the meantime, it has.
