St. Louis, home to the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co., wanted it. Milwaukee, home to Miller, Pabst, Schlitz and Blatz beer, wanted it.

But the National Brewery Museum turned down both Midwestern brew-hubs and will instead be opening in the tiny town of Potosi, Wis., on June 19, with the official grand opening celebration on July 5.

Potosi, population 725, is located in the southwest corner of Wisconsin and is one of the smaller towns on the 3,000-mile Great River Road, which follows the Mississippi. The town was chosen by the American Breweriana Association because of the village's long brewing history and confidence that local residents would see the project through. The museum will be located in the four-story 1852 Potosi Brewing Co. building.

"We're fortunate this building was still standing," said village president Frank Fiorenza. "It looked war-torn, but the foundation was still solid."

Exhibit items come from hundreds of private collections, including many from the breweriana group's 3,200 members. Expect to see rare, pre-Prohibition brewing equipment, long stored in a farm shed in Slinger, Wis. Vintage beer ads will play on a museum TV screen. Unusual tales revolve around the Potosi Steamer train, which until 1917 delivered pony kegs to Dubuque while quenching the thirst of 100 passengers.

It was "Potosi's rolling bar, for 30 years," Fiorenza said. "It was the bar that came to you."

Then there was the elongated 1929 Pontiac, big enough for six bartenders to work out of at the same time and a popular rental unit for weddings.

"It had no liquor license," Fiorenza said, "so you couldn't sell beer from it, but you could give it away."

The vehicle -- found in a Hazel Green field, 25 miles southeast -- will be restored for the museum.

Also in the building will be a microbrewery, restaurant, a brewery reference library, Great River Road interpretive center, transportation (road/rail/river) museum, and gift shop.

Brewmaster Steve Zuidema will tap into local spring water to produce root beer, an amber ale, a pilsner called Good Old Potosi, Holiday Bock and Snake Hollow IPA, a reference to the days when rattlesnakes were found in nearby mining caves. Zuidema also brews seasonal beers; Potosi Steamer Hefe Weiss is the first.

Chef Jason Culbertson, a Le Cordon Bleu grad, will use beer in the items on the restaurant menu -- like beer cheese soup with red peppers.

Local commerce slowly is expanding because of the new museum. For example, a 1902 beer bottling facility opened this year as a country craft store. Bill and Mary Uppena of Platteville say they made the move because of the beer museum.

About $4.8 million of the $6 million for the museum has already been secured, and the town is hosting Brewery Fest 2008 on June 14 to raise even more funds For more information, visit www.potosibrewery.com, 608-763-4002. For more about the American Breweriana Association: www.americanbreweriana.org.

One more round: Wisconsin has another budding beer shring. The Milwaukee Beer Museum, 722 S. Fifth St., plans to open sometime in July in the state's largest city.

"We want it to be a central repository for Milwaukee beer history," said Jim Kupferschmidt, who owns a garage door company but also has a passion for brewing.

Kupferschmidt and four buddies pooled their money to buy an 1877 Walkers Point building and restore it. Edward A. Green, who designed the popular "Streets of Old Milwaukee" exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum, donated his assistance.

At the core will be Milwaukee beer history from the 1840s to present, supplemented by rotating exhibits from elsewhere. At its peak, in the 1870s to 1880s, Milwaukee had about 40 breweries.

Kupferschmidt hopes to eventually open the museum from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with beer-related tours on weekends. For more information, see www.milwaukeebeermuseum.com, or call (414) 643-0050.