{image1}"Where the hell is Potosi and how did it beat out Milwaukee for the National Beer Museum?'

Beer drinkers everywhere are asking that question. Thousands are crying in their suds nightly in Brew City pubs at the disappointment of losing the honor.

Well, maybe not, but Potosi is proud to have been selected as the site for the museum earlier this year, and did indeed beat out Milwaukee and St. Louis, where that other beer is brewed by a company headed by some guy named Augie.

Potosi won over the American Breweriana Association because of its passion for beer, brewery history and beer-making culture, said Len Chylack, president of the collectors' group. Plus, a group from the village of 720, at the confluence the Grant River and the Mississippi in Grant County, blew the collectors away with a "dynamic" presentation.

"The main reason for us going with them is it's such a dynamic devoted group out there," Chylack said at the time of the announcement. "They're going to get that project done."

That project includes the renovation of the former Potosi Brewing Company, which operated in town from 1852 to 1972, into the museum, a restaurant with an outdoor beer garden, a microbrewery and gift shop.

The facility will total 30,000 square feet, with 7,000 square feet devoted to the brewery museum, at a cost of $3.4 million. The American Breweriana Association is donating $250,000. Grants from the public and private sector are being sought. Some funds also are being raised by selling Potosi Light beer.

Leading the renovation effort is The Potosi Brewery Foundation, headed by attorney Steve Vogelsberg. "The brewery was a cornerstone of the community for 120 years," Vogelsberg said. "Brewing beer was in the family for people in the town."

Vogelsberg said that Potosi Brewery collectibles bring top prices among collectors on the Internet and at shows, so the museum seems to be a good fit.

Potosi village president Frank Fiorenza also is a major booster of the project. "The plans we have for this area are going to have a dramatic impact. We like to say in southwest Wisconsin that the rest of the state thinks it drops off the face of the earth at Monroe. This area has so much to offer."

Fiorenza said he believes Potosi was picked for the national museum because its plans were developed beyond those of St. Louis and Milwaukee, and the small town could move "with much less complication."

"I think we offered the space, the freedom and flexibility to the group to put the kind of museum they were looking for," he said. "This facility will have a library, with books on brewing history, an area for restoration of artifacts and everything a national museum should have."

Before you Milwaukee beer drinkers start complaining again, be aware that Potosi beer once rivaled any in the country. Founded by Gabriel Hall in 1852, the brewery first pumped out about 4,000 barrels in a year, but reached 75,000 barrels to become the fifth largest brewery in Wisconsin. The Potosi suds were marketed under a variety of labels throughout the Midwest and eventually all the way to the West Coast.

Those labels included Alpine Lager Beer, Potosi Pilsener, Good Old Potosi Beer, Kellers Holiday Beer, Augsburger, Bohemian Club, Garten Brau and others.

Hail and a partner, John Albrecht, started their brewery when lead mining was king in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. Miners guzzled the brew after a hard days work, and Potosi prospered, developing into a leading port of its day.

Then, the California Gold Rush struck, and thousands of miners headed further west to look for gold rather than lead. Depressed by the downturn in business and personal problems, Hail hung himself in the boiler room of the brewery in 1884.

The brewery remained idle for some time, until it was purchased by Adam Schumacher, who rebuilt the business. At one time, Schumacher owned a steamboat, named Potosi, which carried beer shipments to Dubuque.

During Prohibition, the brewery installed expensive de-alcoholizing equipment to produce a "Near Beer," which had an alcohol content of less than one percent. When Prohibition was repealed, trucks were lined up a half mile on Main Street in Potosi to load four percent beer again at midnight on April 14, 1933.

At its peak, Potosi Brewing employed more than 100 people and shipped its beer all over the country. In fact, Milwaukee was a prime market. During this period, the company included a farm and a brewery-owned tavern.

You can still hoist a Potosi Light at that former brewery tavern, which houses Raybe's Again Legion Bar. Raybe was actually sold out on the day this writer stopped, but more should be on its way.

Steve Schaal operates the Desert Emporium, a gift store and floral shop, in another former brewery building and is rooting for the museum. "I hope it goes well for the town's sake and for my business too," he said. "The brewery is a big part of the town's history."

Most people in Potosi are excited about the project. Times have not always been easy in small towns in recent years, and the museum offers opportunities for economic development and continuation of a long history in brewing.

The folks in Potosi really need and want the museum. Meanwhile, some sources say St. Louis was just too big for the facility, and Milwaukee offered only a small space, much less than 7,000 square feet, for the museum.

Some of the renovation of the Potosi buildings could be done by this fall. It's hoped the museum could be open in three to five years.

Potosi is situated in a very interesting part of the state, with Stonefield and other historic sites at Cassville, about 20 miles north along the Mississippi; Lancaster, the home of the first Wisconsin governor, Nelson Dewey, only about 15 miles north; and Galena, Illinois, a major tourist area, about 45 minutes to the south.

The Grant River Recreation Area and St. John's Mine, which still holds regular tours, are additional attractions.

So, that should give you an idea where the hell Potosi is, and how it beat out Milwaukee for the National Beer Museum.