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POTOSI - What better place to celebrate our nation's beer history, than right here in Wisconsin?

Milwaukee and St. Louis both fought hard for the privilege of building the museum. So where did it end up? A town many people have never even heard of.

Just a few hundred yards from the Mississippi River springs bubble up from the Earth. Perfect water for brewing beer.

Brewmaster Steve Buszka says simply, "I love beer. Everything about it: Making it, drinking it. Talking about it."

He's also helping others learn about it, at the National Brewery Museum in tiny Potosi, Wisconsin. Frank Fiorenza is the Village President.

They had a community meeting in August of 1999 to see whether or not they could restore this dilapidated old building which looked like a bombed out structure in a war torn country. They asked me to be part of the Board of Directors, and here we are 10 or 11 years later. We're still working at it."

Built on the grounds of the old Potosi Brewery--the building is immaculate. It houses the three-story museum, beer caves, and a restaurant and an old-fashioned beer garden.

"It is a unique facility. It truly is. I mean what better place to put a brewery museum than in what was once a family-owned brewery," Fiorenza exclaims.

If it has anything to do with beer, you'll find it at the museum. Old ads, pictures, bottles, glassware--the memories of dozens of small-town breweries all over Wisconsin, each with its own special craft beer. In fact, the museum is keeping that craft alive with its own Potosi Beer. Buszka calls this his dream job.

"There are some core recipes that we keep year round, but I do have creative freedom over all the beers here," Buszka says.

So how did Potosi beat Milwaukee for a national title? Fiorenza says it was simple: The town made the best argument.

"Many small towns are dying. This was a way to keep this small town and this region viable, economically viable," he asserts.

More than 60,000 people have visited since the museum opened in 2008. They've come from all over the world. We caught up with a couple from Madison, on a day trip. One of them told us, "I didn't know that this was so big. In this small little town. It's beautiful."

The exhibits come from the National Breweriana Association, and the displays change every few months, to help bring back repeat business.