A member of the Busch family may soon lead a St. Louis brewery for the first time since the 2008 InBev takeover of Anheuser-Busch.

William K. "Billy" Busch, 51, said he is close to opening William K. Busch Brewing Co., a brewery that will initially focus on American-style pale lagers, similar to Budweiser and Bud Light.

The goal is to have two lagers available in the St. Louis market by November, with broader, regional distribution after that.

"We've conducted several test brews over the past months, but we haven't decided on the exact brewing formula we will adopt," Busch said. "We're testing some brand names and labels also, but, again, we're not committed yet to any one direction."

The St. Louis-based brewing company will likely have its beers brewed under contract at a facility in Wisconsin before picking a brewery site of its own.

"That's down the road," Busch said about choosing a location. "We probably won't face that kind of decision until sometime next year."

Busch, a son of the late August "Gussie" Busch Jr., had teamed up in 2009 with St. Louis investor John Timmermann on a brewery project. When plans for Busch Timmermann Brewing fizzled, Busch moved forward with William K. Busch Brewing, filing organizing documents with the state last month. (Patch.com and St. Louis magazine also noted the official paperwork.)

Also involved in the project are Gary Prindiville Jr., who was a former A-B director of human resources, and Marc Gottfried, the brewmaster at Morgan Street Brewery on Laclede's Landing. Gottfried will remain in his current role at Morgan Street while leading the brewing efforts at William K. Busch Brewing.

Although he never worked at his family's brewery, Busch did perform maintenance tasks on Grant's Farm as a young man. Later, he and two of his brothers, Adolphus Busch IV and Andy Busch, were part owners of Silver Eagle, a large, Texas-based A-B distributor. Each brother sold his stake in the company for an undisclosed amount in 1991.

Billy Busch is not bound by a noncompete agreement with A-B InBev since he wasn't working for the local brewery when InBev took over.

Busch has mostly remained out of the limelight in recent years, following a high-profile custody battle that reached the Missouri Supreme Court in 1989. He is a competitive polo player who hosts charity matches at the farm he owns in Defiance with his wife, Christi.

As for re-entering the beer market, Busch said he recognizes the challenges ahead.

"We still have a lot of decisions to make," he said. "And we have a lot of work to do before we get into the marketplace."