Jim Patton, a founder of Abita Brewing and Zea Rotisserie & Brewery, died of unknown causes on October 23 in Miami, where he was starting a new brewery. At 59, he was known as a pioneer in the American craft beer brewing. Abita was the 13th craft brewery to open in the United States (in 1986) and the first in the South. [NOLA.com]
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