What happened in the City of Lake Worth in December 2017 and news still making waves in Lake Worth Beach.

What happened is a reporter came to town, a very good one, and she made a huge impact.

The story was about a craft beer brewery on South H St. in Lake Worth Beach (see image below). This location was formerly where the Lake Worth Herald Press was located. This reporter, a food writer and journalist for the New Times Broward covering Miami-Dade and Broward counties came to Lake Worth to do a story about Mathews Brewing Co.

And this reporter became part of this story just at the right time in late December 2017. 

The Lake Worth Herald was already on this story about Mathews Brewing. The Herald is a regional paper for the City, Lake Worth region, the Village of Palm Springs and other nearby cities and towns and at some point The Palm Beach Post got involved but by then the paper was already up For-Sale looking for a buyer and then came along Gatehouse Media in May of 2018.

So in late Dec. 2017 food writer and journalist Nicole Danna comes along. Learn more about this reporter below.

What Danna didn’t know is about a year earlier another person who is now a very prominent person who lives in this City, someone who almost everyone knows and is well-known County-wide and in Tallahassee too talked about how craft beer breweries was one of several signs of an emerging place. Also of note Mathews Brewing Co. first considered West Palm Beach but decided on the City of Lake Worth instead.

Before Nicole Danna came along Mathews Brewing was already news locally and regionally in Palm Beach County. But this news about Mathews Brewing spread like wildfire when it became news in the New Times Broward. This very same reporter broke the news about C.W.S. Bar + Kitchen and did an in-depth review of Benny’s on the Beach and several other establishments in the City like the Bx Beer Depot that ultimately failed on South J St.

Because of that story by Danna how many people who used to pass by ‘Lake Worth’ on their way to someplace else, who later decided to stop ‘in Lake Worth the City’ and look around is incalculable but it most certainly had an impact. A big one.

The New Times Broward, despite its reputation at the time in Palm Beach County, did some very good news reporting but when another so-called ‘reporter’ did a hit piece about a now-former commissioner in West Palm Beach the reputation of the New Times took a nose dive.

Which leads into the dearth of quality news and food reviews in LWB and further west. What we need is a quality reporter to focus on the City and the neighboring Lake Worth region which is a very big area to cover.

So without further ado here are two excerpts from the news by Danna:


On December 15 [2017], Mathews Brewing Co. will open the doors to its Lake Worth brewhouse and taproom located just west of the city’s downtown, in the newly recognized Artisanal Industrial District.

Mathews Brewing Co. owner and brewer Dave Mathews says he originally planned to launch his business in West Palm Beach but was drawn south thanks to Lake Worth’s “funky, cool vibe” and the city’s business-friendly atmosphere.

and. . .

“Our goal is to make solid, quality beer that’s as true-to-style as possible,” says Mathews, whose late Jack Russel terrier serves as the official brewery logo. “We can literally brew anything here, and I plan to offer a broad range of styles, from an American IPA to traditional British-style cask ale.”

lastly. . .

“The brewery’s opening-day tap list will include a number of the brand’s core beers, such as Accelerate American IPA, Hop Dynamics red IPA, Florida Haze New England IPA, Heavy Metal American double IPA, L-Dub Tropical pale ale, White Goblin Belgian wit, Junkyard Dog brown ale, Sweet Emotion cream ale, Seek and Destroy imperial stout, Night Moves amber ale, and Riff Raff American porter.

This image was used by Mathews Brewing
to promote the brewery early on.

Mathews Brewing Co. is “Lake Worth’s First”.

So why don’t you head on over to Mathews Brewing some time soon and say, “Nicole Danna sent me.”

So now you understand more about this emerging place called Lake Worth Beach.

Whether or not Danna knows how much of an impact she made is unclear. But who knows, maybe she will come visit us and tell us all about it at The Book Cellar bookstore in the Downtown some day.