The New England brewing community lost an important member on Feb. 20, when Jack’s Abby brewery manager Herb Lindveit unexpectedly passed away.

“Herb made this place run, and we relied on him so much,” said Jack’s Abby cofounder Jack Hendler. “He’s had such a big impact on so many brewers, and not just here at the brewery. Any beer that you’re drinking in New England at any given time, he probably had an impact that you wouldn’t even know about on that beer.”

To honor the life of their friend and coworker, Jack’s Abby has created a limited-edition lager called In Herb We Trust, which can be preordered in four-packs and cases through Wednesday, March 13. The beer will be available for pickup at a commemoration party held on April 14 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Springdale. All proceeds will go toward the Lindtveit family, which includes Herb’s wife, Erin Lindtveit, and their four children: Herbie, Sarah, Emily, and Mary.

Jack’s Abby In Herb We Trust. —Jack's Abby


“Herb is responsible for me being a brewer right now,” said Hendler, whom Lindtveit first hired in 2005 when Hendler applied for a job at Boston Beer Works.

The two worked with each other at Boston Beer Works for six years, before Hendler left to launch Jack’s Abby with his brothers, Eric and Sam, in 2011. After realizing they needed someone to help them grow and manage operations, Hendler said they begged Lindtveit to join them.

“We knew he had the skills,” Hendler said. “He had previously worked at his other job [at Boston Beer Works] for 20 years, so we knew it would be a big commitment for him to leave somewhere he had been for [that long]. We were lucky enough that he chose to join the team.”

Lindtveit ensured that the brewery ran smoothly, managing the perpetual construction and other projects that Jack’s Abby has been involved with for the past eight years.

When he passed away, both Lindtveit’s family and coworkers knew that they wanted to honor him with a beer.

“One of the things for Herb and the way that the family wanted to remember him was in sharing a beer,” Hendler said. “That was important to him.”


In Herb We Trust is a sessionable rice lager, an easy drinking beer that also will be available on draft at the party.

“For brewers, sometimes you have some guilty pleasures,” Hendler explained. “Certainly PBR and some macro lighter beers were [beers] Herb enjoyed, so we’re trying to make our own creation.”

On the cans, Lindtveit’s face is portrayed in a pop art-style, an image that Jack’s Abby first used a few years ago when its founders created In Herb We Trust T-shirts as gifts for the staff. Lindtveit didn’t know it was happening, Hendler said, laughing, but he got a kick out of it.

Next month, family and friends will raise those cans in the air for a toast.