NEW 'WILD' BELGIAN ADDITION TO THE OLD CROSS FRIDGE.... We have recently added the Straffe Hendrick Wild to our Belgian beer range. Its brewed by the unique family brewery De Halve Maan, which has been located in the historical heart of Bruges since 1856. ‘Wild’ is a ‘souped-up’version of the original Tripel beer (which we have had in our fridge for some time), in which the beer is re-fermented with wild "brettanomyces" yeasts giving it a tart dry finish. The process creates unusual fruity aromas in harmony with the rich use of aromatic hop varieties. The wild yeasts also provide a longer natural shelf life to the beer and a taste that will develop over the years. The beer needs a longer maturing period in the bottle before it can be released for sale and therefore first matures in the bottle for three months in the cellar of the brewery. The refermentation with wild yeast is actioned after the three months are up and at the point the young beer becomes palatable. The beer will continue to develop over subsequent years. The bitter hop aromas will become softer, whereas the wild Brettanomyces yeasts will continue working and creating hints of fruit, flowers and wine. Floral and grassy on the nose, with sweet flavours of pineapple and candied fruit peel giving way to spicy notes, funk, tart lemon and sharp green apple, the Wild packs a lot into its 330ml bottle and had been universally well received since its launch.

HOME BREWERS..COMPETITION ALERT..GREAT PRIZES If there are any aspiring home brewers out there our friends at The Hertford Brewclub are holding a competition with some exciting prizes. For all the details of how to enter etc please click on the link below. We'll be publishing more details including a more indepth look at the club itself and the prizes on offer as we get closer to the final 'Best Of Show' Night at the Old Cross Tavern in April. So home brewers, get your skates on and good luck!! http://hertfordbrew.club/english-sessions/index.php

OLD CROSS TAVERN 2ND QUIZ........SUNDAY 28TH JANUARY......MATCH REPORT After the stonking success of the first Old Cross Quiz last summer, a follow up was requested, if not demanded and it all happened last Sunday afternoon. Again it was well attended with 35 people making up 10 teams. The entry fees totalled £105 which was matched £ for £ by the OXT making a total of £210 raised for chosen charity, Breast Cancer Now. As it always seems to be with any events we have at the pub there was a great atmosphere laced with some humour and a great deal of concentration. Apparently, brains could be heard whirring as far away as The Woolpack. Nigel Bateman was again question master which also involved reading out the answers, a process which produced lots of oohs and ahs from the assembled throng. Jim Baker kept a tally of the scores and Mary Betteridge coordinated proceedings. We thank them warmly for all their help. Laura, Mary and Jeremy were kept busy serving drinks and Laura was heard to observe that the quiz was "more academic than she expected". There were 10 rounds covering lakes&mountains, famous Marks, general knowledge, music, food & drink,legends of the Wild West, film, true or false and two hand out rounds. The scores indicated everyone knew a good number of answers and the consensus was that the hardest question was "which is the highest lake that doesn't freeze". When the dust had settled and the figures had been checked the winning side was made up of Freddie, Don, Brian & Colin. Well done lads and roll on the next one!!!

SECOND EVER TAVERN QUIZ.....NEXT SUNDAY 28TH JANUARY We're excited to announce our Second Ever Tavern Quiz next Sunday 28th January, kicking off at 3.30pm. After the success of our first Quiz last year, we've again been lucky to secure Quizmaster Nigel, ably assisted by Jim, to fire a wide range of questions on various subjects to stretch the brainpower of even our cleverest customers. Of course, there's a method in our madness, as we will again be raising money for our chosen charity Breast Cancer Now. As before teams can be made up of upto four people and entry fee is £3 per person. You can register on the day but we recommend you either come into the pub or contact us via email on oldcrosstavern@gmail.com to register beforehand as space is limited. Thank you all in advance for your interest and we look forward to making Tavern Quiz 2 as sucessful as its predecessor.

NATSO IN ACTION JANUARY 2018 - CLIP NUMBER FIVE

NATSO IN ACTION JANUARY 2018 - CLIP NUMBER FOUR

NATSO IN ACTION JANUARY 2018 - CLIP NUMBER THREE

NATSO IN ACTION JANUARY 2018 - CLIP NUMBER TWO

NATSO IN ACTION JANUARY 2018 - CLIP NUMBER ONE

“HEART AND SOUL” NATSO JAM AT THE OLD CROSS HELPS USHER IN 2018..... The Old Cross witnessed another outstandingly ‘cracking’ performance by NATSO on the first Sunday in January (7th) 2018, helping us to see in the New Year in style. It was an unqualified 5 Star performance! The giveaway sign that NATSO’s ‘jam’ session was simply excellent was the full house at the Tavern (standing room only) for the performance and the most enthusiastic foot tapping audience response plus calls for another performance, as soon as possible. Another tell-tale sign was the smile on the NATSO musicians’ faces - they were really into their jam and the electric vibe connection with the audience was an amazing ‘musical moment’ for an improvised jam! NATSO performed two 45 minute sets with a short break between them. The playlist was truly eclectic with some classic rock and roll covers to SKA. Some of the songs played during the jam were David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”, The Specials, “A Message to You Rudy”, Al Barry and The Cimerons, “Morning Sun”, Dire Straits, “Sultans of Swing” and many, many more. Joe (bass player) unsurprisingly said his favourite song to play was the Jimmy Hendrix cover of “Hey Joe”. At the audience’s request, the encore was a cover David Bowie’s Jean Genie. It should be noted that once again, NATSO covers were almost all songs written and recorded before they were born. To refresh everyone’s memories on how the NATSO gigs came about, in late August 2017 a group of young university students working during the summer at the Old Cross Tavern did a live Jam Session on a Sunday afternoon. The Jam session was at the request of many, many customers in the Old Cross Tavern who knew of the NATSO musicians’ working at the Tavern and their musical talents. They called themselves NATSO after their muse, Natalia, a saxophone player, who helped them prepare for the August Jam. The August jam session got rave reviews. The NATSO lads dispersed at the end of August and went their separate ways to various universities. After the August 2017 performance, everyone wanted another one during the XMAS break when the NATSO members would be back working at the Old Cross Tavern. Unfortunately, the full complement of NATSO weren’t able perform this January due to University commitments. Will (trumpet) and Natalia (saxophone) were absent having already gone back to their studies. We truly missed them! NATSO members for the January 2018 performance included Sam Fuller (lead guitar / vocals), Joe Leggett (bass guitar) and Nat Champman on kuhondrum. “Chit chat” at the Tavern is that everyone wants another NATSO jam. So, plans are to have another NATSO jam session this upcoming summer when all NATSO members are back in Hertford for the summer break from university. Watch this space!

TROPHIES ARRIVE FOR THE OLD CROSS CRIB TEAM.... After a sucessful 2016-17 season, we're pleased to report that our Crib & Dominoes Team have received their well earned trophies. They play a series of home & away fixtures on Monday evenings, in the Independent Premier Dominoes & Cribbage League, last year finishing a more than credible second place overall. There were also individual awards, with Steve & Pete picking up the Domino Pairs, Bob & Mary the Crib pairs and Mags the Crib singles. The pub has had a Crib & Domino team for its earliest days. You can see in among the pictures below some of the team getting a bit of practice in. Who knows, this season they may go one better!! If you're interested in joining the team or would just like a friendly game then leave your details behind the bar and we'll put you in touch with the right people.

BELGIAN BEERS AT THE OLD CROSS TAVERN #3......CHIMAY TRIPLE Chimay Triple, or as its commonly refered to as Chimay White, is one of a series of five beers produced at the Abbey Notre Dame de Scourmont, the second largest of Belgiums trappist breweries. The Triple is actually the newest in the range having only gone into production in 1966 when head brewer Brother Theodore had his creative hat on. Or maybe he was just a fan of the England football team? In the summer of 1850, a group of the monks at the abbey either got fed up with drinking water or having to buy their beer in from elsewhere and decided to start brewing themselves. To this day the organisation is run as a non-profit organisation and now includes their own cheese production facility. Beer & cheese? Sounds like a plan. The beer itself rocks in at 8% ABV, meaning its not quite the strongest among our range but packs a punch nevertheless. The beer is golden, verging on amber. On tasting you'll get a touch of sweetness but there's also fruit and a herbal tang to be found.