INTRODUCING NEW MALT TO THE MARKET
MALT 2.0
the heart of your spirit
Our Malt 2.0 is a new product to the market, produced exclusively from our 2020 barley harvest.
At the heart of our Malt 2.0 is KWS Sassy which is a big, bold barley variety, particularly well suited to the variable conditions of growing in the Scottish climate and providing a consistently higher yield to the grower.
As well as being one of the oldest maltsters in the UK, Bairds Malt is also committed to being one of the most innovative. Our early evaluation programme has been running for over 20 years in partnership with our merchanting partners Scotgrain. The early evaluation programme allows us to trial multiple crop varieties in different geographic areas each year, with each crop then undergoing micro malting for a full analysis of suitability for malting on a larger scale.
We believe that Malt should never be seen as a commodity. We understand that in order for Distillers and Brewers to produce their best craft, they require the best available ingredients. Our Malt 2.0 provides just that.
We also recognise that a quality malt isn’t just about the numbers and to take any great beer and whisky to an exceptional level requires an authenticity that starts well before we turn our barley into malt. We go to extraordinary levels to source barley from farms within a 50-mile radius, keeping road miles to a minimum.
One of the things that excites us the most about Malt 2.0 is its history and provenance. Because of our relationships with over 800 UK barley growers, we know where our barley comes from, and where the story of your craft truly begins. We know the years of research, development and experience that have gone into developing new varieties and ensuring that new barley can bring benefit to all sides of the supply chain – grower, maltster, distillers and brewers.Â
By providing a clean and crisp base malt from which to layer flavours, our Malt 2.0 provides the perfect canvas for your next brewing and distilling project, especially if you would like a malt that will maximise the extract capabilities of your grain bill.
NEW SEED DEVELOPMENT
BAIRDS EARLY EVALUATION PROGRAMME
At the heart of our Malt 2.0 is KWS Sassy which is a big, bold barley variety, particularly well suited to the variable conditions of growing in the Scottish climate and providing a consistently higher yield to the grower. KWS Sassy represents a 10 year journey from the seeds initial cross to its commercial use.
We go to extraordinary lengths working in partnership with seed specialists and our in-house agronomists to identify barley varieties of the future. Since Golden Promise was discovered over 50 years ago and enabled us to build our Inverness Maltings deep in the Scottish Highlands, we recognise the importance that yet undiscovered varieties could play in supporting the growth of the malting, brewing and distilling industry going forwards.
Year 1
2007: Cross of 1st generation seed (F1) sown & harvested in the UK. The 2nd generation seed (F2) is then sown in New Zealand.
Year 2-5
Seeds are sown in both the Northern and Southern hemisphere over a 5 year period to multiply the seed generations. In year 5 the 8th generation seed (F8) sown in National List 1 in UK & harvested. First cut of variety selection after considering Distinction, Uniformity, Stability (DUS), yield & quality. This can be the first year when the seed is assessed in our Early Evaluation Programme.
Year 6
9th generation seed (F9) varieties usually named & sown in NL2 in UK & harvested. At this stage Bairds are looking more closely at varieties in the early evaluation programme and making a selection as to what will be taken forward.
Year 7
At this stage we bring forward the best varieties in tier 1 of our Macro-scale malting evaluation, which is the 1st part of MAGB approval process.
Year 8 - 9
Tier 2 and Tier 3 of our Macro-scale malting evaluation takes place, this allows us to reference perfomance over multiple malting batches and in partnership with customers who trial the malt in their production cycles.
Year 10
A full mainstream roll-out of the product takes place, introducing the malt to the wider market.
Having undertaken rigourous tests over multiple years, only a limited number of varieties make it to this stage.
Malt 2.0
Our Malt 2.0 is a new product to the market, produced exclusively from our 2020 barley harvest.
At the heart of our Malt 2.0 is KWS Sassy which is a big, bold barley variety, particularly well suited to the variable conditions of growing in the Scottish climate and providing a consistently higher yield to the grower.
Born out of our ongoing research through our early evaluation programme, Sassy represents Bairds ongoing commitment to provide a sustainable barley supply to support our malting expansions in the United Kingdom. Our early evaluation programme also helps to ensure that new barley varieties are providing benefit to all elements of the supply chain, from the grower through to the end customer.
Malt Analysis
Moisture: 4.5% max
Extract (0.7/0.2mm), dry: 315 LDK min
Colour (EBC/SRM Units): 3.0 – 4.0 °EBC
Total Nitrogen/Protein, dry: 1.50% max
SNR / KI/ ST Ratio: 36.0 – 42.0
Diastatic Power: 60 IoB min
Moisture: 4.5% max
Extract (0.7/0.2mm), dry: 83.0% min
Colour (EBC/SRM Units): 3.5 – 4.5 °EBC
Total Nitrogen/Protein, dry: 1.50% max
SNR / KI/ ST Ratio: 40.0 – 45.0
Diastatic Power: 215 WK min
Moisture: 4.5% max
Extract (0.7/0.2mm), dry: 83.0% min
Colour (EBC/SRM Units): 1.5 – 2.0 °SRM
Total Nitrogen/Protein, dry: 9.4% max
SNR / KI/ ST Ratio: 40.0 – 45.0
Diastatic Power: 65 °L min
Malt details
Suggested Use: Malt 2.0 is the perfect malt for distilling and brewing customers looking for a malt that combines round and balanced character with high extract.Â
Its subtle colour profile makes it a perfect choice for brewers looking for a low colour wort whilst distilling customers will appreciate it’s low nitrogen and high extract capability.
Flavour profile: Malt 2.0 offers a clean and crisp wort character from which to layer flavours
Inclusion rate: Up to 100%
Order options: 1 tonne tote, 500kg tote, 25kg bags
“This malt is a testament to the extensive research we do to ensure a sustainable future for both the brewing and distilling industries. Heritage varieties are important as they tell us as much about the past as where we should be looking in future. That said, to create a sustainable future we need barley varieties that work best within our maritime climate and to deliver for our customers.“
EDDIE DOUGLAS
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR | BAIRDS MALT
YOUR STORY STARTS HERE
The Bairds brothers always knew that to make the best whisky and beer, you need the best available ingredients. It was their determination to make great malt that led to Bairds Malt being founded in 1823, and that same focus has determined our path ever since.
One of the most important elements of that story is our determination that in order to make great malt, you need great barley. Bairds have direct relationships with over 800 growers in the UK who supply us with some of the best barley available anywhere in the world. We support these growers through our merchanting partners, Scotgrain and MLG, who ensure that each grower has all that they need to make the most of each crop cycle and each harvest.
Our investment and partnership in the Early Evaluation Programme has helped to ensure that new barley varieties can be trialled each year – bringing through new varieties that can offer benefit to the grower, maltster and end customer. For a variety to become commercially available it can take up to 10 years from the initial cross which means this malt represents almost a decade of research and all of the other barley varieties that didn’t make the cut.Â
We recognise that the quality of what you produce is of utmost importance to every customer, and we’re here to ensure that every seed sown is the beginning of that pursuit of quality. From grain to glass and field to firkin, your distilling and brewing story starts with the seed.
THE STORY
OF THE SEED
FOUNDED IN THE PAST, FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE
As one of the oldest maltsters in the UK, our predecessors have witnessed huge changes in the world while continuing to strive towards the provision of quality malt.
With almost 200 years’ worth of experience we’re proud to have passed along generations of knowledge and experience in producing and supplying quality malt to many of the world’s leading distillers and brewers.
While much of what we do on a daily basis is based on that shared knowledge, we’ve always adapted to being focused on the future, looking to further develop our craft wherever we can.
Bairds is currently expanding malt production in Scotland, with a refurbishment of our existing Arbroath maltings, and the addition of a new malting plant at our Inverness Maltings in the heart of the Highlands. In addition to meeting increasing demand from our malting customers, an increased capacity also provides opportunities for Scotland’s growers of malting barley.
NEW MALTINGS
IN SCOTLAND
MALT MADE BETTER, A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Our new maltings won’t just add new capacity to meet demand from customers, it will also allow us to produce malt from some of the newest and most efficient malting plant anywhere in the world.
We recognise that we must act as good stewards of the resources at our disposal, and that striving to improve our environmental credentials is important to our craft, as it is to those who we partner alongside.
Together with our commitment to source our barley from as close a proximity to our maltings as possible, our state of the art maltings will also reduce consumption of resources in our malt production, meaning our customers will have the confidence of using some of the most environmentally conscious malt available on the market.
While we wait for our maltings to be completed in Inverness our Malt 2.0 represents a combination of steps we’re taking as a business to ensure the future of malting is more sustainable and where we operate older maltings that the barley we use has been bred wit the future of the industry in mind.Â
making malt better
YOUR NEXT PROJECT STARTS HERE
MALT 2.0
By providing a clean and crisp base malt from which to layer flavours, our Malt 2.0 provides the perfect canvas for your next brewing and distilling project, especially if you’d like a malt that will maximise the extract capabilities of your grain bill.
get in touch with us
By providing a clean and crisp base malt from which to layer flavours, our Malt 2.0 provides the perfect canvas for your next brewing and distilling project, especially if you’d like a malt that will maximise the extract capabilities of your grain bill.
