supplying malt to the world’s leading brewers and distillers

Where Does Our Malt Go?

Bairds supplies malt to all Scotland’s major distillers and the world’s biggest brewers. We also supply malt into some of Scotland’s smallest and most remote distilleries and breweries. We produce all types of malt in-house including distilling malts which include traditional pot still, high diastatic malts and also small batch peated malts made uniquely in the traditional method with a 72 hour peat reek infused into the malt giving a deep and consistent phenol level.

We produce lager, ale and stout malt and a full range of speciality coloured malts from our Witham roasting drums including crystal, caramel, chocolate and black all tailored to our customer requirements.

Our grain merchanting team works directly with farmers to secure the finest barley within a 50-mile radius of our plants.  We source all standard approved varieties from key growing regions, but we also source niche varieties, from specific farms, and heirloom varieties from across the UK and its many outlying islands to meet the needs of our customers and their brands.   We provide agronomic advice and support to our farmers, work closely with breeders and also run two barley trial plots each year evaluating 25 varieties and we have a proven track record in identifying bespoke varieties.

We supply malt in all required formats from 25kgs bags, bulk on truck, 20 and 40 foot containers and bulk vessels, and export the unique qualities of UK malt to customers all over the world including the EU, Japan, Thailand, North and Central America, the Caribbean, India, Australia, New Zealand and West Africa. Bairds have made a significant investment in the two most modern malthouses in the UK – Arbroath opened in 2010, with a new maltings opened in Inverness in 2023.

Alongside our commitment to the future, we celebrate a 200 year heritage as one of the oldest maltsters in the UK. We take pride in this long-term commitment to our customers and many of our employees, whose long service helps to cement our knowledge and commitment to support the supply chain.

Our commitment is that every tonne we produce will be made using the finest raw materials and malted with no compromise to the highest standard, to support great brands and great tasting beer and whisky into the future.