a soft fire makes sweet malt
Preserved but no longer current.
Too much hurry or precipitation spoils work, just as too fierce a fire would burn the malt and destroy its sweetness. "Soft and fair goes far," "the more haste the less speed" are sayings of similar meaning.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “a soft fire makes sweet malt” mean?
Too much hurry or precipitation spoils work, just as too fierce a fire would burn the malt and destroy its sweetness. "Soft and fair goes far," "the more haste the less speed" are sayings of similar meaning.
Is “a soft fire makes sweet malt” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.