Never afraid to speak her truth, Ruvani de Silva’s published work has included some of the most engaging, and important, pieces in craft beer writing this year.
Her blog, Craft Beer Amethyst, is where de Silva’s beer-writing journey began, with articles profiling breweries and beers from her home of Austin, Texas. Now, she writes full travelogues and essays, not just on beer, but on her experiences as a British South Asian woman moving through the beer industry. She is also the founder of the South Asian Beer Club, which is run through Twitter and Instagram, with the goal of amplifying the work of South Asian people within the beer industry, of connecting people, and of building a community.
This year, de Silva’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including VinePair, Cuisine Noir, Craft Beer Is For Everyone, and Burum Collective, in addition to GBH. Her pieces have explored topics such as the vilification of those who buy beer in supermarkets, the erasure of Asian identities within the craft beer world, and signal-boosting the work of South Asian craft beer producers. Across her stories, de Silva shares her own experiences within beer, giving a perspective that is regularly lost within broader discussions of diversity.
She also appeared on a number of panels this year. The first was at the Chicago Brewseum’s Beer Culture Summit 2021, where she moderated a panel on South Asians within beer; the second was at the Smithsonian’s panel on beer history, part of the organization’s Associates Streaming Series. She was additionally shortlisted in two categories at this year’s British Guild of Beer Writers awards—Best Online Beer Communicator and Best Beer Writer in National Media—and went on to win the highly commended award within the latter category.
“Would it be easier or different in another industry or community? Experience has shown me that that is a definite no,” de Silva wrote last year in a piece for Fuggled. “There are very few culturally sanctioned public spaces for women of color, or any other minorities for that matter, so there’s no point running away looking for somewhere easier to belong. This is an incredibly crucial time for all of us to be heard, in the beer world and the world at large, and although I don’t have a huge platform, I will continue to use my skills and experience to keep pushing for equity, diversity, inclusion and visibility for women, South Asians and all diverse groups.”
Words,Helen Anne Smith