Meet Me at Canyon Club
How Kevin Hamilton, John Crossley and the Canyon Club team built Moraga’s welcoming “third place,” where good beer, live music and familiar faces come together. Part brewery, part biergarten and part neighborhood backyard, Canyon Club has become the kind of place where an ordinary afternoon unites.
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Some places require little planning. You stop by for a beer, recognize someone across the biergarten, post up and stay longer than expected.
In Moraga, that place is Canyon Club Brewery, located at 1558 Canyon Rd, Moraga.
With its outdoor biergarten, live music, dogs beneath the tables and families sharing meals, Canyon Club has the easy familiarity of a neighborhood pub. It is Moraga’s version of 'Cheers,' although the atmosphere may be closer to a good backyard barbecue.
That comparison reflects one of the best compliments owner Kevin Hamilton has received: “It feels like I’m in my backyard when my dad and his friends are barbecuing and listening to music.”
“That’s exactly the atmosphere we want to provide,” Hamilton says.
Hamilton grew up in Boston and came west to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he met his wife. They settled in Lafayette and are raising three daughters. After earning his MBA and building a finance and real estate career, Hamilton returned to an industry he had known since he was 14. He sold his business to open a brewery and biergarten.
The inspiration began during time spent in Germany as a teenager. Hamilton was struck by biergarten culture and the way families, friends and neighbors naturally gathered in a shared space. Years later, he repeatedly heard local residents say, “I wish we had a place like that here.”
Canyon Club opened in Moraga in 2019 with a mission shaped by the “third place,” a welcoming gathering spot beyond home and work. John Crossley joined after it opened, partnering with Hamilton and the brewery’s investors. He was looking for work that placed community closer to the center.
“The Bay Area was good to me in my youth, and still is now,” he says. “Being able to continue working alongside members of this incredible area has been a blast.”
The timing tested the team almost immediately. When the COVID shutdown made toilet paper, sanitizer and eggs precious commodities, Canyon Club sourced the essentials for residents. The community responded by keeping the brewery’s lights on.
That relationship continues. Canyon Club hosts celebrations, school gatherings, fundraisers and Greet Moraga happy hours. It donates to local schools and nonprofits and welcomes teams and organizations that need space.
For Crossley, one of the greatest rewards is watching employees move through high school, college and later chapters of their lives while continuing to return to Canyon Club. For Hamilton, supporting local also means encouraging residents to shop independently whenever possible. “Locally owned businesses offer so much more to a community than just the products they sell,” he says.
Today, Canyon Club offers locally sourced food, cocktails and wine, live music Friday through Sunday and beer brewed on-site, all in a setting designed to welcome kids, dogs, bicycles and great vibes. A second location opened in Danville in 2025, but the purpose remains simple at both: create community, however that community chooses to gather.
Or, as Crossley puts it even more simply: “Be kind.”