On any given weekend in Lamorinda, you might find them spread across a few familiar places. A ballfield in the morning. Maybe a golf course by midday. Later, gathered with their families: kids running around, someone working the grill, conversations picking up right where they left off.

They look like a lot of families in this community.

They just happen to be building something together, too.

The story stretches back years, long before Fathers took shape. For Harvey Kenney, it began with a shift away from biotech and into brewing, a path that eventually took him overseas. In Melbourne, he met Conor Begley. What started as shared work turned into a lasting friendship, one that would quietly carry forward.

For others, the connections run even deeper. Gabe Rangel met Conor as a freshman in high school. Teammates then, close friends ever since. After serving in the Marine Corps, with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabe went on to build a career working with elite athletes before returning to the Bay Area to raise his family.

Joe Cloyes’ path came from a different direction. He grew up in the beauty industry, working in a family-founded skincare brand before launching Youth To The People with his cousin. The company grew quickly, eventually partnering with Sephora and later being acquired by L’Oréal. Along the way, Joe met Conor, and the two bonded over a shared interest in building brands through community. What started as casual discussions (over beers) turned into something more concrete over time.

“At some point, it just made sense to build something together,” Conor says.

There’s no single origin story here. It’s more like a series of overlapping ones.

Friends from school. Family through marriage. Business relationships that evolved into something more personal. Steve Klei, who is both a partner and Conor’s father-in-law, describes it as years of conversations that gradually turned into action.

Everyone brings a different lens - brewing, operations, brand, business - but the dynamic feels natural.

“It’s the kind of group where you don’t have to force anything,” Gabe says. “We’ve all known each other long enough.”

Joe sees it similarly, but adds that alignment matters just as much as history. “We all share the same values,” he says. “If we’re going to do this, it has to be done the right way.”

That ease shows up in how they spend time, too. Golf is a shared constant. So are backyard gatherings, kids’ sports schedules, and the rhythm of seeing each other not just for work, but throughout the week.

Their families are part of it in a real way. Not in a staged sense, but in the everyday moments...showing up, pitching in, being around.

Lamorinda wasn’t a strategic decision. It was a natural one.

“We fell in love with the area the first time we visited,” Conor says. “It’s just a great place to live.”

For Steve, it’s about proximity. His children and grandchildren all live nearby, which means daily life isn’t something you catch up on, rather it’s something you’re part of.

Joe’s story is similar. After growing up in the East Bay, he and his wife chose Lafayette as the place to raise their kids. “Family and friends are all nearby,” he says. “It just felt like the right fit.”

Over time, their circle has widened in a way that feels familiar and organic. Local spots, recognizable faces, the kind of interactions that turn into relationships without much effort.

“I’m proud of where I came from,” Gabe adds. “This has always felt like home.”

The idea behind Fathers didn’t come from a single moment. It grew out of ongoing dialogue about work, about life, and about what people are paying attention to now.

“There’s a growing awareness around what we put into our bodies,” the group says. “People are asking more questions.”

For many of them, those conversations started at home.

“Clean, for us, means being intentional,” Steve explains. “Thinking about ingredients, process, and packaging, and trying to do things in a more thoughtful way.”

Joe brings a similar perspective from his background in skincare, where transparency and ingredient sourcing have long been part of the conversation. “If we’re going to call it clean, it has to actually be clean,” he says.

They’re careful not to overstate it. No one is trying to position beer as something it’s not. But if you’re going to enjoy it, they believe it should reflect a level of care that feels consistent with everything else.

For all of them, the common thread is simple.

“Being a dad is my favorite title I’ve ever had,” Gabe says.

That perspective shapes how they think about what they’re building. Not just in terms of success, but in terms of example, such as what their kids see, and what they take away from it.

“When you’re a parent, your kids are watching everything you do,” Conor says. “That matters.”

Across the group, there are kids at every stage: young children, teenagers, and now grandchildren. It brings a different kind of awareness to what they’re doing and why.

This Father’s Day, they’re putting that into motion.

The group is organizing a large-scale effort called The Toast, (you read it here first), bringing people together across the East Bay and beyond. A concert in the Orinda hills, along with gatherings throughout the region, all tied to a shared goal of giving back.

It’s ambitious. It’s also very much in line with how they operate.

Not as a statement, but as something bigger to brew a part of.