Mystic Brewery Pays Boozy Respect to Route 1’s Orange Dino

Mystic pays homage to a Route 1 landmark with the Orange Dinosaur DIPA. / Label image provided

When the longtime owners of Route 1 Miniature Golf announced this summer that they sold their Saugus property to a hotel developer, locals and travelers alike immediately began to fear for the future of the orange dinosaur guarding the property for decades. While the dino’s ultimate fate has yet to be determined, Mystic Brewery is making sure he (she?) won’t be completely lost to history. The Orange Dinosaur Double IPA started pouring at its Chelsea taproom today, and a local release is coming up this winter.

“It’s been a cherished landmark for all of us for a very long time,” says Mystic’s sales and marketing manager Louie Berceli. “Upon hearing that the mini-golf course it’s located in was going out of business, we wanted to pay tribute [with] a bigger, more assertive style to capture the spirit of the big guy (or girl, we haven’t heard anything definitive about how giant orange dinosaurs identify).”

The bottle-conditioned brew’s ABV is 8.5 percent, and it’s an intense flavor bomb, Berceli says. The first sip is bright, with juicy peach notes, followed by citrusy lime and blood orange flavors. The Orange Dinosaur finishes with piney bitterness and a hint of tamarind.

It’s available on draft now at Mystic Brewery, and kegs will roll out to local bars next week. Corked and caged, 750-mL bottles will hit Massachusetts shelves in the coming weeks, too, Berceli said.

“We’ve always been hesitant to put a fresh and hoppy style into bottles, but we’ve discovered lately that corks are excellent at retaining hop aromas, even more so than traditional caps in many cases,” he says.

The Orange Dinosaur DIPA is a limited release, and once it’s gone, it’s extinct. The real orange dinosaur, though, could stick around: developer Michael Touchette says he’s willing to keep it on the property, but nothing has been determined yet. The mini golf course owners have until April 1 to decide where the orange dino will live out his (her?) days.

Mystic Brewery, 174 Williams St., Chelsea; 617-466-2079 or mystic-brewery.com.