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→From Framboise Lambic to Rosé de Gambrinus
The label depicts King Gambrinus, modeled on the mythical German king Gambrivius, who is said to have learned the craft of brewing from the Egyptian gods Isis and Osiris. Gambrinus is credited in European lore with having invented beer, and he is cited in English, British, German, and Belgian drinking lore as well.<ref name=Birm> Birmingham, Frederic-Alexander. (1970). Falstaff’s Complete Beer Beer Book. Ward Books. New York, NY.</ref> On the label, one can see King Gambrinus seated in a garden with a naked woman seated on his lap. This woman “is holding a goblet of beer in her left hand and will give it to her attentive escort if he is worthy of what is about to happen”.<ref name=GrummelslinkseSeptember> Van Roy, Jean-Pierre. (2016a). Grummelinkse – September 2016. Musée Bruxellois de la Gueuze. Brussels, BE.</ref>
This label and name was first put on bottles of Cantillon raspberry lambic in 1986. Starting in 1990, Brasserie Cantillon began working with Wide World Imports Inc to export their beer to the United States. Unsurprisingly, the original label for Rosé de Gambrinus was unsuitable for shelves in the United States and thus needed to be reworked for federal approval. Maruice Maurice Coja, head of the U.S. import company, sent back a proposed label on which he had clothed the woman on the label in a black bra and mini-skirt. Upon seeing the reworked label the original artist, Coumans, remarked: “Tell the Yank where he can put his suggestion, and also tell him that I’ll draw the woman’s clothes on myself”.<ref name=GrummelslinkseSeptember> Van Roy, Jean-Pierre. (2016a). Grummelinkse – September 2016. Musée Bruxellois de la Gueuze. Brussels, BE.</ref>
Coumans came back with reworked at covering the woman up in a long blue dress noting that “the young lady is wearing a light blue dress. But most importantly, and the Americans need to know this, underneath the dress she’s in the buff”.<ref name=GrummelslinkseSeptember> Van Roy, Jean-Pierre. (2016a). Grummelinkse – September 2016. Musée Bruxellois de la Gueuze. Brussels, BE.</ref> At the time, even Playboy magazine featured a story on it. When Shelton Brothers took over the import duties in 1996 the labels were then switched back to the original undressed woman.