Welcome back to another week of college football, Tiger fans!

Mizzou is home once again this week, taking on the dreaded (?) SEMO Redhawks. Because most of you won’t be able to make it through 3 hours of ass-kicking without drinking some form of alcohol, we stand in solidarity with you. Here are this week’s alcohol picks from the Rock M Masthead and Commentariat.

Josh Matejka, The Pumpkin Beer Liker

All you Missourians complaining about the heat — you truly hate to see it. Meanwhile in North Carolina, we’re sitting at a cool high-70’s/low-80’s every day, meaning it’s the perfect time for some fall brews. I’ve been sipping Märzens and Oktoberfests for a few weeks now.

However, I’m going closer to home for SEMO. While I’ve never enjoyed any of the brews out of the many brewers in Cape Girardeau, I have enjoyed a few of the beers out of Crown Valley Brewing in Ste. Genevieve. For this week, I’m going with their Imperial Pumpkin Smash Stout. It’s big and boozy but doesn’t drown you out with pumpkin flavor, opting for a more fully-formed spiced autumnal palette.

You may ask, “Josh, how are you getting ahold of these Missouri beers on the East Coast?” And my answer would be, “I’m not, please send them to me.”

Karen Steger, Madam Editor

I, unfortunately, will be working during the game (side note: MU, please pay me more), but will crack open something as soon as I get a chance. In honor of our opponent and the whoopin’ we are likely putting on them, I thought I’d at least drink a local Cape brew. I’m now fairly certain I have never actually had a beer brewed in Cape Girardeau, though a quick search told me that there are, in fact, some breweries there. Oh well. So, I guess I’ll go with something from the general vicinity— good ol’ Ste. Genevieve it is. I tried a few brews from there last week while in StL, so I’ll alternate between Charleville Brewing Co’s Strawberry Blonde and Half Wit Wheat (clever name) for this occasion. Both are light enough for later night drinking, and the strawberry blonde isn’t overwhelmingly fruity.

(As an aside to Josh, my Pumpkin beer loving friend above- I drink fall brews whenever I can, as soon as I see ‘em as an option at the store. I don’t care if it’s hot or there’s a “season” for it. Also, I chose the “local” option first. Nobody likes a copycat, sir)

ZWal93, The Hop Differentiater

An underwhelming slate of games this weekend and Missouri’s yearly free win against an FCS opponent provides me with an opportunity to have something of a productive Saturday. After two weekends of 12-hour football marathons and all-day beer intake, it’s a welcome chance to do something useful and make myself feel better about how lazy I’ve been the last two Saturdays. Let’s be honest, this game is not going to be all that interesting to watch if you aren’t into snuff films, nor is it likely to require heavily drinking as you cry yourself to sleep. That gives me a chance to enjoy something tasty and complex, like Community Brewing Company’s Mosaic IPA. If you’re not in Texas and sadly don’t have access to this masterpiece of brewing, I’d go ahead and recommend anything with mosaic hops.

kristina, The Still-Not-Drinking-Beer Stalwart

Given the temps lately still make it feel like we’re in mid-July, I guess I’ll somewhat embrace that fact (seriously, it could cool down just a tad) and go with a margarita. Real friends don’t let friends make those with sweet and sour mix. I mean, if you want to go wild with that option on Cinco de Mayo, I won’t stop you, but it’s not good. First off, to really enjoy the drink, you have to go with a good tequila. My go-to for the price is Espolõn Blanco. You also need an orange liquor — we usually use Cointreau but depending on your taste for bitter or sweeter there are a lot of options. Using key lime juice was a game changer. If you’re short on time you can get the juice, but juicing your own tastes better. I don’t like it overly sweet, so maybe a pinch of sugar. I’d love to offer ratios, but like most kitchen experiments in our house, we just wing it. (I also have never understood / enjoyed salt on the rim, so I skip that step as well) But if you’ve never tried the key lime thing, you really need to.

Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images

MIZ_DBH, The Planner

It’s still too early to break out the fall beers, given the heat index was in the triple digits just yesterday where I live in perfectly cromulent northern Indiana. I’ll be leaning into the forester thing, and drinking Boulevard’s Black Walnut Ale. I tracked some down when I was in Missouri for the West Virginia game, and have been saving it for exactly this purpose. I started drinking this when I was doing fieldwork out of Winona, Missouri, had no access to internet for a whole summer, and good beer was the last line of defense against insanity. It has a little bit of a bitter aftertaste, but then that’s not unlike how it feels when you realize you just beat the daylights out of a FCS team with 30 less scholarship players than you.

RunMizzou11, The Build-Your-Own-Drinker

A local bar has a Bloody Mary bar on Saturday afternoons. It’s a great way to spend the afternoon while watching the slate of college football games. Every Bloody Mary order comes with a side car of a draft beer of your choice. If last week’s game against West Virginia was a Bloody Mary - a drink to help recover from the night before - this week’s game against SEMO is the side car: a beer that is meant as a palate cleanser. Small, and easy to finish. Whenever I hit up the Bloody Mary bar, my side car of choice is Blue Moon.

AlaTiger, The Lineup Builder

It’s been ridiculously hot for mid September, so for this week’s game, I’m cleaning out the remainder of my summer beers. Shiner Lemon Pils is a light, crisp pleasure on a hot fall evening. At 4.8% ABV, it’s not going to sneak up on you, either. I’ll follow that with an Island Coastal Lager, from East Island Brewing in Charleston. It’s a much better alternative to the mass market lagers that many of us have moved beyond. I’ll close out the Tiger’s victory with a Twisted Monkey from Victory Brewing. This Belgian blonde ale with mango is a little too sweet for my taste, but it will go down better at the end of the evening. So much like the Tigers who will be on the field at the end of the night, this isn’t the best we have, but it will be good enough to do the job.