Japanese beer drinkers are tired of the same old tastes from the big four brewers and instead turn to a growing number of microbreweries across the country for something different. Also the already mentioned Suntory/Kirin merger was recently called off again.

 "Kirin Holdings Company Limited, which has been in merger negotiations with Suntory Holdings Limited, today announced that the negotiations have been terminated," Kirin said on 8th January, citing disagreement on whether to list the company.

A combined group would have been be the largest in the Japanese beer and soft drink markets with sales of more than 400 billion dollars -- ahead of Belgium-based Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola Co. of the United States.

The talks between Suntory and Kirin started last year as Japan's beverage companies have sought to look beyond their traditional markets in the face of lean economic times and an aging and shrinking population at home. Kirin said that it had been negotiating with Suntory "on the premise that the new entity would be managed as a listed company in order to ensure appropriate management independence and transparency."

However, Kirin said that Suntory held a different view, and that therefore the talks were "unlikely to result in the establishment of a company that would fulfil Kirin's aim of developing as a leading global company." "Kirin therefore decided to terminate the negotiations," it is said.

On the beer side Kirin and Suntory are also not the luckiest. Being two of the four biggest brewers of Japan- the other two are Sapporo and Asahi - they have to cope with falling shipments. In 2009 shipments fell down 2.1 percent to just 472.5 million cases. Each case holds 20 633-milliliter bottles.

Microbrewers, on the other hand, experienced a bumper year, with shipments climbing to 34,000 kiloliters. And while that may still only represent a fraction of the amount sold by the established beer firms, it is an impressive increase on the 14,000 kiloliters that were consumed in 2003.

"It is simply that there are not enough choices in the Japanese beer market, and that is why we decided to start brewing some new and interesting beers," Katsuyoshi Yoshino, head of sales for Morita Kinshachi Beer Co., told Relaxnews. "Our company was originally a sake maker but we began making beer in 1996 and using unusual ingredients," he said.

"Now they can be purchased all over Japan and we are exporting to China and Australia as well." Based in the central Japan city of Nagoya, Morita Kinshachi produces a range of European-style pilsners, an Indian Pale Ale and an Imperial Chocolate Stout, but among its best-sellers are beers flavored with green tea or fermented bean paste.

The Matcha Draft green tea beer won bronze at an international beer competition last year, while the ingredients of Nagoya Akamiso Lager include fermented red beans, a local speciality that has made it popular in the city. "For us, the secret is to be original with the beers and make them stand out," said Yoshino.

Other breweries have caught on to the concept of being different, with the Hakusekikan microbewery's Tenen Hachinitsu Kobo Shizen Bakushu taking advantage of the natural yeast found in honey. The Super Vintage brew, meanwhile, packs a punch with three times the alcohol content of regular beer.

Microbreweries were legalized in Japan in 1994 and there are now some 300 companies brewing across the country. Many others have been forced to stop brewing due to the big beer companies' ability to keep prices low as they produce in bulk. But with sales rising in 2009, despite the global economic crisis, microbrewers hope that drinkers are shifting towards quality over quantity.