OSAKA -- If you're tired of the bland, mass-produced, artificially carbonated barley water that too many companies are pushing as beer, relief will soon be at hand.

In just over a month, Osaka's annual version of Oktoberfest, International Beer Summit 2000, takes place in the city's Umeda district.

Hailed as one of the world's top micro-beer festivals, the summit takes place from Oct. 6 to 8 in the plaza of the Umeda Sky building in Kita Ward. The summit is sponsored by the Japan Craft Beer Association and the Kansai Consular Corps, and will feature about 80 different kinds of beer from 35 breweries nationwide.