I brew both 50/50. The lagers I brew have thus far been of the German styles. Homebrewing is very rewarding regardless of beer category, but there is something about tasting the result of a 10+ week effort. I inadvertently put more effort into lagers than I do ales. I use the malt analysis to calculate mash step temperatures. I'm exacting with temperature control. I pitch much more yeast. With ales, yeast pitch rates, temperature control, etc. are usually "good enough". With lagers, the techniques are more refined. This is what can make drinking your homebrewed lagers so rewarding.
I can have the patience to wait the time required for lagers, but the one thing that has always bothered me was making the starters. They're usually 1 gallon (2 for a 10-gallon batch), require multiple steps-up, and need to be made up to 2 weeks in advance. As for using dry lager yeast, I've heard very mixed results and have always shyed away from it. But when I found out that Fermentis' newly released strain (Saflager W34/70) was supposed to be the same strain as WLP830 (my usual lager yeast), I was hopeful the giant lager starter days were over. I used it a few weeks ago and post-primary samples indicate that this is as good as WLP830. So it looks like lager starters are one less thing for me to be worried about.
