Steep 6oz's of the roasted, 8oz's of the flaked barley for 30-40 @ 160*. People will disagree but when I do extract and steep I will steep for an hour @ 154*. Anyhow add your extracts, 1-1.5lbs of honey and 6-8oz's of brown sugar, get it to a roll and dump 1oz-1.5oz of the hallertau's in. Boil...
I personally use Danstar's Nottingham whenever I'm doing something that doesn't require a distinct yeast profile. On the other hand if I'm doing a German Hefe or Belgian style I will always go with a liquid yeast, usually a White Labs variety. As far as the carb drops vs. corn sugar issue, I...