It's pretty simple to set up one of those poll things if you are interested in collecting data on how many brew what.
Dump a can of extract into a pot with a couple of gallons of hot water in it, throw in some hops in a jelly bag and leave them for a while, put the pot in a bathtub of cold water for an hour or two, pour the result into a carboy or bucket and add a packet of dry yeast and you have made an ale. Everything needed, equipment and raw materials, can be had inexpensively in a single trip to your home brew shop. Little wonder then that most people start out brewing ales and stick with it. Moving up to lagers requires an investment in lengthened brew day (decoction mashing, log boils), equipment (multiple kettles, conical fermenter or at least a spare refrigerator or freezer, pH meter, narrow range hydrometers...), knowledge (water chemistry...), lagering tank, lagering refrigeration (cold room, spare freezer) and time (the lagering period). Little wonder that few move on to lagers but as has been hinted at in the other posts here, those that do generally come to appreciate the rewards that come from their extra efforts and capital investment. The history of lager beer from the time of its inception makes it pretty clear that lager beers are preferred by most drinkers and, to be honest, it seems to me that the arguments that ales are better than lagers are like the arguments that PC's are better than Macs i.e. more religious conviction on the part of proponents than rational assessment.
Having said that I expect that no one will be surprised that my brewing closely resembles pjj2ba's (except that I don't do Alt).
