[shawnx86]

I just drained my first keg (a lager) and am wondering if I missed something. I used 7 PSI at 34 degrees but had small head from the flow. I did not use any priming sugar. Should I use some on my new fat tire clone that I brewed yesterday or was that just a result of a lager?

[denny]

It's probably a result of your carbonation technique and your serving system.  Most of us don't prime kegs with sugar.  Tell us how you carbed the beer, and how long and what diameter your serving line is.

[enso]

Are you certain that the keg was at 34F?  If it was warmer then that then your carbonation volumes would be lower.

Priming sugar is not necessary if you are force carbonating.  You just need to make certain of the appropriate pressure for the actual temperature the keg is stored at.

Was the beer carbonated to your taste i.e. fizzy enough or was it rather flat?  If there was enough carbonation but not sufficient head and it could be the beer itself that is causing the problem.  It may just not have enough proteins and dextrins to develop a good head.  Or it could be the inner diameter of the tubing vs. the length...

More info here, I guess is what I am saying.

[shawnx86]

I forced carbinated using 7 lbs of Co2. Looking at Promash it says I should have used 27.58 PSI at 34 degrees to carbonate.

So in the future I assume there is a forced carbonation pressure and a pouring pressure, correct. 20-30 for carbonate and 5-8 for pouring. At any rate the Lager was great and did have some bubbles but a very small head.

[a10t2]

I forced carbinated using 7 lbs of Co2. Looking at Promash it says I should have used 27.58 PSI at 34 degrees to carbonate.

7 psi is probably closer. 28 psi would be a cannon.

So in the future I assume there is a forced carbonation pressure and a pouring pressure, correct.

You can try to carbonate faster by using higher pressure for a few hours or days, then reduce it for serving. The easiest way is just to set the pressure where you want it and wait a week or so.

FWIW 7 psi at 34°F would be about 2.3 volumes, which is pretty standard. http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html

[yugamrap]

Check out this discussion of carbonation and the accompanying chart: http://www.kegerators.com/articles/carbonation-table-pressure-chart.php I've found the chart to be very helpful.  As others have said there is more than one way to force carbonate.  I use the set-n-forget method.  Using the chart, I set the pressure based on the desired level of carbonation and temperature of the beer, then leave the keg sit for 7-10 days.  I sometimes give it some shaking when I first connect the gas to get things going a little quicker.  I serve at the same pressure used to carbonate.  I have a few different lengths of serving line that balance my system for good pours at different pressures.