slightly syrupy texture?

Just curious what might have caused this. I've had an irish red on co2 for about six days now carbonating, and i tried pulling a draft last night. The taste wasn't bad, but it had a slightly syrupy texture and I'm not sure how it happened. It might actually have just been low carbonation, as it seemed to lose its head quite fast. I turned up the pressure and am hoping its better today.

Am I correct in thinking this is just a flat beer issue, or are there things that can cause that sort of mouth feel during the brew process?

It could be the recipe or the mash (if it was partial mash or all grain). Post some details about your brew day.

Was a partial mash irish red. I don't have the exact recipe on hand because the guy at the homebrew store wrote it up, and its sitting on my bench at home. The one thing I can recall that was a difficulty was that I had to crack grains myself, and having not done that before it was a huge pain. I spilled a bit trying to do it with a rolling pin, and I don't think they ended up very well cracked.

Beyond that, it was textbook. Sat for two weeks in primary, and then two weeks in secondary. Racked to keg last Sunday.

Well, as far as I know, poorly milled grain would just result in lower conversion efficiency. I don't think that would cause the texture you're describing.

The two things that spring to mind for me are a) a high adjunct recipe and b) a high temperature mash. Both would result in larger amounts of unfermentable sugars and a thicker mouth feel.

I'm hoping it was just low carbonation. I have a very hard time distinguishing between flat and syrupy, so it's quite possible.

Yeah, give your carbonation idea a try and get back to us!