First batch tastes like plastic

Hello,
I've been priming my first batch (Brewers' Best IPA kit) for a couple weeks, decided to give it a go, and here's what I've come up with:

• Plastic-y taste at back of throat
• Good head, but little/no carbonation in beer
• Decent flavor, except for above. Not as pale or as hoppy as I'd hoped.

Possible causes:

• Flavor: Chlorine residue from cleaning equipment with tap water
• Flavor: Room temperature fermentation and priming (fridge isn't big enough for keg)
• Flavor: Wild yeast (found this one elsewhere on forum)
• Flavor/Color: Some burnt extract in bottom of brew kettle
• Carbonation: Wort not cold enough to absorb sufficient CO2
• Flavor: 2 oz. bittering hop pellets, 1 oz. finishing hop pellets...is that enough?

Any insights, thoughts, or suggestions?
Thanks!

I made the same kit IPA as you. Its my second batch. Just got done last weekend. Having one right now actually. Anyway, mine tastes alot like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, to me and my father-in-law at least. There is plenty of hop flavor in my opinion. Enough that my wife can't stand it and some of my friends think its too bitter. But they're not use to hoppy beers. Mine is amber in color but I think thats normal. I'm not experienced enough to tell you why yours taste like plastic but it could be an infection. I also used tap water and fermented at 72°F and kept in the secondary for 2 weeks at 68°F. I think burnt extract would probably taste like something burnt, but I don't really know.

The experts on this forum are gonna ask for more details. Like how long you fermented, how long in secondary(if used one), and how long it has conditioned for carbonation. I've been in the habit of drinking one bottle after one week of conditioning but its usually flat and the taste is a little disapointing. It gets better as it ages.

I boiled in a 30 qt. turkey frier pot on a stovetop, reduced it a little much, so I probably had about 4.5 gallons, did a single fermentation in a five-gallon glass carboy (forgetting to take an OG) for a week and a half, then moved to a soda keg on Sept. 4, so it's been almost three weeks since I kegged.

I tried to chill the keg last night in my bathtub with a bunch of ice and cold water, but after over an hour of agitation it still came out foamy but flat, and still had that hint of PVC pipe in the back of my mouth.

I would recommend you try dry hopping for a week, since it is in a keg. Since it's a Pale an ounce of Cascades would be the obvious choice. The grapefruit note in Cascades might mask the flavor you are detecting. Also, another two weeks will get ride of a number of off-flavors.

Carbonation, try a longer line for your tap (I assume your are using a party tap). They tend to be around 4 feet long, but it takes 6 feet of 3/16 ID tubing to dispense most ales without foaming. Of course, since you will have opened the keg to dry hop, you'll have to force carbonate. If you dry hop for a week & put the ale on pressure for another week, you should be set.

Thanks for the feedback. I added hops last night (probably more than I should have, but I like hops), and I'm waiting. Quick question about kegs. It seems like when I attach my CO2 tank to the keg I hear a leaking sound. Should I hear anything, or should I invest in some new fittings and/or a new keg?

Thanks

Do you do your fermenting in plastic?

Nope, glass. And the keg's metal.