First brew. Same results, different variables.

My first brew came from a can. Cooper's IPA. I fermented for 1 week and bottled. After 1 week in the bottle, I tasted. I was OK with the flavor (not as hoppy as I like), but not carbonated. I placed some bottles in a cooler unheated room and some in my own heated room. After 2 weeks in the bottle, I tasted each. Both beers tasted exactly the same (flavor and carbonation). The beer never tasted terrible, but I would expect some sort of evolution. The beer is not bad, but it's not something I would give away to friends and family. It just feels like a microwavable TV dinner beer. It just doesn't taste or feel like a home cooked meal. It tastes cheap. So my journey begins....

Yea..you really need to ferment for longer than one week. I would say ferment 2-3 weeks minimum and then bottle for 2-3 weeks minimum. Some beers need to ferment for 4 weeks or even longer.

Assuming you didn't bottle before fermentation was done you still need at least another week before your beer is at the minimum age that it should be drank at.

that's my point. I bottled after 1 week. i tasted after 1 week. it was not bad but not carbonated. i put most of my bottles in a warmer room and left 3 bottles in a a cooler room. tonight i tried a bottle that was in the cooler environment and one that was in the warmer environment. each tasted exactly the same as when I tried it after 1 week. same taste, same carbonation.

+1 You need to let that fermentation go longer than that. By bottling that early you are at risk of making bottle bombs if the fermentation was not done. Also after the yeast is done with it's primary fermenting it will go back and eat some of the byproducts from the fermentation effectively cleaning up some fermentation byproducts. You need to let that ferment go for maybe 2 weeks instead of 7 days.

Also if you are comparing a canned IPA kit to commercial IPA's you are going to fall short on the hop signature a bit, especially if you used pre-hopped extract. You can make a fine beer from a canned kit, but it is really hard to compare to the taste of fresh hops. If you want to stick with the canned kits for a bit, try picking up some fresh hops to add into the boil. Maybe for starters just a basic Cascade addition, which will really start to pick up that hop flavor you are looking for. Maybe an ounce 20-30 mins to end of boil and another ounce right at end of boil. If you had a commercial style in mind let us know and we could be more specific.

If you are feeling more adventurous try formulating an extract brew using liquid malt extract or dry malt extract. Plenty of help available on the forums if you want to give that a try.

i'm done with canned kits. i'm not impressed with my first campbell's soup beer from a can (although it's miles better than PBR, but that's not saying much...or anything). my first partial mash is in the works right now. it should be better than my first attempt. I'm just surprised that you can sell an IPA kit and not include any hint of hops. If I buy an IPA, I expect a hoppy flavor to some degree. This "IPA" was like Mirror Pond Light NA.

Sorry to hear about the bad IPA experience with the canned kit. Try to find a tried and true recipe from the forum and ask questions when you are unsure, or want to double check something. Patience and a solid process are the keys. You also may want to look into a secondary fermenter to do a dry hop addition. It's not absolutely necessary, but can enhance the hop signature of the finished product.

Here are two known good recipes (not the only ones by any means) from the recipe section of the forums. These are tried and true, and many people can give advice on these as many of us have brewed these at one point or another. They both have alternate recipes in the threads for extract brewing and alternate hop suggestions in the threads.

Cheers

Bee Cave IPA https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/bee-cave-brewery-ipa-59907/

Yoopers Dogfish Head 60 Minute https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/dogfish-head-60-minute-clone-ag-extract-25709/

Oh boy, I had this face on while reading your post: ":|". Oh boy. Posts before me already jumped at the obvious. Man oh man. Hahaha.

Ferment (between 64-70 degrees) 3-4 weeks
Bottle condition (at 70 degrees) 3-4 weeks
Let sit in fridge 2 days before drinking for clear beer

But what do you expect from a can?