Disappointment brings about questions

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Darwin18

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Well, I brewed Ed's House Pale Ale and had really high hopes for this one. I thought I did everything right and I even hit all my temperatures. It smelled and looked great at bottling time so I was eager to try it three weeks later.

Urgh. It didn't taste terrible but reminded me of all the off tastes from my first Coopers kit. Now, I may be over-reacting but I gave it five weeks in primary and three in bottles so I was expecting it to be drinkable. Based on my brew process and how it looked/smelled at bottling, I had planned on entering it in the local club's yearly competition. I'll have to give it another week or two to decide whether I'll still do that or subsitute another beer in it's place.

Right now, I'm brewing on my electric stove and getting an okay but not great boil. My question is this:

Will moving outside with a bayou classic-type burner and using an immersion chiller really have that great of an affect on the overall taste and quality of my homebrews? Most of what I make now is drinkable and my friends seem to enjoy it but I don't know if they're giving me their honest opinions. I feel that there is significant room for improvement.
 
Yes. Those will improve your beer.

But there's not enough to go on here.

What did you make -- the all grain version, or extract, or partial mash?

How did you chill?

What are the off-flavors you mean?
 
This was an all grain recipe and I placed the brew pot in an inefficient ice bath that took a long time to cool.

I'm not sure how to describe the off flavors. They weren't over powering but subtle enough for me to pour it out. They strongly reminded me of my first Coopers kit where I decided I didn't need to follow the directions.
 
Although it is a good idea to get a better boil and cool more quickly, I would not bank on that fixing your problems. Don't shotgun it, analyze your off flavors and diagnose the problem, then try to fix it. Don't just try to throw solutions at a problem before you know what the problem is...hardly ever works.

Start here: http://www.howtobrew.com/section4/chapter21-2.html
 
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