First time brewing an IPA

You can make fine IPAs with extract, so I would not stop trying.
First, I would recommend full boils so you have better hop utilization.
Second try dry hopping for 7 days. If you have several fermenter and kegs try one batch at 3 then the other at 7 to get a feel for the hops yer using.
Were you using fresh hops or frozen.
Also, did you follow proper sanitation methods?

Can't help with the legging questions, but others can.

 

Do a search for BrewCipher on this site (or other software commercially), download it and learn to use it. This will allow you to calculate full wort boils assuming you have a big enough kettle and you won't be tied down to kit IPAs.
It will also allow you to calculate yeast size for pitching and oxygenation time. (Btw what yeast did you pitch?).
I don't know if 3 weeks was too long a dry hop or not. I go 7 days. Water probably plays a role in hop harshness also.
The colder it is the faster co2 will go into solution. Condition it at the temp you will serve it and keep it on serving pressure until it is fully carbed and enjoy.
Find a brew club and get an experienced brew buddy that is willing to share equipment and knowledge. (This is the absolute quickest route to great home brew in my opinion.)

Here are some notes on using extract.


HB42's Extract Brewing Tips...(Courtesy of Vikeman)

http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/how-do-i-start-homebrewing.62630/#post-855434

First of all it's important to realize that good quality, fresh extract alone can brew fantastic beer as long as your recipe formulation and brewing technique are good. One of the best beers I've ever brewed, extract, all grain, or otherwise, was an abbey singel that was nothing but pilsen DME, a little table sugar, a touch of hallertauer, and wyeast 1214. I've brewed show stopping English bitters with nothing but Muntons extra light DME, a touch of crystal, some goldings, and wyeast 1968. And nothing is more popular than my simple extract hefe, which is nothing but 6 lbs of wheat DME, an oz of noble hops, and wyeast 3068 (it doesn't get any easier than that, and it's a great beer).

if you want to brew great extract beers, the following guidelines are imperative:

1) FULL WORT BOIL.

I can't stress this enough. If you're doing concentrated boils, you're never going to produce flawless beers, no matter what else you do. If you're brewing 5 gallons of beer, you MUST start with at least 6-6.5 gallons of wort, and this is ESPECIALLY true for very pale colored or very hoppy beers. Late extract additions are helpful for those who do concentrated boils, but they're not a sub for a real FULL wort boil.

2) Use only high quality, extra light, light, or pilsen extracts, and I much prefer dry extracts over liquid, as they tend to be fresher and lighter in color.

Every extract beer that you brew should be based on either extra light DME, or pilsen DME. When an all grain brewer builds a recipe, they start with a pale base malt and work from there, even for the darkest beers, and a great extract brewer should do the same. Extra light extract is nothing but basic good quality 2-row, and a touch of carapils, while pilsen extract is 100% pilsner malt, and either of these are a fantastic slate on which to build any amazing beer. If you want to brew beer like an all grain brewer, then you need to think like an all grain brewer and build your recipes from the ground up.

3) Use only FRESH extract!

Don't buy extract kits that have been sitting on a store shelf for who knows how many millennia. This is especially true with liquid extract, which has a much shorter shelf life than dry and tends to darken and taste stale over time. This alone is a good reason to completely avoid liquid as far as I'm concerned. And try to find a retailer that moves their product and always has fresh inventory. For example a larger online homebrew supply may be better at providing fresh products than your stagnant local shop.

4) Do NOT scorch your extract.

This is yet another reason why I prefer DME over LME, as DME floats while LME sinks to the bottom of the kettle. If you decide to use LME however, remove the kettle from the burner and FULLY dissolve your extract before putting it back on the heat.

5) Know which grains can be steeped and which can't.

The only grains that can be steeped are crystal/caramel/cara malts, and roasted grains like chocolate malt, roasted barley, and black patent malt. EVERYTHING else really needs to be mashed. Doing things like trying to steep oatmeal or munich does nothing but load up your beer with unconverted starch, which is not doing your beer any favors. If you want to include other grains in your extract beers, then do a mini mash, NO exceptions.

5) DO A FULL WORT BOIL! Partial boils kill beer. Seriously.

6) Keep your yeast happy at all times.

It's very important to pitch healthy yeast in adequate numbers, and use yeast that's appropriate for the style. Many extract kits come with a packet of generic "ale yeast" that is typically of low quality. You're never going to brew a fantastic English bitter with an old, stale packet of characterless "ale yeast". Get familiar with handling liquid yeast strains and making starters, and pay attention to proper pitching rates and proper fermentation temperatures, as both are extremely important for producing high quality beers devoid of off flavors.

7) Never ever rush your beer.

Great beer takes time, and most beers will benefit from spending some extra time in the fermenter and in the bottle. This means at least 2-3 weeks in primary before either bottling or moving to secondary, and if you're bottle conditioning give your beers at least 6-8 weeks in the bottle and you're sure to see a great improvement.

And for shit sake, get yourself a bigger kettle! That, along with getting some decent ingredients, are the best things that you can do for your extract beers.

And don't let anyone tell you that you can't brew great beer with extract, because that's BS. Some of the best beers that I've ever brewed were extract beers, no question.
by: Homebrew42

 

Don't give up. If you already keg, and you keep your ingredients fresh, you can make every bit as good of a beer as anything commercially out there. There's also a sense of pride that you made it. So, hell yeah it tastes better. This is true for any style of beer. IPAs are generally best fresh, and it doesn't get fresher than 6 weeks out of your keg.

No-Nos

The grassy flavor can be attributed to too much dry hop time. You get this with some hops and not others. Typical dry hop times run from 4 days to 10 days. Other brewers have great success (and fails) from keg hopping a beer in a paint straining bag for extended periods of time. Conditioning generally doesn't do any good here. Drink it if you can.

Next time make sure you get your gravities right before you pitch. Take a gravity reading with your preboil volume and post boil volume (MUST BE SANITARY HERE) This will get you on track.

Make sure you get your temperature right before you pitch. Nottingham should have shown you a ring around the top of the beer before 3 days, even if it was a high gravity beer. I'm curious to know what temperature you pitched at and fermented at.

Pitching more yeast at day 3 might have been a good safety, since you had a high gravity beer. Aeration, however, is not a good idea at this time. Generally, aeration is a good thing immediately before pitching, and 10-18 hours after pitching for high gravity beers. Was this by rocking the fermenter, a pump, or O2 and a stone?

Overall, you could have done a lot worse for shaking off the rust for your fist batch in a long time. Try to appreciate the hard work that you put into it, the fact that the beer sounds like it IS drinkable, (some aren't), and know that you'll do better next time.