Everybody's system, process, quality of hops, etc is going to be different. There'd be a couple ways to approach it being too bitter. One would be backing off the hops or putting them in later. Another would be using a less attenuative yeast or mashing higher.
Your hop utilization will...
In my experience kettle sours have had a tendency to downplay the yeast characteristics from various saison yeasts I've tried. I'd be really curious to see how Vermont came out. You may want to blend it with a more attenuative yeast though, since it already tends to have trouble drying out.
I blended those 2 yeasts and hopped lightly with Nelson & Mosaic in an Oatmeal Saison and scored a 44 with it. I re-pitched the cake a couple times and it definitely was different each pitch. Not a particularly stable blend, but fun nonetheless.
I think I got a pilot on 001 semi-close to where I want this beer.
Batch was 10.5 gal and split on 001 & 100% East Coast Custersianus Brett. 80% brewhouse efficiency. IBUs in Rager. Hop Utilization set at 100%. Mash 154. Ferm on both approx 67. OG 1.048 and finish on both was 1.010. Custers...
For sure. The tricky thing for me on the pro level is this beer is pretty money on 006 and I have yet to brew it on 001 where I was really impressed. Given that we'll be starting out with 090 or 001, 500, a saison blend, and 013 or 028 for the first few waves of beers, SIPA might be on the back...
The original brew was a series of 3 brews, all on almost expired Platinum White Labs strains with no starters, so it probably should be more in the 1.010-1.014 range to be award winning. I will brew a beer very much rooted in this beer at Relentless Brewing, where I'm now the Head Brewer. I'd be...
I ran about 5.5 gallons of Wit beer wort and pitched 2 vials of Brett C. No oxygenation other than the splashing of the fill. The resulting flavor 3 weeks later was a nice tangy flavor. Only a light touch of pineapple. Fairly clean funk-wise. I ended up blending it into a wine barrel of 100%...
I've heard you could blow it off if you kegged. Also, apparently some of the pros are using copper to strip out some of those flavors. I suspect time will work for you though.
Yeah, don't assume that because you make crappy beer with crappy kits that you're cursed. Take care of your yeast health (make a starter) and temperatures (water bath or temp controlled space) and you can make damn good beer.