When to drink Barrel-Aged Darkness?

If you've never had it before, drink it now. Easy as that.

 

@KSOZE said it best. You're alive today, you might not be tomorrow.
Edit: if you got a few buddies, call em over and share.

 

How do you feel about notes of oxidation vs. alcoholic "heat"? There's no right or wrong answer - just personal preference.
For me, I tend to let most beers like this one sit for a few months but no more than 2 years. I usually consider 9-12 months my personal sweet spot.

 

Had it twice now... it's delicious right now. It will most likely age well, but you never know.

 

I was thinking about asking this same question. I might drink it after I finish my bottle of regular Darkness.

 

Haven't had this year's, but I'm always an advocate of drinking something fresh, if that's how it was intended (assuming you want it how it was intended). Obviously guys like Stone have made beers they tell you not to drink fresh, but those are an outlier, in my opinion.

The other thing I'll point out, is that one of the great things about Darkness is the hoppiness they add to the stout. I'm sure this is muted in the BA version, but I'd probably still want to get as much of it as possible, which would mean drinking it asap.

 

Very few beers really get that much better with time, and sometimes can get much worse. 12-18 months is right about where I have had the most "luck". But I have done enough verticals of all types of BA beer to say while there may be a "difference" it doesnt necessarily make it better. I have also heard from a number of brewers that do quite a bit of barrel aging (Firestone Walker's brewers for example) that say their BA beers are ready to go as soon as they hit the shelves.

I would just hold on to it until a special event (Xmas? New Years?) and enjoy it now

 

If you like a really heavy barrel flavor, drink it now. I love bourbon and I really like this now.