I've been drinking my IPA's within a week of brewing. That includes brewing, fermenting, dry hopping, cold crashing, and force carbonating. There's not much to it, just move on to the next step asap as soon as the previous step is done.
I've also been drinking IPAs, lagers, stouts, etc 6+ months after brewing and they definitely taste more watery, less bitter, more mellow, less aromatic, easier drinking, smoother, etc etc. Whether or not that is a good thing depends on the style. IPAs probably not so much, imperial stouts yes.
So when it comes to aging beer my vote falls along the lines of many, age beers that historically "should" be aged, and enjoy fresh the IPAs.
To throw a wrench in the works I plan to soon brew an 18+% crazy high abv IPA, with nearly a full pound of hops throughout the process. I expect to be able to enjoy it fresh as well as enjoy it as it ages, we will see how the year affect this brew.