Aging - Secondary/Bottle Conditioning

I understand the benefits aging, and its differences with smaller and bigger beers, but just how long is optimal? Ales vs lagers? Lets say that primary, secondary and conditioning happened in the same place, same temps (65-70) and dark. When would an ale 'peak' and/or start to head south? What about stouts/porters, any differences in aging vs. a blonde or amber ale?

I've found a bunch of info searching, but the main thing I can't figure out is 'how long is too long' for some of these beers...I would be able to store cases away for extended periods but don't want to keep them past their peak...

I recently had a beer go south after extended room temp aging, and so I got into contact with the pope Jamil Zainasheff, and here's what he had to say:

"The thin, fizzy beer is a result of either bacteria or wild yeast. That stuff
is all over the place and you need to be really cautious if you want your beer
to condition for long periods of time.

In the future, once the beer is properly carbonated, store it cold if you can.
It will continue to develop, but it will slow down bacteria and wild yeast.
However, the only true solution is to improve sanitation a bit more."

Basically what I understand him to mean is that depending on your sanitation, you have a certain level of wild yeast and or bacteria in your beer, which can spoil it at room temp over time even if the beer is fine at first. So either store cold or sanitize very well or both for long term aging.

But that's just one guy's opinion. That guy just happens to be Jamil.

Interesting...so when you say cool or cold, what temps are we talking? Refrigerator temps? 50's? 60's?

Fridge temps, probably around 40