Aging Imperial Stout -hopping question?

[burntcedar]

I am planning on brewing an Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout based on Brewpastor's Dark Night of the Soul RIS (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f68/dark-night-soul-russian-imperial-stout-21088/) and then age it for a year in an oak barrel. His total IBUs and mine from my own recipe clock in around 180. Should this amount of bitterness be alarming or am I right in believing that after a year of aging this bitterness will mellow considerably. I just want to make sure I don't make any mistakes before I invest the cash and most importantly time in aging this beer for an entire year!

 

[bassbone]

Bitterness will fade with aging.

A month or so i opened the last bottle of my last batch of RIS (9.5% ABV, 80ish IBUs) that had been aging for 9 months and the bitterness had almost completely disappeared.

 

[VanHorneDog]

Just get a wine thief and taste it. if its too bitter, just let it sit for 18 months or whatever.