Just fyi, the recipe posted was first made for me (tweaked it some since regarding the peppers, and he just loved salt, which I've reduced since) by my old cooking tutor, Louis d'Auberge Messarveaux, in 1969 just outside Plaquemines.
He used red beans, soaked as described. Moah bettah, Ah garontee. I guess he must have sneaked down to LA from Connecticut, right? (g!)
Never have understood why some folks add beer to chili. The alcohol cooks right off and you're left with kind of a wan hops/barley flavour. Guess I'm slow, but I just don't get it.
Of course, having a beer or two or five while making the chili, that I understand...heh heh heh...
;^)
Capsaicin (the hot stuff in the chile) is alcohol soluble. But I do agree beer might leave a beery taste. I've actually used a little sweet red wine to deglaze the pan after browning the meat. Couldn't taste a huge difference, but figured it can't hurt!
I'm not a fan of that either. If I wanted to eat cow food, I'd just eat corn.