Craig, that's a lot of beans (7 14 oz. cans or over 6 lbs.) for less than 2 lbs. of meat. 
Yes, it's heavier on the beans than many. An earlier version of this had half that amount and my wife wanted more. So I doubled it, and we both liked it a lot. But like all chili recipes everywhere, it forms a solid basis for experimentation. It's the flavors of the whole concoction that I like, particularly since I started smoking the chuck, both from its flavor, and from the shredded texture, as opposed to cubed beef. I made a batch with cubed meat using leftovers from my first brisket flat, and thought it was the best I'd ever made - the addition of the smokey flavor and how tender each piece was, but I've found I like the pulled beef texture much more.
My comment only related to the beans, the recipe looks great, as a matter of fact, I copied it to try on my next batch. With fewer or no beans.
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