Brisket

I'd been wanting to try out my smoker since it got blown off the veranda a few weeks ago so I got a brisket out of the freezer and thawed it out.  Saturday I trimmed off all the hard fat areas and seasoned it with Kosher salt, course ground pepper and Heath Riles Garlic Butter rub.  The salt and pepper I put on a pretty heavy layer on and topped that with a light sprinkling of the rub.
I preheated my smoker to 200 degrees using Lumber Jack competition pellets that consist of maple, hickory and cherry.  Hickory and cherry have long been my favorite woods to use.  I put the brisket on around 5:30 Saturday evening and also put in a water pan that I also added beer to, after all bbq and beer go together.  I checked the smoker every few hours to make sure everything was going alright.
I opened the chamber around 3:30 on Sunday morning and added more water and checked the brisket temp.  It was lower than I wanted so I upped it to 225 degree and went back to sleep.  I checked the temp again at around 9am and it hadn't come up as much as I wanted so I increased the temp to 250 and again added water.
I check it again around 10:30 and it was starting to come along nicely.  I'd told people 12-1 and that was looking good.  I finally pulled the brisket at noon and let it rest for 45 minutes before I started slicing.  The Glue pinched a small piece of bark and so I did too.  Mine had a very strong pepper flavor and the Glue said hers tasted salty.  We both had another pinch or two and it still had those flavors.  At this point I was really worried I'd over seasoned it.
I started slicing it at 12:45 and it sliced better than any I'd done so far.  It looked nice and juicy and the chef's privilege taste was good.  I was very pleased with the end product and people said that thought it was good.  You never know if they are being polite or if that's what they thought.  I'd rather have say they don't like it than to be polite and lie.
One thing I will do different next time is to start it at 225.  Another might be to put peach paper on top of the cutting board and see if that helps with the mess.
Overall I was pleased.