I thought l'd share a picture of a couple of beer can chickens l did a few summers ago. There are two cans of Pabst holding them up but not shown in picture.
My late father used to dabble with different mixtures and such. From 50/50 water and apple juice to Sprite and Koolaid and everything else in between. Some were great and some were so so at best but he never lost the desire to try. Like Michael Richards said, it depends on your flavor...
Anything by Aaron Franklin and the Weber Books. Along with that l'd recommend Smoking Meat by Will Fleischman and The Secrets of Smoking on the Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker and Other Smokers by Bill Gillespie.
Everyone has different options on the subject of water in the pan or not. Really it's all about personal taste. I don't use water for brisket but l do use a 50/50 mix of boiling fruit juices and water for pork butts. I don't believe it's either the right or wrong way it's just my way of doing...
I remember my first brisket on the WSM. I got all worked up about the temp control, to use water or not, foil or paper, etc..etc..etc. I ended up keeping it simple and it turned out fine. The only thing different l do than Timothy is l spritz with beef broth. If it's not enjoyable to do IMO...
I do brisket both ways with the fat cap trimmed to approximately 1/4". Low and slow l put the fat cap up. Hot and fast l put the fat cap down. Like Chris pointed out you should spritz occasionally with the fat cap down.