I have been away from the site for a long time and looks like I came back at the right time. I am planning to do a brisket myself soon and was coming to find some wisdom on brisket. Its like it was meant to be. That brisket looks delicious Chris.
Bob I havn't posted on here in over a year but that looks amazing for my first post back on tvwbb. Look at that beautiful smoke ring on those dang ribs.
Methods of starting in the preferred order for me using a chimney....
1)Starter Cubes
2)Oil on paper towel
3)Side burner on grill
4)Torch
5)Crumpled up news paper
I usually tend to hover between the 250-275 range myself when Q'ing. Not for any other reason really than my WSM seems to settle in nicely at 275 on most days without any effort on my part of fiddling with vents. As Ron Popeil said, "Set it and forget it." I've been quite happy with my results.
Look forward to the finished product. You have a real nice trifecta of WSM staples going there. Ought to go ahead and toss on some ABT's, you won't regret those.