Yummy roast beef!
Are you going to be using a wireless meat probe like a Maverick 732/733 or an instant read thermometer? The wireless makes monitoring meat worry free. A two pound roast should be in your temperature range in roughly an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes at a 225-235F chamber temp.
Liquid underneath? Just use water. It adds more smoke flavor for a relatively short smoke. I prefer hickory or oak, occasionally mesquite, the stronger woods on a short smoke. Consider wood like a flavor ingredient in your smoke.
Folks have lots of personal preferences in beef and you'll develop your own. I like my beef rare and my wife likes medium rare, so I compromise and aim for an internal temp of 133-135F. I prefer to smoke round, tri tip, chuck eye, boneless cross rib, prime rib at low temps, 225-235F. That way there is a nice color consistency from the edge to the center. If it is just my wife and me I don't bother reverse searing the meat. It will be pretty colorless though just on the smoker alone. If we're having company I'll fire up the gas grill, get it over 700F, then sear the outside for color at the end of the smoke, just a couple minutes per side.
Have fun on your first top round.
