Couple of points. First, I'd have to disagree on thoughts that the cooking temps were too high. Some people in competition cook at 350 degrees or even higher, even with brisket. 225 is a preference for many, but higher temps work just fine (and many others prefer them).
This might also be a good time to talk about the difference between temperature and heat. While a cooking chamber may be at 250 degrees, some spots will be "hotter" than others due to the thermal dynamics within the smoker. Think about this, if your oven is 250 degrees, you can stick your hand into it and hold it there for 3 or 4 seconds with no problems. When you take your hand out, you are fine. But, if you reach in and grab the oven rack which is also 250 degrees, you'll burn your hand instantly. How could that be given that the air and the rack are both 250 degrees ? It's because the air is less efficient at conducting (transferring) heat.
You had your water pan in the WSM. That acts as a heat shield/baffle. Anything placed above it will be cooked via "indirect" heat. But, there's a gap between the edge of the water pan and the sides of the WSM. Looking at the pics, it appears that the part of the brisket that got crispy was the part near the outer edge of the rack. This would have been due to that part being in "direct" heat as opposed to "indirect" heat. Next time, I'd keep the brisket centered on the rack and if you want to throw chicken on, put the pieces along the outer edge ringing the brisket.
WRT smoke flavor. Meat absorbs smoke best at cooler temps. Looking at your fire, I'd wager that the wood didn't start smoking until well into the process as the 4 visible pieces are near the outer edge of your charcoal ring. By the time you started putting out smoke, the brisket had reach a temp where smoke absorption would have been much slower. Solution is to have some wood smoking before you even put the brisket on.
This might also be a good time to talk about the difference between temperature and heat. While a cooking chamber may be at 250 degrees, some spots will be "hotter" than others due to the thermal dynamics within the smoker. Think about this, if your oven is 250 degrees, you can stick your hand into it and hold it there for 3 or 4 seconds with no problems. When you take your hand out, you are fine. But, if you reach in and grab the oven rack which is also 250 degrees, you'll burn your hand instantly. How could that be given that the air and the rack are both 250 degrees ? It's because the air is less efficient at conducting (transferring) heat.
You had your water pan in the WSM. That acts as a heat shield/baffle. Anything placed above it will be cooked via "indirect" heat. But, there's a gap between the edge of the water pan and the sides of the WSM. Looking at the pics, it appears that the part of the brisket that got crispy was the part near the outer edge of the rack. This would have been due to that part being in "direct" heat as opposed to "indirect" heat. Next time, I'd keep the brisket centered on the rack and if you want to throw chicken on, put the pieces along the outer edge ringing the brisket.
WRT smoke flavor. Meat absorbs smoke best at cooler temps. Looking at your fire, I'd wager that the wood didn't start smoking until well into the process as the 4 visible pieces are near the outer edge of your charcoal ring. By the time you started putting out smoke, the brisket had reach a temp where smoke absorption would have been much slower. Solution is to have some wood smoking before you even put the brisket on.