Yeast, water chemistry, and beer clarity

I've brewed a few AG batches so far. The ones old enough to drink have turned out very tasty. My first batch was my attempt at a lighter trapist style ale and the next 3 batches were variations on the same belgian ale recipe using slightly different grain bills and/or yeast strains for experimentation.

My water is very soft. Ca - 6ppm, Mg - < 1ppm, Na - 7ppm, SO4 - 3ppm, Cl - 4ppm, HCO3 - 12ppm.

I haven't really tried much in the way of water modification. I was curious if it is necessary to add Ca, Mg, etc for the yeast. I plan to try my hand at a Hefeweizen and am wondering if an acid rest would help get the proper nutrients for the yeast or if water modification would be better. How does water chemistry play a part in what the ultimate clarity of the beer will be. I cool with an immersion chiller down to around 55 degF in approximately 10 minutes.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Hey man, have a look at: http://www.ezwatercalculator.com/ written by a HBT member TH. You enter your water in and it helps you add small amounts of salts to get the water in shape. It would be really easy for you to 'harden up' your water. There are baseline amounts of these minerals that you need for the mash to work well. All kinds of reactions are busy happening that require mg and calcium. On that spread sheet it shows you the ideal range for each ion and compound, I would shoot for that and if you need any help with the sheet PM me.

Another great place to look and learn is on the How to Brew (Palmer) site chapter 15 on water chemistry

Another great site is by another HBT member, Kaiser - he has written an excellent section on water chemistry and also has a spreadsheet/calculator for the taking. http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Building_brewing_water_with_dissolved_chalk

Enjoy!