Ginger beer plant and water kefir look nearly identical but the ginger beer plant is uniquely made to ferment ginger. The grains also tend to be larger in size, perhaps due to the nutritional content of ginger and sugar versus sugar alone. Ginger bug is entirely different and can be made by macerating piece of ginger with sugar and leaving open to the air in order to attract wild yeast. The entire hunk of ginger, sugar and organisms are then used to ferment sugar water for a tasty “ginger ale.”