From 1910:
Wash the stalks of rhubarb well and cut into bits, letting each piece fall into cold water as you cut it off. Add no water, but put the rhubarb, dripping wet, into a double boiler and set in the outer vessel filled with cold water. Cover closely and bring to a boil. When soft and broken, strain through a cheese-cloth bag and measure the juice. Add as much water as yon have juice, sweeten to taste and allow a cup of brandy to each gallon of liquid. Bottle and seal.
Stand the bottles upside down in sand or ground cork.