To enhance methane release from bituminous coal in the Illinois basin, a nutrient recipe, an adapted microbial community, and optimal biogasification condition leading to maximum methane release have been developed. To evaluate whether the developed strategy is applicable to coals from other geological settings, coal samples from the San Juan (SJ) basin and Powder River (PR) basin were investigated. This study showed that without the addition of ethanol, more methane was released from PR coal than from SJ coal. Ethanol increased and inhibited methane production from SJ and PR coal, respectively. The dominant degradation products in all microcosms were similar even though the concentrations of identified compounds were dependent on the coal samples used. The addition of 2-bromoethanesulfonate completely arrested methanogenesis and resulted in higher content of total organic carbon in fermentation broth than those without. Comparing the coals before and after biotreatment, the elemental compositions did not change much even though significant mass losses were found for both coals. This study demonstrated that a given microbial community can be used for different ranks of coals. To maximize methane release, nutrient recipes may be shared for coals with the same rank, but not for coals having different compositions.