Hydrogen is an environmentally promising energy carrier, with a high potential for use in the mobility and energy sectors. However, large use of hydrogen still demands efficient and safe handling, transportation, and storage infrastructure. Shortcontact-time reactors have been investigated as an alternative to produce a hydrogen-rich syngas close to its use. The control of the manufacturing process of such reactors and its influence on their performance are of great interest. Here, we investigated the effect of a washcoat in the Ni/Al2O3 short-contact-time reactors on the catalytic activity of steam reforming (SR) and partial oxidation (POX) of ethanol. The influence of the coating process on the washcoat thickness and catalyst morphology was explored. The catalytic activity was tested in order to understand the effect of the washcoat on ethanol conversion, product distribution, and improvement of hydrogen production. Results indicated the increase in the surface area as the monolith is coated, which improved the Ni dispersion and consequently produced smaller average size crystallites. The effect of the washcoat was evidenced on the product selectivities, by the increase of the activity for the C-C bond breaking, which leads to the production of C-1 species. The Ni/Al2O3 monolith was catalytically active for ethanol SR and is revealed to be an alternative route for simultaneously producing acetaldehyde and hydrogen from POX in short-contact-time reactors.