The influence of various methods of Kansko-Achinsk brown coals humidification on their behaviour during pyrolysis and hydrogenation is investigated. Variations of derivatographic data, X-ray and DRIFT features of solid pyrolysis residues are presented. The hydrogenation liquid and gas products are studied by gas chromatography, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and (NMR)-N-1 spectroscopy. It was shown that part of the moisture is irreversibly bound with coal, which participates in thermal hydrolysis reactions and produces the change in the polycyclic aromatic skeleton which is accompanied by a greater change in the yield of pyrolysis and hydrogenation products.