Corona beer may be known as much for its "find your beach" tagline as it is for its iconic clear glass bottle, served with a wedge of lime.

Now the brand is branching out beyond the bottle, looking to boost its presence on draft in bars and restaurants.

After a limited test run, Crown Imports, a division of Constellation Brands, is making its Corona Light brand available on draft in an additional 35 U.S. markets, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas, starting in March. The timing allows the brand to boost its draft presence in advance of the Cinco de Mayo holiday and the crucial summer selling season.



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"We've actually seen in all the markets where we do have draft, our business increases about 12 percent overall versus markets where we don't have draft," said Jim Sabia, chief marketing officer at Crown Imports. "So we're excited for what Corona Light draft does to our overall business in building our consumer franchise."

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During its limited rollout, Crown watched carefully to make sure the Corona Light draft option didn't hurt bottle sales. What the company found was a halo effect, which carried over from draft on-premise at bars and restaurants to off-premise stores. "We're seeing a very traditional beer experience with consumers going into the bar, sampling the product on draft, and then seeing it off-premise and making a purchase," said Sabia. (Read more: New marijuana laws get brewers buzzing) While the off-premise boost is important, the real opportunity lies in growing the draft presence of the Crown Imports portfolio, which in addition to the Corona brand, includes the Modelo, Pacifico and Victoria brands, among others. According to company officials, draft sales currently account for less than 2 percent of the Crown portfolio's overall sales, versus the industry average of 10 percent.