The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of AFm formation on the stiffening process of cement paste. High and low alkali sulfate clinkers were used for the experiments. The flow and stiffening behavior of cement paste was investigated using modified ASTM C403 penetration resistance test and oscillatory shear rheology. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) was used for phase identification associated with stiffening of the paste. It was found from the results that low alkali clinker mixture produced very strong premature stiffening whereas high alkali clinker mixture did not cause premature stiffening. This is because of the large amount of alkali sulfate present in the clinker. Addition of calcium and sodium chloride to the high alkali clinker mixture caused faster stiffening and set.